When making drink bottles, manufacturers of non-carbonated beverages (water, juices, teas, etc.) generally rely on PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Over the last 20 years, in line with environmental and cost pressures, plastic bottles have become thinner. However, this has reduced the weight of PET polymers in bottles, resulting in thinner, weaker bottle walls.
After filling, bottles must be stacked for transportation to customers. At the bottom of a pallet, weak bottles with thinner walls buckle under the weight of the bottles above. This leads to unsafe conditions and costly product losses.
Such a problem can be avoided by pressurizing the bottles. Available in liquid form, nitrogen is the perfect medium for this. When liquid nitrogen vaporizes, it expands to 682 times its liquid volume. In addition, because it is inert, it protects the drink against the drink spoilage and lost revenues that can result from oxidation.
We supply the liquid nitrogen (LIN) needed for the LIN dosing systems commonly used in bottling facilities. Such systems add a droplet of liquid nitrogen, which is trapped by immediately capping the bottle. Expanding as it vaporizes, the trapped droplet increases the internal pressure. This ‘rigidifies’ the bottle for stacking.
