KHS uses advanced simulations to prevent spillage in beverage filling

When bottles are filled to high capacities, liquid can splash and escape from the container, affecting both the efficiency and hygiene of the process. To prevent this, KHS performs complex calculations from the design phase of its machines.

To ensure safe filling and minimize losses, it is necessary to consider the physics of the liquid. During the passage of the container from the transfer star to the closing system, the high rotation speeds generate centrifugal forces that can cause splashing. Even if it is only a few drops per can, with up to 90,000 fillings per hour, the volume of product lost can be significant.

Hygiene is also affected: spills of sugary drinks soil the necks and caps of the bottles, even potentially generating mold, and at the same time contaminate the machine itself, increasing the frequency of cleaning and reducing production time.

Two types of key parameters

Since 2013, KHS development engineer Dominik Weirich has used CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) calculations to anticipate and control the effect of the moving liquid.

“With higher filling yields, the technology approaches its physical limits, so we must consider splashing when designing the machine,” explains Weirich.