SECOMAK SOLVES BOTTLE DRYING DILEMMA AT HIGHLAND SPRING

Secomak has helped Highland Spring solve a bottle drying dilemma at its state-of-the-art Perthshire bottling plant.

Highland spring, have a very high profile image, and the shape and presentation of their blow-moulded bottles are quite distinctive. In profile they are almost square, and extra care was required to ensure the best possible presentation was maintained.

As the spring water is bottled cold, straight from the mountain spring, condensation can occur on the outside of the bottle, which in turn leads to difficulties in applying the label directly on to a wet surface.

A SECOMAK POWERSTRP DRYING SYSTEM was selected as the best drying system to remove the troublesome condensation at very high production rates, prior to labelling, ensuring that the labels are presented perfectly on the bottle.

At high production speeds, it becomes necessary to expose as much of the surface area of the bottle to the drying effect of the airknives, and SECOMAKS special container guidance system achieved this, as well as dealing with the added problem that the bottles are square in section. It would not have been possible to achieve this with standard conveyor guide rails.

" We are very happy with the Powerstrip system," said Engineering Manager John Calderhead.

"The bottle guidance system works well and the air knives are efficient even at high line speeds. The acoustic cabinet also keeps the noise down to an acceptable level."

Modular in design, Powerstrip systems can be custom-built for each specific application. They are available in various forms, and are of modular construction, allowing for machines suitable for 200-600-1200 and 1800 bottles per minute.

Secomak estimates that the Powerstrip can reduce drying costs by up to 90% when compared with compressed air or thermal drying systems. Maintenance costs are minimal, and expensive maintenance contracts are not required. Spares are backed by SECOMAKS 30 year reputation. ---