LANXESS presents Velcorin cold-fill technology innovations at FI Asia 2022

German specialty chemicals company LANXESS is exhibiting from October 5 to 7 its Velcorin beverage cold sterilization technology at the Food Ingredients Asia 2022 trade show in Bangkok, the leading meeting place for Southeast Asia’s food and beverage industry.

Velcorin is used worldwide as a stabilizer across many beverage categories – from carbonated soft drinks, iced tea, juices as well as sport and energy drinks through to mixed beer drinks, cider and wine. Innovations presented include the new generation of Velcorin DT Motion dosing units ensuring reliable, high-precision addition of the cold sterilization agent to the beverage, as well as new internally coated aluminum bottles specially developed for storing and transporting Velcorin that will be used all over the world as break-proof and easily recyclable packaging in future.

The use of Velcorin can also help companies to achieve their sustainability targets, primarily by reducing energy consumption when switching from hot filling or tunnel pasteurization to cold filling. Consequently, PET bottles with lower wall thicknesses can be used compared to hot filling leading to less PET usage.

“We’re not only offering a highly effective solution for the energy-saving cold sterilization of beverages, but also possess the expertise required to analyze production facilities and processes at a microbial level and highlight any optimization potential,” Pegah Jabbari Lak, Product Manager Asia-Pacific for the Beverage Technology business line of the LANXESS Material Protection Products (MPP) business unit, said.

In this context, the company runs two labs specialized in application technology and equipped with state-of-the-art chemical and microbiological analysis equipment. Support for small- and large-scale filling trials and assistance in regulatory matters round off the portfolio.

Ready for Industry 4.0

The new generation of dosing units is based on the tried-and-tested mechanical design of the Velcorin DT Touch series, albeit enhanced and refined to take account of more sophisticated user requirements. Velcorin DT Motion, for example, offers a higher degree of automation and digitalization than its predecessor but with zero compromise in safety and reliability. Along with improved software and a more intuitive user interface, various interfaces enable the transfer of data and displays, ensuring that the new generation meets the ever more stringent requirements of Industry 4.0. The equipment has an IoT gateway for data backup, software updates and improved maintenance management – even by remote control.

Among its new, time-saving features are automated preparation for production and constant monitoring and adjustment of the specified dosing rate during the filling process itself The plug-and-play design of Velcorin DT Motion means that it can be easily integrated in new and existing plants.

New packaging replaces glass bottles

LANXESS is also showcasing its latest packaging for Velcorin at Food Ingredients Asia. The internally coated aluminum bottles specially developed for storing and transporting Velcorin will replace the glass bottles used until now. The new aluminum bottles not only increase the shelf life of Velcorin from 12 to 18 months but are also approved for transportation by air – two key benefits in this age of global logistics bottlenecks.

This new packaging, however, was developed primarily in response to the increasingly widespread no-glass policies enforced by customers in their production areas. In addition, customers can feed these lightweight, break-proof containers back into the material cycles, avoiding the need to collect and return them.

T.H (Vietnam Business Forum)