Case Study – Coca Cola
Coca Cola Enterprises, Sidcup, UK
How Fully Automatic Pigging Systems Increase Yields and Improve Efficiency in Soft Drink Production
Summary
- HPS designed, supplied and implemented three fully-automatic pigging systems at Coca-Cola Enterprises, Sidcup, Kent, UK
- The 2″ diameter systems deliver product from any one of four tanks to a filling machine
- During clean in place and sterilisation all pigging system product contact surfaces are cleaned as part of the cycle
- The systems resulted in a 4% increase in product yield
- This equates to the equivalent of 48,000 extra cans per week of the popular soft drink
- Using pigging also helps towards the company’s sustainability goals.
About Coca-Cola Enterprises Sidcup
Coca Cola Enterprises in Sidcup, UK factory started production in 1961.
Today, it employs around 280 staff, has six manufacturing lines and produces over 42 million cases of drinks every year. It produces many of the most popular Coca-Cola drinks including Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Life, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, Dr Pepper, Sprite, Schweppes, Powerade, Lilt and Fanta.
Project Background
Coca-Cola Enterprises is one of the company’s largest bottlers in Europe, and their Sidcup facility in south-east London is their second biggest site in the UK. The company approached HPS to discuss using pigging to increase product yield, reduce effluent, speed up changeovers and improve product integrity during clean in place (CIP).
Why Coca-Cola Enterprises Chose HPS as their Pigging Systems Provider
HPS has a strong reputation as the world’s leading hygienic and sanitary pigging systems specialists, and has a proven track record of successful projects which deliver high return on investment (ROI), rapid payback, and that exceed their client’s expectations. In addition, HPS has worked with a wide variety of companies that manufacture soft drinks, juices and other beverages. These include other Coca-Cola processing and bottling plants in the UK and elsewhere. So, Coca-Cola knew they could rely on HPS to deliver high-quality, effective and reliable product recovery (pigging) solutions.
The Solution
HPS designed and supplied three Fully Automatic Filling Pigging Systems for Coca Cola Enterprises in Sidcup, UK.
The 2″ diameter systems deliver product from any one of four tanks to a filling machine. For example, canning Line 6 (150ml cans), transfers concentrated syrup from any one of four supply tanks. The design incorporated pigging from the last tank, past all other tanks to accommodate the flexibility of using any one of the four tanks to serve the line. Syrup is pigged into a balance tank which has high and low level sensors. Should the high level sensor activate during pigging the propellant behind the Pig, nitrogen in this case, is vented behind it. Once the low level signal is received the propellant is opened again to allow the pig to proceed (gently) to the balance tank.
During clean in place and sterilisation, the pig, pig housing, launch valve and receive return station are cleaned as part of the cycle. The final rinse water is pigged out of the line so that the next syrup is transferred to the balance tank without any risk of dilution.
The Results
The primary aims of the project were to reduce product waste, increase yield, speed up product changeovers, and reduce effluent and other waste to help towards sustainability.
The three pigging systems make significant product savings, and they have improved process efficiency and waste reduction through highly effective product recovery.
Effluent is reduced because nearly all product is now canned and not lost to drain. Changeovers are much faster because there is no waiting on product to drain from the line. Product integrity is also improved because CIP water does not come in to contact with product at start up.
Importantly, product yields have improved significantly and have shown an increase of approximately 4%. This is the equivalent of 48000 extra cans per week.