Germany-based KHS has introduced a new crowner, designed to help in maintaining hygienic standards in beer filling systems.
The new crowner, which has undergone testing for microbial safety, is designed to help in reducing cleaning times while retaining design and dimensions to enable bottlers to retrofit the new product into their current lines.
For maintaining better hygiene, the contact area has been reduced on the head piece to the capping ring of the new crowner while allowing more forceful rinsing. This also reduces the amount of residual beer on the components.
In the beer filling process, oxygen must be prevented from entering the inside of the container during closing a bottle.
Otherwise, the beer experiences oxidative change which causes it to develop an aging taste and also reduces the beverage's shelf life.
KHS filling product manager Manfred Härtel said: "The crowner is a critical element as it constantly has to operate in beer residue.
“This is a challenge during operation which we've been able to considerably improve and alleviate."
KHS also reduced the contact area between the cork shoe and head piece by increasing the distance between the two, allowing for optimum flushing.
Additionally, a special sealing ring has been added to check beer flowing into the thread of the crowner, which is cleaned only with hot water or a foam solution from the outside.
The new crowner also features two more flushing openings so that the rinsing element can access the soiled areas inside the machine better.
"By removing material we're increasing permeability. This boosts microbial safety and shortens cleaning times without us having to compromise on function or stability," Härtel added.
KHS intends to include the newly developed crowner in its entire future beer filling system.
