Mixing systems for soft drinks

Beverage blending of maximised efficacy is assured by the three 8-component Contiflow mixers in the Vitaqua facility of the mineral water bottlers Brandenburger Urstromquelle in Breuna, Germany. The beverage blending concept is designed for producing both still products and carbonated beverages. The Contiflow mixers each utilise a pair of preparation tanks for dissolving powdered beverage additives and for batch preparation plus blending of liquid beverage additives. Providing these tanks in pairs enables blending to be carried out in one tank while the other one is actually producing. Weighing of the beverage components is monitored by the Botec F1 process control system. The three 8-component mixers assure ultra-accurate, flexible blending of the finished beverages, including carbonation where appropriate. At the mixers, ring lines have been pre-assigned for apple-juice concentrate, sugar syrup, citric acid and the preparation tanks, with four places free for further admixtures. In addition, a carbonator has been installed for one of the four bottling lines, which handles only carbonated water.
The Contiflow mixers supply product to the four PET bottling lines via a fully automatic valve rack, enabling three lines to bottle soft drinks and one line carbonated or still water, all at the same time. A product, such as an apple juice, can be rerouted by the same mixer to a second line, which has meanwhile been made ready for handling a different bottle shape. This maintains the product flow without requiring any additional rinsing procedures, thus saving valuable blending time.
The three Contiflow mixers and the carbonator constitute the basis for maximised performance of the highly automated facility, which produces around four million fills a day.