Using ultrasound technology, KHS Group’s HASYTEC Dynamic Biofilm Protection reduces deposits on bottle washing machines, lengthening cleaning intervals and shortening downtimes.
German mineral water bottling plant Staatlich Bad Meinberger has put this simple principle into practice.
They began exploring the new avenue with KHS in March 2022 – incidentally not for the first time, as the mineral water company has had a long technological partnership with the Dortmund systems supplier. The bottler has repeatedly acted as an extended workbench and pilot customer to the nearby machine and systems manufacturer, enabling new and further developments to be tested under real conditions and fine adjustments made where necessary.
From shipbuilding to the beverage industry
This time the technology isn’t new, however, but a procedure that’s been in use for many years in a completely different sector, namely shipbuilding, and is now being applied to the beverage industry. KHS HASYTEC Dynamic Biofilm Protection is a simple plug-and-produce product where ultrasonic transducers cause the liquid in certain components of the machine to gently vibrate. The system is currently available for both bottle washing machines and pasteurisers – whether for new machines or as a conversion for existing systems.
At BAD MEINBERGER Dynamic Biofilm Protection reduces deposits of biofilm, limestone and fibrous material from paper labels in the spray pipes on the KHS Innoclean EE bottle washer, for example. In the past, without this system machinery often became clogged with deposits that required a considerable amount of effort to remove.
Ultrasound, not muscle power
It’s not just the time-consuming physical labor that’s hard work when it comes to cleaning machine parts. In the peak season especially, with the plant running at full capacity, finding an appropriate slot for cleaning often proves something of a headache.
The Dynamic Biofilm Protection system, complete with two control units and twelve ultrasonic transducers, has been in operation at BAD MEINBERGER for about 18 months now.
The reason for this is easy to comprehend: the liquid is oscillated, thus keeping the particulate matter contained in it in motion, not by a constant permanent frequency but by intermittent pulses.
Potential resource savings
In this context, Mühlenweg and Maas monitor the quality of the caustic in their bottle washer extremely carefully. Using about 40 cubic meters of it which – should it have to be discarded – first needs to be brought up to the right temperature and then dosed with new chemicals each time. There’s thus constant filtration during filling and only the exact same amount of fresh water or caustic is added as is lost through the removed labels, for instance. At the same time, owing to specific process parameters that have a high risk of forming deposits, the caustic temperature at BAD MEINBERGER has been lowered through close cooperation with the laboratory.
Dynamic Biofilm Protection at a glance
Ultrasonic transducers to reduce deposit formation on heat exchangers, process water baths, pipes and sprays; option for new machines or as a retrofit for existing KHS systems.
- Longer cleaning intervals;
- less downtime;
- increased production;
- fewer personnel hours needed for cleaning;
- water, electricity, heat and chemical savings; and
- lower operating costs.
