PACKAGING

Beer Packaging is putting the beer into the containers in which it will leave the brewery. Typically in EABL beer is packed in bottles and kegs cans. The plant has four packaging lines namely; line 4, line 3, line 2 and Keg line 1 and line 2. The process involves various machine used are; depalletizer, unpacker, bottle washer, filler, pasteurizer, packer and palletizer. All these machines are interconnected using conveyors on which the bottles move on.
Depalletizer; this is a pneumatically operated machine that receives crates in layers of pallets and the beer grates with the bottles are removed from the valves by a machine which is pneumatically operated and removes pallets which the crates lie on and places the crates on conveyor to the unpacker. Unpacker; these machine removes the empty bottles from the beer crates while placing them to the conveyor leading to the bottle washer. The empty crates are moved through the conveyer to crate washers. Bottle washer; the washer has bottles carrier pocket like for holding each bottle and conveys it within the bottle washer. Water and caustic (NaOH) are used in bottle washing in different chambers. The washer has various chambers in which three have caustic and the last one has warm water. At the in-feed, the bottles are sprayed with water at 40oC for presoaking. The first caustic tank has one heating chamber and operating temperature of 40oC which rises gradually to 80oC to prevent the glass bottle from thermal shock and removal of the labels. Tank 2 has caustic at 83oC achieved through a heat exchanger. Tank 3 also is maintained to 83oC by use of heaters and lastly tank 4 is

used for rinsing at 80oC, warm water 1and 2, water bath and steam for sterilization and drying of the bottle. Filler ; After washing, the bottles are inspected electronically and visually and pass on to the

rotary filler where CO2 is first fed then the beer. The filler has a "crowning" machine, integrated with it which places caps on the bottles. The filled bottles are conveyed to the
pasteurizer.

PASTEUIRISER Pasteurization of beverages in bottles and cans is biologically safe but tends to adversely affect the color and the taste of the product following too long and excessive heat applied to the product. In addition, pasteurization in tunnel pasteurizers requires a lot of space and energy. The ideal combination between high quality standards and bacteriological safe design are plate heat exchanger (PHE) pasteurizers which guarantee the specific shelf life quality of your product. In comparison with tunnel pasteurization and hot filling, investment and operating costs as well as floor space are considerably reduced. Containers are transported by infeed conveyors into the pasteurizer. The containers are transported through the machine by profile frames on a chain grates. The water is required for treatment is heated by steam or hot water which is conveyed through the heat exchangers or heating coils. It is maintained at operating temperature by temperature controllers. Water which runs off is collected in tanks which are located below the link chains. For water circulation a pump is provided in each jetting section. The flow system of

the machine operates according to the heat recovery principle. Sections are connected by balancing pipes. Infeed conveyers are driven by adjustable gear motors which are mounted on the machine side of the conveyers. The conveyer speed must be adjusted according to the operating conditions. Containers pass through the following treatment sections in the machine; I. II. III. IV. Heating sections. Superheating sections. Pasteurizing sections. Cooling sections.

Preheated water are fed by pumps of the cooling sections through jetting nozzles to the preheating sections where it shed over the cold containers entering the machine. Containers reach the pasteurization temperature in the superheating sections. Containers are maintained at the pasteurization temperature in the pasteurization sections. Pumps of the heating and pasteurization sections feed the water through heat exchangers to the jetting, superheating and pasteurization sections. Containers conveyed to cooling sections. Jetting units in the cooling are supplied with water from heating sections via pumps of the preheating sections. Water is heated by the containers in the cooling sections, it is then pumped into the heating sections, therefore completing heat recovery cycle.

Heating system Heating tubes are located in the cooling sections. Superheating and pasteurization sections are equipped with heat exchangers which have been mounted on the exterior of the machine. The temperature is controlled by electro pneumatic valves. Condensation water which accumulates is drained off through water separation and collection pipes. Labeler; these machine is used for putting the labels on the walls of the beer bottles depending on the type of the brand , i.e. Guinness, Tusker , Pilsner, etc. After labeling the bottles are coded. Packer; the machine is pneumatically operated and packs the beer in bottles in the crates. The operating principles are the same as for the unpacker. Palletization; the last process of packaging is the palletization using a palletizer.

In this process the crates in beer are packed in the pallets and conveyed to the warehouse.

Depalletizer

Un-packer

Bottle washer

Labeler and Packer Coding

Pasteurizer Palletizer

Filler and Warehouse Crowning

Conveyor belts. Flow chart for packaging process in line 1,2,3,4.

Keg line Empty keg jars are received at the empty keg yard in barrels containing 18 jars. The barrels layers are separated in the de-stacking machine and conveyed to the Empty Keg Turner in preparation for external cleaning. After the jar has been turned upside down it passes through a pre-rinse washer to soak the dirt prior to external washing. The jar now is conveyed to the external washer where the jar is sprayed using hot caustic. The jars are rinsed using cold water and the jars are now ready for internal washing. The jars are internally cleaned using caustic and rinsed using water, CO2 is then filled in the jar then the beer. The jars are coded and plastic caps fitted and conveyed to the warehouse.