You are likely to be aware that large areas of Europe are experiencing an extreme shortage of CO2.

As a result, the major gas companies are issuing letters to their customers warning of significantly reduced or no supply of CO2 for the immediate future.

The good news: KC Controls has an alternate for some applications; in some applications it is possible to replace CO2 with nitrogen gas.
One of these applications is for counter pressure filling of carbonated beverages and soft drinks.

Traditionally CO2 has been used to pressurise bottles before they are filled with the carbonated beverage or soft drink. The reason for this is that without this pressure the carbonated drink would foam as it is injected into the bottle and cause overflowing, wasted product and part filled bottles, along with a big mess on the floor. The counter pressure in the bottle keeps the CO2 in the beverage in solution.

The layout above depicts a typical system for replacing CO2 for counter pressure filling with Parker on-site generated food grade nitrogen gas.

The aim of the chiller is to keep the nitrogen temperature below 10°C. The reason for this is that the higher the temperature of the carbonated drink and counter pressure gas, the more the CO2 tries to come out of solution and cause foaming.

The nitrogen system cannot replace the CO2 used for the actual carbonation process to make the drink “fizzy” but it can alleviate some of the CO2 usage and possibly help keep bottling plants operating at full capacity even with reduced CO2 availability.

In addition, the lower cost of generated nitrogen compared to CO2 cylinders and bulk liquid will help to reduce expenditure and offer significant savings. Less CO2 used in the process also means less CO2 released into the atmosphere, reducing “greenhouse gas” emissions.

If you would like to discuss how KC Controls can help reduce reliance on CO2 while achieving significant cost savings – fill out the contact form below and a representative will get in touch!