How Octopi Brewing got rid of residual beer, wetness during can drying

Established in 2015, contract brewery Octopi Brewing has become a one-stop shop in Wisconsin for consulting, beverage recipes, supplier selection, design, merchandising, and equipment and construction sourcing. One of their main focuses is filling cans to be shipped. 

Octopi built a new can line in their Wisconsin facility that moves cans on a single file plastic flat conveyor belt at 330 cans per minute. After filling and sealing, the cans go through washdown process, using water to remove residual beer from outside of the can. You know the drill.

Octopi had concerns about the drying process though. The seam area of the can needs to be completely dry, but the seam is a difficult place to dry because it is very easy for liquid to get trapped due to the different surface levels of the can and can lid. If there is any remaining liquid left on the can, it will cause the can and seam to oxidize. Another concern for Octopi is removing all liquid from the sides of the can. Once the cans are rinsed, the outside of the cans will be wet with a mixture of water and residual beer. To prevent the cans from being sticky, they need to be completely dry before packaging. 

Solution

Octopi contacted Paxton Products looking for a solution not only to dry the can and the seam but also remove all remaining water and residual beer before the cans are put into cartons. The Paxton Team determined that the contract packager’s wet can problem could be eliminated using the patent-pending CanDryer powered by a 10 hp PX-1000 ultra-high efficiency centrifugal blower.

Paxton’s CanDryer incorporates two air knife slots and six nozzles into a single manifold. The CanDryer will remove liquid from the sides, top and seams from multiple sizes of cans, as the mounting system includes an integral crank arm to move the CanDryer manifold up and down as needed.

Using the CanDryer, Octopi was able to improve product quality due to removal of residual beer and complete drying of the cans. Consistent quality is ensured as the CanDryer eliminates any drying variability due to positioning of conventional air knives, while facilitating can size line changeovers due to the easy crank arm adjustment. The CanDryer manifold also improves safety by restricting water spray. Additionally, the CanDryer has a much smaller footprint than a conventional air knife drying system, preserving valuable space on the line.