BEVERAGE PLANT

PROCESSES AND
EQUIPMENT
Christian Jade M. Lawas

College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering

MEng 156 – Manufacturing and Industrial Processes

Engineering Report No. 6
Second Semester, A.Y. 2020 – 2021

June 2, 2021
I. Introduction

The food and beverage is not only about estimating business strategies or putting together
effective social media campaigns. Not only beverages have also been a vital part of culture
since the creation of civilization, but also because the beverage industry has a fascinating
history. As time passes by, it's reasonable that there were several multiple changes in every
particular industry such as the beverage manufacturing that has proven to enhance its
operations, resulting in today’s modern great economic growth and profitability. The
beverage industry produces beverages and ready-to-drink goods such as soft drinks, energy
drinks, bottled water, nutritious drinks, and alcoholic beverages. In accordance with
organizational procedures and related technologies, the beverage industry has always been
a growing market standards.

This engineering report aims to provide a simplified description about Beverage Plant
Processes and Equipment to help readers and learners understand its processes and the
equipment used. This report will cover topics such as Tank Farm, Bottling Area, Fermentation
Vessels and the Bottling Line Processes.

II. Beverage Plant Processes and Equipment

Beverages are fluid that are supposed to be consumed. Beverages might be in the form of
substances such as tea, coffee, or milk, or they may be in the form of refreshers such as soft
drinks, juices, and also alcoholic beverages. These beverages are processed in a beverage
plantation which is processed thoroughly to get the exact taste and proper packaging of the
product. Alcoholic beverages such as beer is made by fermenting barley with yeast and
adding hops to the brew. Fermented malt drinks are what they're called.

Tank farm

Tank farm is the site where the fermenter or the fermentation vessels are located and the
processes of the beverage industry takes place such as wort being fermented to become a
beer.
 Fermentation Vessels – It is a container that is used to make beer from wort.
 Wort – It is the liquid obtained during the manufacturing of beer or whiskey from the
mashing process which contains sugar and the most important ingredient, the
maltose and malt triose which will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce
alcohol.

Bottling Area
 Bottling Area is where all bottling line processes takes place and where the bottling
equipment are located such as the depalletizer and palletizer, uncaser and case
packer, case washer, bottle washer, empty bottle inspector, filler, pasteurizer, and
labeler. The flow diagram below shows the flow of the bottling line processes.

Figure 1 - Bottling Line Processes

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Bottling Line Equipment

 Palletizer/Depalletizer - A palletizer is a piece of equipment that systematically sorts,

transports, and piles cases of production of goods onto a pallet, typically in a beverage
plant, it depalletize the bottles form the pallet at the beginning of the process and also
palletizes at the end of a production line. Automatic palletizing is ideal for high-volume
delivery. Palletizers ensure capacity stability, accuracy, and effectiveness.

Figure 2 – Palletizer/Depalletizer

 Uncaser/Case Packer – This machine takes the empty bottles out from the case that
uses suction to grip the bottles out of the case. At the end point of the production, this
caser is also used after the bottles have been refilled and labelled and ready for
packaging.

Figure 3 - Uncaser

 Case Washer – This equipment is used to wash the bottle cases to be used at the end
of the process to complete the package of the product.

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 Figure 4 – Case Washer
 Bottle Washer – This equipment is used to wash and sanitize the empty bottles before
it is used and refilled with beverages. It is a large machine consisting of jet sprays,
chain conveyors, filters, fans, boilers, and etc. This machine is maintained in order to
prolong its life and reduce errors in its work.

Figure 5 – Bottle Washer

 Empty Bottle Inspector – This machine decreases jams and rejections caused by
pollutants, defects, or faults in empty bottles. Before the filling procedure of
beverages, this machine examines the empty bottles to secure compliance and
accuracy.

Figure 6 – Empty Bottle Inspector

 Filler – It is used for filling beverages in a bottle. When bottles enter through this

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 machine, the filler then fills the liquid product into the bottles. The type of beverage
filling machine to be used is often decided by the type of product to be filled, speed
requirements, quality and storage period expectations, available resources,
technological feasibility, and a variety of other factors.

Figure 7 – Filler Machine

 Pasteurizer – It is an equipment that kills any microorganisms present in the

beverage. The microorganisms in a liquid can be eradicated by heating it to a high
temperature. Pasteurization is used in the brewing process to prevent the
development of yeast that may stay in the beer after bottling.

Figure 8 – Pasteurizer

 Labeler – It is the equipment responsible in putting brand and information labels on

the bottles after being refilled with liquid contents. For returnable glass bottles, cold
glue is used as a patch, and hot – melt glue is used as a wraparound label. This
machine is very important since it is the one who puts brand labels, including its
product information on the container, and package on the bottles that will be
distributed for the consumers.

Figure 9 - Labeler

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The mentioned equipment in this report are very useful to companies that are involved in
bottling line processes since they are the major components in a beverage plantation in order
for the plant to work. Without them, the processes will be delayed and may cost more money,
and it can have a positive influence on the end result if the equipment are complete which will
make the process a lot faster and it will not consume too much time on a specific process
since these equipment are already programmed to its specific functions and can work
simultaneously.

III. Conclusions and Recommendations

Beverage plantations nowadays use modern machinery and equipment in order to precisely
produce the product that they are making without any hassles. In the bottling line processes,
the equipment used in the operations are to be secured that no errors will occur while the
operation is still going on. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a daily maintenance to
prevent delay in the operations. In alcoholic beverage production, the primary fermentation
process is one of the most significant aspects of beer manufacturing. The wort is processed
into beer throughout this operation. The dynamics of wort characteristics determine the
quality of beer and the major brewing process takes days and takes time and money. That is
why these equipment must be checked daily to ensure that it is working properly and to
ensure the quality of the products that is being processed.

As an engineering student, identifying and having knowledge about the process in bottling
line processes and the devices and equipment used in the beverage plantation is good since
we will be facing these devices when we will be employed in a beverage plant site.

IV. References

1. C. Teodora, M. Elena, S. Călin and C. Emil, The Brewing Process: Optimizing the
Fermentation 2014, volume 71
2. International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science Technology. ISSN 2249-3050,
Volume 4, Number 5 (2013), pp. 421-430
3. Figure 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_76uSYna_Ac
4. Figure 2 - https://www.packagingstrategies.com/articles/95246-finding-the-best-
solutions-for-palletizing-depalletizing
5. Figure 3 - https://www.agertank.com/item/krones_uncaser_case_packer/
6. Figure 4 - https://www.internationalthermalsystems.com/case-pallet-washer-
systems/case-washer-single/
7. Figure 5 - https://www.vekamaf.com/equipment/industrial-bottle-washing-machine/
8. Figure 6 -
http://www.clima.net.cn/Machine/Water_Bottling_Machine/Water_Bottling_Machine_
17.html
9. Figure 7 - https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/beer-bottle-filling-machine-
14468759430.html
10. Figure 8 - https://www.smartmachine.com/why-use-a-tunnel-pasteurizer-for-beer/
11. Figure 9 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_76uSYna_Ac

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