Carbonated Filling Machine Dynamic Flushing Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Filling machines face challenges in maintaining optimal oxygen concentration in filled containers, particularly when the carousel speed is reduced, leading to increased oxygen levels that can degrade the product and fail to meet quality requirements.
Innovation Solution
The system dynamically increases the duration of the flushing phase in the filling recipe in real-time when the carousel speed decreases, ensuring that the containers are adequately saturated with carbon dioxide to prevent oxygen introduction, thereby maintaining the desired oxygen concentration levels without altering the overall filling recipe.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the carousel speed is reduced to match input/output conveyor speeds, then the filling machine can operate with different conveyor speeds, but the oxygen concentration in filled containers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the flushing phase duration based on the actual carousel speed. When speed decreases, the flushing duration is automatically extended to compensate for the longer exposure time of containers to atmospheric oxygen, thereby maintaining oxygen concentration within specifications across varying operating speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system modifies the flushing phase parameter (duration) in real-time according to the carousel speed parameter. This dynamic parameter adjustment ensures that the flushing operation remains effective at maintaining oxygen levels regardless of speed variations, resolving the contradiction between speed adaptability and oxygen control.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the flushing phase duration is increased to reduce oxygen levels, then oxygen concentration requirements are met, but the filling efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic adjustment of flushing duration based on actual operating conditions. At nominal high speeds, the flushing duration remains at the optimized standard value to maintain high efficiency. When speed reductions occur, the duration is extended only as needed to control oxygen levels, thus avoiding unnecessary time loss and maintaining overall productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system continuously monitors carousel speed and uses this feedback to adjust the flushing phase duration in real-time. This closed-loop control ensures that the flushing operation is optimized for current conditions, preventing both oxygen contamination and unnecessary efficiency loss.
3Speed
If the carousel speed is decreased, then speed matching with conveyors is achieved, but the containers are exposed to atmosphere longer causing oxygen increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the flushing operation during the filling process itself, utilizing the time when containers are already positioned in the filling stations. By extending the flushing duration dynamically when speed decreases, the system proactively prevents oxygen contamination before containers leave the controlled environment, ensuring reliability regardless of speed variations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach effectively reduces oxygen levels in filled containers, ensuring product quality and improving the efficiency of the filling process by adapting to speed variations without requiring manual intervention or changes to the filling recipe, thus reducing downtime and non-conformities.
Implementation Method 1
flushing phases, feeding a stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the container and at the same time removing the mixture of air and carbon dioxide from the same container via a discharge path, in order to remove air (mainly O2) from the container
Implementation Method 2
a rotary conveyor (so called 'carousel') rotatable around a vertical axis... filling units are peripherally carried by the carousel... being advanced along the transfer path due to the rotary motion imparted by the carousel
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
A system for filling containers (2) with a carbonated product by a container filling machine (1) comprising a number of filling units (5) coupled to a rotating conveyor (4), designed to rotate around a rotation axis (A) to perform filling operations on a respective container (2) according to a filling recipe; wherein the filling recipe envisages at least one flushing phase for flushing of the container (2) with a stream of carbon dioxide (CO2), preceding a filling phase for filling the container (2) with the carbonated product. The system has a processing module (12; 12'), designed to: determine a disturbance cause affecting the filling machine (1) that would lead to an increase of an oxygen amount in the filled containers (2); and in response to determining the disturbance cause, cause a dynamic increase of a duration of the at least one flushing phase of the filling recipe, as a function of the determined disturbance.