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Appealing Convenience -new package boasts of exceptional advantages compared to other aseptic bottles

Source:Ringier Release Date:2011-11-24 786
Food & Beverage
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A REAL innovation in packaging design, the world's first carton bottle for ambient white milk is preformed and not flat-packed and therefore quite unlike traditional ambient carton solutions for milk, which requires materials to be flat-packed. The one-litre Tetra Evero Aseptic and the Tetra Pak A6 iLine are covered by 14 design and application patents, with advances that include an industry-first 'gas phase' sterilisation technique and advanced injection moulding technologies to fuse the top, carton sleeve and capped neck into a ready-to-fill package. It was launched initially for the European and South American markets in mid-May by Tetra Pak, which described the concept as a result of years of commitment, investment and industry know-how.

The carton bottle is initially aimed  at the ambient white milk market, including non-oxygen sensitive milk enriched with calcium, proteins, fibres (inulin), vitamins A and D and some minerals. This will soon expand to cover a wide range of beverages, including flavoured milk, cream and oxygen sensitive milk, such as omega 3, iron, zinc, and vitamin C.

Employing market-driven insight and breakthrough engineering techniques, the completely new carton shape combines the easy handling and pouring of a bottle with the environmental and cost advantages of a carton.

A range of design and engineering challenges have demanded groundbreaking technological solutions and completely new processes, which have come together to create this truly innovative packaging shape. This includes breakthroughs in these areas:

?Sterilisation
?Injection moulding 
?Engineering methodology

A different approach: the aseptic zone

Sterilising the unique carton bottle shape demanded the development of an equally unique form of aseptic chamber — enabling a completely new way of applying gas-phase sterilisation technology. In a traditional brick-shaped carton, materials can be aseptically sterilised before they are formed into shape.  In a process originally developed by Tetra Pak and now almost universally adopted across the industry, rolls of carton material pass through a hot liquid H2O2 bath. The H2O2 is then removed from the packaging material using pressure rollers and hot air.

Most existing technologies for sterilising preformed shapes rely on a gas-condensation process. Here, the gas is allowed to condensate on the material surface, but this requires that it remain within very specific operational limits, which can be complex and difficult to control. The alternative gas-phase sterilisation approach, where packages are pre-heated to avoid condensation, offers benefits, but this has never been applied to a carton bottle before.

Tetra Pak engineers have applied gas-phase sterilisation technique in new ways to address the challenges of a totally new shape. Packages pass through a unique aseptic chamber in pairs where they are exposed to H2O2 in gas phase to come into contact with the whole preformed package, both inside and out, and removing any contaminants that might have been present before entering the aseptic chamber. The gas is then easily vented from the package, delivering a highly effective, safe and ingeniously simple means of achieving commercial sterility.

Computer modelling of fluid dynamics more commonly associated with aerodynamics and predicting complex weather patterns were used to create a new form of sterile environment and develop a completely new form of aseptic chamber and bring it to market faster than would previously have been possible years – simulation ensured that it took just months. Uni-directional airflow creates a 'virtual barrier' between sterile zone and the non-sterile zone, to protect the critical aseptic area. 

Advances in injection moulding

Many firsts are also associated with the injection moulding technology of the A6 iLine asepticMax 90 Premium SE

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