New KHS InnoPET Plasmax 2Q and 4Q: PET barrier coating for small bottlers and converters

In the KHS FreshSafe PET® coating process the inside of the PET bottle is covered with a wafer-thin layer of pure glass. This means that bottles remain fully recyclable and protect sensitive products such as juice, wine, sauce and liquid food from oxidation and carbonated beverages from carbon dioxide loss. This considerably lengthens shelf lives.
“With our new, compact InnoPET Plasmax machines we have two particular target markets in focus: firstly, customers who wish to develop new markets through pilot production, and secondly, clients whose filling quantities were too low to date to enable them to profit from this established technology,” says Philipp Langhammer, product manager at KHS Corpoplast GmbH. These customers chiefly include converters who manufacture PET bottles in small, differing batches on contract and for whom the investment in a high-performance machine would not yet pay off.

The new InnoPET Plasmax 2Q is currently designed to cope with PET bottles holding between 80 milliliters and 1.5 liters and can process container necks of up to 38 millimeters in diameter. It is also planned to expand the coating options beyond the current dimensions to include other container variants. The machine has a capacity of 1,800 500-milliliter bottles per hour. As an option it can be upgraded to an InnoPET Plasmax 4Q with an output of 3,600 0.5-liter containers an hour.

Proven technology from the high-capacity range
The compact InnoPET Plasmax 2Q and 4Q are extremely simple to ship and can be quickly commissioned on site. “The basic idea was to enable the processes on our high-performance machines to be transferred to the new Plasmax 2Q and 4Q. Many components from these systems have thus been used here,” states Langhammer. Equipped with a ClearLine HMI (human machine interface) the machine is intuitive in its operation. With RFID access control employees can simply log on to the InnoPET Plasmax 2Q and 4Q and are shown the corresponding data on the menu screen.

“We support our customers right from the start as they grow. Our new InnoPET Plasmax machines act as an introduction to high-quality interior coating,” Langhammer explains. Bottlers who invest in the new system benefit from worldwide KHS service which with its trained engineers, range of spare parts and short reaction times ensures high line availability. Within the scope of its optional maintenance contracts KHS also provides wear parts and coating media and performs maintenance work in coordination with the customer directly on site at the plant.