PERMEX ENSURES ACCURATE FILLING ON BULMERS NEW TRADITIONAL RACKING CIDER LINE

Fast turnaround in design and manufacture has helped liquids handling specialists Permex Ltd to bring a cider production line on stream, on schedule.

The 10.5 metre long Permex filling line now serving the Bulmers plant in Hereford was commissioned with cider only thirteen weeks after the order was first placed!

The name H.P. Bulmer has long been associated with fine quality British cider. At the 100 year old Cider Mill in Hereford ciders are still made in the traditional manner, but modern production technology is used wherever possible to speed output with no compromise in quality.

Yeast culture is added to some of Bulmers ciders just prior to cask filling. The yeast then works in the cask to produce a final cider product with a strong traditional flavour.

Recent major redevelopment includes the building of a new line for filling traditional ciders.

The system designed and engineered by Permex to fill casks on the new line with cider is based round two of the company's latest Gazelle filling machines. The Gazelle has been specially designed to meet the requirements of modern conveyor and weigh platform filling applications. All pipes, hoses and valves within the system are constructed from materials compatible with the cider product - PTFE and 316 stainless steel internally polished and suitable for Clean In Place (CIP) treatment.

Clean casks leaving from the washing station are advanced two at a time by conveyor into the filling area and aligned in relation to the twin Gazelle filling heads.

A filling lance is automatically inserted into the base of each cask and filling commences.

The process is monitored by an electromagnetic flowmeter used in association with a Permex MicroBatch Plus batch controller which proportions the rate of withdrawal of the filling head in relation to the rate of fill.

This carefully phased withdrawal is achieved by means of an adjustable pneumatic "stepping" mechanism used in association with the Norgren Lintra rodless cylinder which lifts the filling lance. A stream of pulsed signals generated by the Permex MicroBatch Plus unit activates this mechanism to withdraw the lance in step with the rising level of cider in the cask. This mechanism was specially developed by Norgren in conjunction with Permex for the Bulmers project.

After filling, casks exit the filling station and along a plastic chain conveyor with a stainless steel mechanical structure onto a two cask hold for "capping" and are then allowed to accumulate upstream of the off loading position.

The Permex engineering team which designed the complete filling and associated mechanical handling system has made provision for a check weigher to be installed at this point should future legislation require it.

The Permex system is capable of filling 180, five gallon (22.73 litres) cider casks every hour with an accuracy of + or - 0.2% or better.

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