Pressurizing Bottles for Water, Flavored Drinks and Other Beverages
Enhancing the Production and Delivery of Beverages with Food-grade Nitrogen
Increasing the Strength of Bottles with Liquid Nitrogen
Many non-carbonated beverages such as flavored waters, juice, teas and other specialty products are delivered to the consumer in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles. Over time, plastic bottles have become thinner in response to environmental and cost pressures. However, this has reduced the weight of PET polymers in the bottles, resulting in thinner, weaker bottle walls. After filling, bottles must be stackable so they can be transported to the point of sale. With thinner walls, weak bottles at the bottom of a pallet buckle under the weight of the bottles above, creating unsafe conditions and costly product losses.
This problem can be avoided by pressurizing the bottles with liquid nitrogen. A drop of liquid nitrogen (N2) is added to the headspace of the finished product. The gas vaporizes inside the bottle and expands to 682 times its liquid volume. This increases the internal pressure and robustness of the bottle for easy stacking. We supply the liquid nitrogen (LIN) needed for the LIN dosing systems commonly used in bottling facilities. These systems add a droplet of LIN and trap it by immediately capping the bottle.
Versatile Gas with Multiple Use Cases
The benefits of N2 are not limited to bottle pressurization. Because N2 is inert, removing the O2 in the headspace also protects the drink against oxidation, which can lead to drink spoilage and lost revenues. Other use cases for this versatile gas include undercover gassing, where inert N2 gas is used to displace (strip) highly reactive O2 just prior to sealing or capping. In addition, N2 can help reduce foaming, protect flavors, retain desired colors, and maintain the integrity of your product. It can also be used for purging and line pressurization to maintain consistent beverage quality throughout your process and packaging operations.