Stay in the loop!

Why the ideal layout for a beverage mixing line is a circle

A rapidly increasing number of ingredients and stock keeping units have changed the production landscape. This calls for a new type of mixing solution to keep the cost of discharging all these ingredients from going through the roof. That solution is called the Ingredient Loop Extension.

a machine with blue arrows

Producers usually split the intake lines for a mixer between wet and dry ingredients to keep them separate. This results in multiple lines and the need for a lot of handling equipment. A separate dry line may be needed for each bulk powder ingredient. The problem is that dry lines cannot be cleaned in the conventional way with water and chemicals using CIP (cleaning-in-place). And cleaning with compressed air is not sufficient to maintain food safety. Separate lines are often a requirement of food regulations to reduce the risk of contamination between different powders. So a producer may need to invest in a number of pneumatic or screw conveyors depending on the number of bulk powders to be mixed into a batch. Thus the cost of equipment to discharge powders into a batch mixer can easily escalate.

To complicate matters still further, powders may be subject to ATEX regulations due to the risk of explosion when discharging them.

Lines for liquid ingredients also become costly if discharging these liquids requires the purchase of additional pumps. Running costs also increase by more pumps using more energy and requiring more maintenance.

Intake from several dosing points in a loop

This is the typical scenario a beverage producer faces. However, there is an ingenious solution based on the revolutionary concept of a recirculation loop and our Tetra Pak® Mixer RJCI 4X. This mixer has been specifically designed for the batch mixing of powder and liquid ingredients in the beverage industry. The Ingredient Loop Extension is an option with our latest generation of mixers. Anywhere along the loop, a feeding-in point can be placed equipped with an injector, which is relatively small and less expensive than a pump. The injectors work by vacuum for the intake of both liquids and powders into the batch mixer via hydraulic conveying. The actual mixing takes place not just in the 3,000-litre tank of Tetra Pak Mixer RJCI 4X but in the hydraulic pipeline of the whole loop as the product recirculates again and again until it is ready mixed.

Now dry lines can be cleaned by CIP

One of the big advantages of the recirculation loop is for dry ingredients. No separate lines are needed. All ingredients, both wet and dry, feed directly into the recirculation loop. The complete loop can be cleaned at intervals with caustic soda using a conventional CIP unit. Therefore high hygienic standards can be maintained with no risk of cross-contamination from one powder ingredient to another. The cleaning problem associated with conventional conveying lines for powder ingredients can therefore be avoided.

Distribution of powder dust over a wide area of a plant with conventional solutions creates a bigger explosion protection area. In contrast, with the layout flexibility offered by the Ingredient Loop Extension, a dedicated ATEX room can be created in the plant to isolate the risk of explosion when discharging powders. In this way, all the open spaces of the plant may not need to be equipped to meet ATEX standards.

How the loop works

“Based on years of experience, we have perfected the technique for maintaining the pressure in the loop. We have created close to a complete vacuum,” explains Denis Steffen, Product Manager at Tetra Pak Processing Equipment AG in Switzerland where one office of Business stream Beverage is located. “There is always sufficient suction at the injector no matter where it is placed in the loop. Each injector has an on/off function. By disabling an injector when it is not in use, energy can be saved and pressure can be maintained. All the energy can be used for efficient mixing.”

Tetra Pak has a long history of innovation in beverage processing and the patented injector is just one example. Our Tetra Pak Mixer RJCI 4X also has a number of patented features.

The loop system has been installed successfully in  varous Beverage customer sites. This proven system known as Ingredient Loop Extension (ILE) saves producers purchasing, installing and maintaining a range of additional equipment such as pumps and conveyors. All that extra equipment becomes unnecessary when the ingredients are fed in directly to the loop via an injector. And in future, you can go on adding new ingredient feeding-in points to the loop as your needs change for discharging ingredients. With the challenge of dosing multiple ingredients, the best layout for soft drinks mixing in batch production is not linear, but circular. So stay in the loop!

Get in touch with us!

Service engineers training

Have questions about our solutions and products, or need some expert advice? Our friendly team is here to help! Just fill out the form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Purpose of contact

Error - please select one option that best describes your request

Business area of interest

Select one or more business areas
Error - please select business area of interest

Get in touch with us!

Summary

Purpose of contact
Business area of interest

Specific area of interest

Error - please select one option that best describes your request

Get in touch with us!

Summary

Purpose of contact
Business area of interest

Scope of request

Error - please select one option that best describes your request

Food category

Error - please select one option that best describes your request
  • Error - please select one option that best describes your request
  • Error - please select one option that best describes your request
  • Error - please select one option that best describes your request
  • Error - please select one option that best describes your request
  • Error - please select one option that best describes your request

Get in touch with us!

Summary

Purpose of contact
Business area of interest

Specific area of interest

Error - please select business area of interest

Get in touch with us!

Summary

Purpose of contact
Business area of interest
Specific area of interest
Scope of request
Food category

What describes your request the best

Error - please select one option that best describes your request
Error - please enter a message

Get in touch with us!

Summary

Purpose of contact
Business area of interest
Message
Specific area of interest
Scope of request
Food category
What describes your request the best
Your role

Company information

Error - Please enter a valid work email
Error - please enter your first name
Error - please enter your last name
Error - please enter your phone number
Error - please enter city of workplace
Error - please select your country or region
Error - please enter your company

Thank you for your interest

Your request has been submitted to our teams and we will be in touch shortly. Please click on the button below if you want to submit another request or if you have another query for us.

Something went wrong!

Your request could not be sent at this time. Please try again later, or contact support if the issue persists