DEVICE FOR PROVIDING CLEAN AIR IN A BEVERAGE FILLING PLANT

Abstract

A device for providing clean air in a beverage filling plant is described. The device includes an inflow channel with at least one filter for pretreating the air sucked in via a supply-air feed. The inflow channel is adjoined by a first outflow channel with at least one filter for treating the air pretreated in the inflow channel for feeding into a filling cleanroom of the beverage filling plant. The inflow channel is adjoined by a second outflow channel for treating the air pretreated in the inflow channel for feeding into a blowing cleanroom for the blow-molding of plastic containers. A dehumidifying device for dehumidifying the pretreated air is arranged in the second outflow channel.

Claims

1-16. (canceled)

17. A device for providing clean air in a beverage filling plant, comprising an inflow channel with at least a first filter configured to pretreat air sucked in via a supply-air feed; a first outflow channel with at least a second filter configured to treat the pretreated air and to feed the treated pretreated air into a filling cleanroom of the beverage filling plant; and a second outflow channel configured to treat the pretreated air and to feed the treated pretreated air into a blowing cleanroom for the blow-molding of plastic containers, wherein the inflow channel is adjoined by the first outflow channel and the second outflow channel, and wherein a dehumidifying device configured to dehumidify the pretreated air is arranged in the second outflow channel.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the inflow channel comprises a central fan that conveys the pretreated air through the inflow channel and also through the first outflow channel and the second outflow channel.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the at least first filter comprises a first dust filter and/or a second dust filter.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the first dust filter comprises a filter of filter class G3 or G4, and the second dust filter comprises a filter of filter class M5 to F9.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the inflow channel further comprises a third dust filter of filter class F7 to F9 downstream of the second dust filter.

22. The device of claim 17, wherein the inflow channel comprises a sound damper configured to damp sound.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the sound damper is disposed downstream of the first filter comprising a first dust filter.

24. The device of claim 17, wherein the first outflow channel comprises a heat exchanger.

25. The device of claim 17, wherein the second filter comprises a suspended matter filter.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein the suspended matter filter comprises a filter of filter class E10 to U16.

27. The device of claim 17, wherein the first outflow channel comprises a sterilization device configured to sterilize areas of the first outflow channel that are downstream of the sterilization device.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the sterilization device is configured to sterilize a suspended matter filter downstream of the sterilization device.

29. The device of claim 27, wherein the sterilization device comprises an H.sub.2O.sub.2 injector.

30. The device of claim 17, wherein the second outflow channel comprises a heat exchanger downstream of the dehumidifying device.

31. The device of claim 17, wherein the second outflow channel comprises a sterilization device configured to sterilize areas of the second outflow channel that are downstream of the sterilization device.

32. A device for providing clean air in a beverage filling plant, comprising an inflow channel with at least a first filter configured to pretreat air sucked in via a supply-air feed; a first outflow channel with at least a second filter configured to treat the pretreated air and to feed the treated pretreated air into a filling cleanroom of the beverage filling plant; and a second outflow channel configured to treat the pretreated air and to feed the treated pretreated air into a blowing cleanroom for the blow-molding of plastic containers, wherein the inflow channel is adjoined by the first outflow channel and the second outflow channel, and wherein a dehumidifying device comprising an air cooler and a droplet separator is arranged in the second outflow channel.

33. The device of claim 32, wherein the inflow channel, the first outflow channel, and the second outflow channel are accommodated in a single housing.

34. The device of claim 32, wherein the first outflow channel and the second outflow channel issue from the inflow channel parallel to each other.

35. The device of claim 32, further comprising an exhaust air fan configured to discharge air from the blowing cleanroom or the filling cleanroom.

36. The device of claim 35, wherein the exhaust air fan is disposed in a single housing of the device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0029] Further embodiments of the invention are more fully explained by the description below of the figures.

[0030] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective representation of a device for providing clean air, in which the side walls are shown as transparent, viewed from a first side, and

[0031] FIG. 2 is the device from FIG. 1, viewed from the other side.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Examples of embodiments are described below with the aid of the figures. In the figures, elements which are identical or similar, or have identical effects, are designated with identical reference signs. In order to avoid redundancy, repeated description of these elements is in part dispensed with in the description below.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows schematically a device 1 for providing clean air in a beverage filling plant, in a first representation in which the outer walls of the device are indicated only schematically, as if they were transparent. In FIG. 2, this device 1 is shown from the other side, with the side walls again represented as if they were transparent.

[0034] An inflow channel 2 is provided, which sucks in ambient air via a supply-air feed 20. The ambient air is then prefiltered by a first coarse dust filter 21. The air which has been prefiltered in the coarse dust filter 21 is then conducted through a sound damper 22, in order to prevent flow-generated noise and noise from a downstream central fan 25 from penetrating via the supply-air feed 20 into the surroundings. The central fan 25 is disposed in the inflow channel 2.

[0035] The coarse dust filter 21 is, for example, a filter of filter class G3 or G4, in order to enable the filtering out of particles >10 ?m that are present in the surroundings.

[0036] The air is then further pretreated by means of a first fine dust filter 23 and a second fine dust filter, after which it is conducted to a central fan 25. The first fine dust filter 23 is generally provided as a filter of filter class M5 or M6, and the second fine dust filter 24, which is disposed downstream of the first fine dust filter 23, is typically a filter of filter class F7 to F9. In this manner, particles between 1 and 10 ?m can be filtered out of the pretreated air before the air is fed to the central fan 25.

[0037] Accordingly, ambient air can be fed from the supply-air feed 20 via the filters 21, 23 and 24 to the central fan 25. Downstream of the central fan 25, the air that has been pre-cleaned by the filters 21, 23 and 24 can thus be supplied for the subsequent treatment.

