South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

Hot fill Packaging: 8 Key Aspects

Y.Somasundaram South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

Hot fill: Packaging Objectives

To pack fruit base drinks without or with minimum preservatives.
Natural flavor preserved. No sodium salts.

Transparent family size packing. Easy and convenient means to dispense content as per need. Unbreakable. Recyclable.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

PET bottles - Hot fill & Aseptic (USA)

3500 3000 3100 2700 2000 Fruit juices 1500 1000 500 0 Fruit juices 600 2000 600 2001 1200 2002 2000 2003 2700 2004 3100 1200

Bottles (million)

2500 2000

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

Hot fill Indian Scenario

Launched by Maa fruits, Dharmapuri & Fruitnik at Chennai in end 2003.
28 mm Thick neck bottles, with higher Tg resins. Neck crystallized bottles. 500 / 1000 ml bottles

Pepsi launched its hot fill with Slice in 2004.

Neck crystallized bottles. 28 mm Alcoa neck. 500ml bottle.

Coke followed with Maaza in the same year.

Neck crystallized bottles. 28 mm Alcoa neck. 500ml bottle.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

What is Hot, for a Hot fill

Hot fill temperature (82 deg C)
High acid fruit drinks (< 4.5 pH)

Hot fill temperature (92 deg C)

Low acid fruit drinks (> 4.5 pH > 6.0) Ex. Tomato juice, low acid tea (green tea)

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

1: Resin (PET)

Faster rate of Crystallization. Easy process ability.

PET Homo polymer. Lower IV = 0.76 dl/g.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

2: Preform
High wall thickness to yield thicker bottle. Optimum design for strain hardening & crystallinity. Too much stretching can lead to residual stresses at final bottle, leading to higher shrinkage Crystallized neck to withstand temperature during filling. Wide / thick neck to avoid contact of hot liquid & deformation.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

3: Bottle design
Panels to absorb and dissipate vacuum created in bottle during cooling of content. Base ribs to withstand temperature and liquid filling force. Rigid circular ribs withstand deforming forces. Higher post mold shrinkage allowance in mold design.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

6: Blowing process

Higher preform temperature for blowing. Hot blow mold surfaces to increase the bottle wall crystallinity through thermal crystallization. Reduce the orientation stresses in the bottle wall. Internal cooling of bottle by stretch rod, to harden inner wall before ejection. Quick opening of mold cavities to avoid softening of bottle wall after cooling.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

4: Bottle Performance
Less than 1% thermal shrinkage on hot filling conditions. Base clearance to be maintained. No unequal deformation in base leading to tilting / rocking of bottles. No warping at neck seal surface. No leakage at seal surface.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

5: Closures
Closure material to take care of content temperature at filling. Single piece closure to avoid the effect of warping of wad. Sealing surfaces to take care of the expansion & shrinkage during filling and cooling.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

7: Filling process
Fill close to brimful in crystallized neck finish. Fill up to NSR (Neck Support Ring) in non-crystallized neck finish. Contact of high temperature filling head with the Non-crystallized neck finish avoided. Quick capping, to avoid product contact with ambient air & cooling. Caps to be sterilized before capping.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

8: Conditioning

Tilt bottle to wet & warm the closure immediately after capping. Water shower the bottle to lower temperature, before putting on shrink sleeve label. Water quality in shower to be clean, in order to avoid mold growth between the bottle & shrink film / pilfer proof ring.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

Advantages over TetraPak

Content is visible, gives customer the feel of the product. User can see the quantity left out in the container after use. Environment friendly, easily recyclable. Higher top load strength so more products can be stacked and stored in smaller space & also transported without damage.

South Asian Petrochem Ltd.

Hot fill Packaging

New development
Panel-less Hot fill bottle