Efficient sterilisation without side effects

In order to improve pudding-filling conditions in the Danone GmbH facility in Ochsenfurt, Germany, and to protect the environment at the same time, an innovative and tested method developed, engineered and supplied by AirSolution GmbH, is used to sanitise the plant.

Dairy products are manufactured under constant monitoring and are subject to strict hygienic requirements. Current sterilisation procedures mainly fight with a strong chemical against undesired micro-organisms and can only be used under significant protective measures for the workers. In order to improve pudding-filling conditions in the Danone GmbH facility in Ochsenfurt, Germany and to protect the environment at the same time, an innovative and tested method is used to sanitise the plant: By means of nebuliser modules, a micro-fine agent mist based on natural ingredients is introduced into the most important locations in the filling process, which measurably reduces the number of germs in the surrounding air and on surfaces. The agent, the procedure and the fogging devices were developed by AirSolution GmbH.
For an ideal hygiene standard in production, the food corporation Danone relies on several measures. Since yeast and mould were still occasionally found in pudding filling during regular monitoring, the company decided to further optimise the sterilisation process.
“The objective was to bring the percentage of mould content in the finished product down to almost zero even after 14 days at a consistent temperature of 25 °C”, Paolo Paparella explains, hygiene representative at Danone in Ochsenfurt. “The procedure had to be improved in such a way that all empty cups including lid and cup foil were completely germ-free.”

Agent made of natural ingredients

For this purpose, Danone commissioned the company AirSolution at the start of 2016 to add another sterilisation system. The agent L.O.G. four was used, which is exclusively made of natural ingredients and can be legally used as a food processing agent throughout the EU. For the
system in Ochsenfurt, the hygiene expert installed three nebuliser modules at the critical points of the pudding-filling machine. The agent is distributed via the nebulisers in droplet sizes between 0.1 and 100 μm.
The nebuliser modules were integrated into the filling process in such a way that the current production speed could remain unchanged. In this way, the system protects the whole interior area of the machine from the empty cups to the finished product. In addition to this, sterilisation and filling are connected with one another through a release and work completely automatically. For this, AirSolution installed a control cabinet with microprocessor control.
“If a disruption occurs or the production is stopped, as in a product change, the nebulisation is automatically turned off and a switch valve is triggered on every module”, Paparella explains. The mechanism ensures a physical division between the sterilisation system and the products, so that the agent cannot reach into the cups. Due to the positive results, the hygiene representative can see them fitting a second dessert line with the AirSolution system.     •