Hanovia installs UV disinfection system at Malaysian soft drink plant

F&N Beverages Manufacturing Sdn Bhd in Malaysia has installed a Hanovia UV disinfection system at its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Inanam, Kota Kinabalu. The Hanovia UV system is installed after the activated carbon dechlorination unit and is used to eliminate bacteria from water used in the soft drinks manufacturing process.

F&N Beverages Manufacturing Sdn Bhd is known as Malaysia’s largest soft drink manufacturer, producing the brands 100PLUS, F&N Fruit Tea and F&N SEASONS. To maintain standards in hygiene at its factory in Inanam, Kota Kinabalu, the company installed a UV system after an activated carbon dechlorination unit, to remove bacteria from water used in the soft drinks manufacturing process.

Local manufacturers use UV technology for this purpose in order to fulfil QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) requirements. The one from Hanovia was selected since its UV systems are optimized for process water applications such as those found in beverage manufacturing. Added benefits for the customer included low operating and maintenance costs.

Meeting rigorous hygiene standards required in the beverage industries is a real challenge. If improvements need to be made to plant and equipment, they need to bring quick returns on the investment and measurable improvements in product quality.

Cost-efficient disinfection

UV, an established method of disinfecting drinking water, is an economic and realistic option, according to Hanovia. There are no microorganisms known to be resistant to UV – this includes pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria, Legionella and Cryptosporidium (and its spores, which are resistant to chlorination).

UV disinfection systems are also easy to install, with minimum disruption to the plant. They need very little maintenance, the only requirement being replacement of the UV lamps every 9 - 12 months, depending on use. This is a simple operation that takes only a few minutes and can be carried out by general maintenance staff.

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