Demand dynamics and economic pressures on the beverage industry are turning flexibility into one of the core competencies of manufacturers. Faster changeovers for smaller quantities are also in demand in the filling sector. GEA's filling specialists have developed a new generation of valves to ensure greater product diversity without compromising on hygiene.
“Our customers want to implement product changes smoothly with as few operations as possible to work quickly and economically. This is reflected in the further development of our filling valves,” says Product Manager Massimo Nascimbeni, Filling & Packaging at GEA. “It was important to us to make the filling valves as flexible as possible so that producers can fill a wide variety of products with the same filling valves.”
Gentle, precise and flexible filling
The new generation now uses magnetic actuators with seals that require less maintenance than the usual technical solutions. A pneumatic, or optionally a servo drive, refines the lifting and lowering movements of the control and shut-off valves. This means that beverages are processed gently and very precisely, which is particularly important for viscous liquids or pressure-sensitive particles, such as fruit, cereals, nuts and seeds (up to 6x6x6mm) or fruit pulp (up to 3x20mm).
To reduce the number of components on this new generation of filling valves, that would require service and warehouse logistics, GEA saved on number of actuators with no compromise on performances. In addition, the new filling system eliminates the need for dummy bottles by ensuring an efficient sterilization position with only one magnetic joint.
