Fluid dynamics data is central to bottle-filling equipment design and reduction in spillages

KHS explains how simulations can be applied to minimise any risk of beverages sloshing out of bottles during higher-speed filling, with both bottle shape and machine details involved.

At speeds of up to 90,000 fills an hour, with even just a few drops spilling at a time, the amount of product lost can soon mount up, KHS warns. Beverages splashed on to the neck and outside of bottles – and on to the machine – can also cause hygiene and contamination hazards.

In order to counter this, development engineer Dominik Weirich has been drawing up computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations since 2013, based on data collected from up to 850 simulations.

“Ever higher filling outputs mean that the technology’s reaching its physical limits, so that we also have to take liquid sloshing into account when designing the machine,” he says.

“First, we take a look at the geometric parameters of the beverage containers themselves,” he explains. “Here, we investigate the impact the bottle shape, fill height and neck diameter have. This is done in close consultation with our Bottles & Shapes experts, especially in conjunction with new line projects, when changes are made to the geometry or the bottle weight is reduced, for example.”

Secondly, Weirich looks at the physical parameters of the machines. “These depend on the capacity, machine pitch and diameter of the stars,” he says. “Adjustments can be made here relatively easily. Adapting the containers, however, is usually an iterative and more extensive process.”

As a rule, the larger the product surface and the closer the beverage is to the bottle mouth, the more likely the liquid is to splash. This interaction of the various factors requires calculations to be made that are then included in both the design engineering and the claims made about the machinery.

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