Product Spotlight: Corrosion Resistant Filling Machines

Stainless steel is the construction material of choice for a majority of packaging machines, including liquid filling machines.  Whether an overflow filler, gravity filler, pump or piston filler, almost every filling machine encountered will be manufactured using stainless steel for the frame and a number of components.  The reason for this is simple.  Stainless steel is a material that will play well without almost any product being packaged.  Almost any product.  Like stumbling over a four leaf clover, packaging machine manufacturers will, from time to time, come across a product that simply does not interact well with stainless steel.  In these instances, the manufacturer will look to an alternative material for the construction of the filling machines, which of course interact with the product itself more than any other packaging machine.

When working with acids, bleaches and other corrosive chemicals, the stainless steel construction will be replaced by HDPE material and contact parts.  In general terms, certain corrosive chemicals will eat away at the stainless steel material normally used on filling machines.  Though it may not be immediately apparent, it will become so over time.  In other words, using stainless steel construction for corrosive chemicals severely shortens the life cycle of the machine.  To combat against this corrosion, the stainless steel is replaced with plastic material that is less susceptible to the corrosion.  Like the more standard filling machines, corrosion resistant fillers are available in both automatic and semi-automatic models.

Outside of the difference in construction materials, corrosion resistant fillers are not that different from the machines manufactured using stainless steel.  Automatic corrosion resistant fillers can use one of several filling principles to package product.  These automated machines can come equipped with anywhere from two to sixteen nozzles and may be upgraded to the maximum number - usually sixteen - in the future if production demands increase.  The machines will use a PLC automatically complete the fills as containers travel down the power conveyor system.  Operators can use a touchscreen interface to make adjustments to settings such as fill time, indexing time and other delay and duration times to ensure an efficient and consistent fill cycle.  

Most automatic corrosion resistant fillers will include a power height and tool free adjustments to allow for quick and easy changeover from one bottle to another.  The simple adjustments will allow the automatic fillers to run a range of bottle shapes and sizes.  To avoid corrosion from product spills or fumes, the corrosion resistant filling machines will usually come equipped with an HDPE conveyor as well, simply extending the working life of this part of the packaging system as well.  Semi-automatic corrosion resistant fillers can also be manufactured using the same frame as the automatic fillers.  For lower production facilities, this option offers an economical solution which includes the ability to add the controls at a later date for automatic production.  

Another semi-automatic model is the tabletop corrosion resistant filling machine.  The tabletop filler is a space saving packaging machine for facilities with low to medium production demands.  These machines will usually include anywhere from one to six fill heads, depending on the filling principle used.  The construction of the machine is also HDPE, to avoid the corrosion caused by acids and bleaches with stainless steel.  

Tabletop machines will usually require the operator to place the bottles on a slide track and line the bottles up under the individual fill heads.  Finger or foot switches will usually be triggered to start the fill cycle.  Once the fill cycle is completed, the operator will remove the bottles from the slide track and send them to the next packaging station, such as a capping machine or labeling machine.

Whether you are looking to fill sixty bottles of acid a day or sixty bottles of bleach each minute, there is a corrosion resistant filling machine that will serve as a perfect solution for your packaging project.  Feel free to call and discuss these solutions with a Packaging Specialist from LPS.