A major step forward in air-rinsing products has generated a buzz among companies selling canned and bottled products. The experience of a Facility Manager at a canning plant for one of the world’s largest soda manufacturers illustrates the advantages of this latest technological advance.
The multinational brand-name soda company needed to remove static on the inside of its cans in order to eliminate particulates such as dirt, dust, wood and glass.
Until recently, the company had relied on compressed air with ionizing nozzles to handle this problem. However the expense as well as the noise factor of compressed air made this a less than optimum solution. At a trade show, the Facility Manager at the soda company’s canning plant in Virginia learned that Paxton had pioneered a new generation of air rinsing products. “At first, I was skeptical that Paxton’s Ionized Air System could do all it claimed to do. A plant like ours with the line moving at a rate of 800 cans a minute can’t take any chances with unproven new equipment. But both the demonstration and the product specifications convinced me. I was very excited to discover that this new product was both quieter and less expensive than the compressed air system we had been using for several years.”
The soda canning Facility Manager notes that “Even the cleanest industrial environment such as ours contains tiny particulates in the air. The static in our unfilled cans makes these particulates adhere to the interior of the can. We can’t send the cans to the filler this way, it’s just unacceptable. For a long time we used compressed air ionizing to rinse the inside of the cans, in spite of all its drawbacks simply because there was nothing else on the market. Now that Paxton has developed this new product, I have recommended to upper management that all our plants switch to the Paxton Ionized Air System.”
Paxton engineers developed a unique and innovative system which accelerates air through a high- efficiency 15,000 RPM centrifugal blower. The high-speed air passes through an ultra-clean filter, and then into a manifold where the air becomes charged. The high speed, clean, ionized air exits the manifold through targeted nozzles into or onto the cans – or other product surface. The ionized air neutralizes the static charge that causes the dirt to cling. The Paxton system delivers approximately five times the ionization of compressed air systems.
“This new system enables our canning plant to step away from energy inefficient technology into a new era of air-rinsing products,” notes the Facility Manager. “Usually, you associate moving to new technology with a few headaches and hassles but that wasn’t the case here. Installation and operation was very easy. The Ionized Air System actually uses 80% less energy than compressed air. Maintenance is minimal. The result is a tremendous savings for us. Another of the selling points for me was that Paxton built their Ionized Air system to be sturdy enough to stand up to industrial wash-downs. Plus the system includes one of Paxton’s high efficiency centrifugal blowers which come backed with a three-year warranty. This is an upgrade to our facility that we’re very glad about.”
Paxton has been in the business of air product innovation since creating the first high performance supercharger in the 1950s, enabling the racing industry to utilize engine speed and performance. A division of the Fortune 200 firm Illinois Tool Works, Paxton Products has continued to keep pace with the air product needs of commercial and industrial facilities.
