Minimizing dissolved oxygen (DO) during canning is crucial for preserving beverage quality, preventing oxidation, and extending shelf life. High DO levels can cause off-flavors, discoloration, and reduced freshness in beer, soft drinks, and other beverages. To achieve optimal canning results, manufacturers must use counter-pressure filling, CO₂ purging, precise seaming, and real-time DO monitoring. Beyond Machinery provides advanced canning solutions that help control oxygen levels, ensuring superior product stability and taste.
Beyond Machinery: Your Partner for Canning Needs
Beyond Machinery is a provider of advanced canning and packaging machinery and solutions. The machinery we provide is cutting-edge and will keep dissolved oxygen levels low, your product tasting wonderful, and production running smoothly. Our machinery will help keep your beverages exactly how you intended them to taste and for how long they should last while running your operation at peak efficiency.
Why Must You Control Dissolved Oxygen When Canning?
Dissolved oxygen (DO) wreaks havoc on the quality, taste, and shelf life of your canned product. Too much oxygen leads to oxidation that destroys flavor, nutritional value, and product life. If you can control dissolved oxygen, you can stabilize your product and keep your customers happy.
What Causes Dissolved Oxygen to be High in Cans?
- How you fill the product into the can.
- How well the can is sealed up.
- The conditions during processing the product into the can.
- How the product in the can, including the can itself, is handled and stored before it gets to your customers.
Strategies to Achieve Low Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Absorption
- Optimize Your Filling System
- Counter-Pressure Filling: A counter-pressure filler will help to keep your CO₂ in solution and prevent oxygen pickup which is crucial for anything carbonated.
- Foaming: Control foaming during the last fill stage (e.g., by controlling temp and CO₂) to create an awesome CO₂ blanket.
- Double Pre-Evac: Some of the more sophisticated canning lines use a double pre-evac system to remove remaining air before filling.
- CO₂ Purging & Rinsing
- Pre-Purge Cans: Before filling, flush empty cans with inert gas like CO₂ or nitrogen to get rid of the oxygen in the headspace.
- Spray Gas: Just before you seam the can, apply a fine mist of CO₂ or nitrogen to knock down any remaining oxygen.
- Seaming & Inspection
- Seamer: A poorly set seamer can introduce micro-leaks and sucking in oxygen. Make sure to check and calibrate the can seamer regularly.
- Vacuum leak check: Check the seams of your cans periodically to make sure they’re air tight.
- Temperature
- Fill at the Lowest Possible Temperature: The lower the fill temp (0-2°C / 32-35°F for beer), the less oxygen that’s absorbed and the less foaming you’ll have that can trap oxygen.
- Monitor & Control DO Level
- Inline DO Meters: Use a real-time dissolved oxygen sensor to immediately see and correct if you’re taking on oxygen.
- Sample Test: Periodically test for DO at various points (after fill, after seam, etc.) to monitor for weak points in your process.
- Implement a Nitrogen Dosing System (Still Beverages)
For anything that’s not carbonated, injecting a dose of nitrogen helps to push out oxygen while also helping to keep the can intact.
- How to Build Low Oxygen Canning Equipment
Modular Equipment Design
Having a modular system designed to meet your production rate while keeping DO low is ideal.
- Expandable filling heads with additional heads to increase throughput while keeping DO low.
- Seam compatible with your existing canning line to minimize downtime.
Automated Control
You can automate and coordinate DO control with our equipment.
- Real-time DO monitoring sensor measures oxygen levels and ensures compliance with your standards.
- Monitoring of temperature and pressure during filling.
- Automatically adjust filling parameters to optimize DO levels during production.
CIP (Clean-in-Place) Functionality
Minimize oxidation risk by never letting any contamination happen due to unclean machinery.
- Enable thorough cleaning without disassembly to minimize downtime.
- Prevention of oxygen thanks through contamination or residue from previous batches.
- Automated assurance that every batch meets safety and quality standards.
- Real People Working the Equipment
It doesn’t matter how great the equipment is. If the people don’t know what they’re doing, your quality is going to suffer. Make sure your people understand the problems with oxygen and how to follow the best practices when it comes to purging, filling, and seaming. We offer training programs that will help get your people using the equipment correctly and at peak performance.
Industry Benchmarks for DO Control
Here are some key levels of dissolved oxygen in various industries:
- Beer: < 30 ppb (parts per billion)
- Soft Drinks: < 100 ppb
- Wine & Spirits: < 100 ppb
Mistakes and Ideas
- Seams not sealed properly. Use appropriate technologies to ensure sealing.
- Gas flushing isn’t proportional before and after filling.
- No real-time monitoring of DO.
- Equipment maintenance and service are neglected.
Conclusion
Beyond Machinery designs the best canning technology to optimize dissolved oxygen levels to make your product taste fresh, last longer, and keep your customers satisfied. Use the suggestions and information here plus our expertise to deliver the best product quality while maximizing beverage canning operational efficiency.