[0038] The inflow channel 2 is adjoined by a first outflow channel 3 and a second outflow channel 4. The first outflow channel 3 can be particularly easily recognized in FIG. 1, and the second outflow channel 4 can be particularly easily recognized in FIG. 2.

[0039] In the example embodiment that is shown, the inflow channel 2 passes directly into the first outflow channel 3 and the second outflow channel 4. The first outflow channel 3 and the second outflow channel 4 issue from the inflow channel 2 substantially parallel to each other, so that an efficient airflow results. The air that has been pretreated by means of the filters 21, 23 and 24 is accordingly supplied by the central fan 25 to the first outflow channel 3 and the second outflow channel 4.

[0040] The first outflow channel 3 receives the pretreated air, propelled by the central fan 25, which is supplied from the inflow channel 2, and guides the air first through a heat exchanger 31. The heat exchanger 31 serves to bring the pretreated air to a temperature which enables the desired temperature in the filling cleanroom of the beverage filling plant to be achieved. Accordingly, in the heat exchanger 31 the pretreated air is cooled or heated such that, when it reaches the filling cleanroom, it can provide the temperature that is desired there. In this, the quantity of heat added or removed by the various conduits is also taken into account in the determination of the temperature. It is also taken into account that the units provided in the inflow channel 2, particularly the central fan 25, heat the pretreated air, and this quantity of heat may have to be subsequently removed.

[0041] Downstream of the heat exchanger 31, a sterilization device 32 is provided, here in the form of an H.sub.2O.sub.2 injector. The sterilization device 32 enables, for example by the introduction of gaseous H.sub.2O.sub.2, all parts of the outflow channel 3 that are downstream of the sterilization device 32, and all conduits that extend to the filling cleanroom, to be exposed to the sterilization medium. In this manner, reliable sterilization of these areas can be achieved when, for example, the beverage filling plant is operated in a cleaning or sterilization mode.

[0042] It is furthermore possible, by means of an appropriate dosing of gaseous H.sub.2O.sub.2 from the sterilization device 32, also to charge the entire filling cleanroom with the sterilization medium, in order thereby to achieve comprehensive sterilization not only of the relevant areas of the device 1 for providing the clean air, but also of the filling cleanroom of the beverage filling plant itself.

[0043] The sterilization device 32 is adjoined by a suspended matter filter 33, wherein the suspended matter filter 33 is generally a filter of filter class E10 to E16, in particular of filter class H13 or H14. By means of the suspended matter filter, which serves as a final filter for the supply of clean air to the filling cleanroom, appropriately treated clean air can be fed to the filling cleanroom.

[0044] The appropriately treated clean air is then passed via outflow apertures 34 to a line system which supplies the clean air that was cleaned in the first outflow channel 3 to the filling cleanroom of the beverage filling plant.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows the second outflow channel 4, which also adjoins the inflow channel 2, and into which is fed pretreated air, conducted via the inflow channel 2 by means of the central fan 25. The inflow channel 2 is adjoined, in the second outflow channel 4, by an air cooler 41, which is adjoined by a droplet separator 42. The air cooler 41 and the droplet separator 42 together form a dehumidifying device for dehumidifying the pretreated air. Thus by means of the air cooler 41 and the droplet separator 42, drying of the air is possible, so that the air fed in via the inflow channel 2 contains more moisture than the air that is present in the outflow channel 4 downstream of the dehumidifying device. The drying effect that is actually achieved depends on the cooling performance of the air cooler 41 and the separation performance of the droplet separator 42.

[0046] The air cooler 41 and the droplet separator 42 are adjoined in the second outflow channel 4 by a heat exchanger 43, by means of which the air which is finally fed into the blowing cleanroom is brought to the temperature that is desired there.

[0047] Here too, the heat exchanger 43 is adjoined by a sterilization device 44, by means of which, for example, gaseous H.sub.2O.sub.2 can be introduced into the dried air, in order to achieve, in a cleaning and/or sterilization operation of the beverage filling plant, the sterilization at least of the areas of the second outflow channel 4 that are downstream of the sterilization device 44, and, in various embodiments, also of the lines and cleanroom areas further downstream.

[0048] A suspended matter filter 45, in certain embodiments, adjoins the sterilization device 44, wherein the suspended matter filter 45 is, in several embodiments, a filter of filter class E10 to U16, for example of filter class H13 or H14. By means of the suspended matter filter 45, ultrapure filtration of the dried air can be achieved, so that the degree of cleanliness intended for the blowing cleanroom can be achieved.

[0049] The dried clean air is then passed via the outflow aperture 46 to a suitable line system which then conducts the dried clean air into the blowing cleanroom, in which the dried clean air can then be used, for example, for blow molding, and/or to flow over the blowing area, in order also to meet the applicable hygiene requirements in this area.

[0050] All units are generally provided in a single housing 5, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Accordingly, the two differing types of clean air can both be supplied by means of the device 1, wherein the device 1 can be considerably reduced in size by comparison with the conventional arrangements, which include at least two different devices.

[0051] An exhaust air fan 6 can also be provided in the housing 5, by means of which, for example, air can be extracted from the blowing cleanroom or the filling cleanroom, and then, after suitable post-treatment, can be returned to the surroundings. This is of particular importance if a sterilization means, for example gaseous H.sub.2O.sub.2, has been introduced via the sterilization devices into the blowing cleanroom or the filling cleanroom, and must then be extracted in a manner that excludes the possibility of danger to staff in the bottling hall.

[0052] In this form too, particularly in conjunction with the exhaust air fan 6, which is also disposed in the common housing 5, a particularly compact design can be achieved.

[0053] To the extent applicable, all individual features described in the individual example embodiments can be combined with each other and/or exchanged, without departing from the field of the invention.