Liquid Packaging Systems for Cleaners and Chemicals

With a wide range of different cleaners and chemicals on the market, the packaging machinery used to prepare them for customers will be just as wide ranging. Cleaners and chemicals come in a number of different packages depending on their intended use. In addition, some products themselves may require special packaging machinery or contain ingredients that require special packaging machinery. Below is a quick look at the main pieces of packaging equipment that will be used for such products and the options for those products.

RINSING MACHINES

Rinsing machines are used to remove dust and debris from containers before product is introduced. When dealing with cleaners and chemicals, this can sometimes be a very important step in the packaging process. Dust and debris can contaminate products that necessarily need to be pure for their intended use. While not every packaging system for cleaners and chemicals will include container cleaning equipment, many will use an air rinser, wet rinser or bottle vacuum prior to introducing product to avoid product contamination.

FILLING MACHINES

Several different filling machines can be employed to move cleaners and chemicals into bottles or other containers. The biggest factor with cleaners and chemicals, however, is how they interact with the construction materials used for manufacturing the filling machines. Typically, filling machines will be manufactured using a stainless steel frame and many stainless steel components. However, when working with chemicals, some react in a negative way with the steel. When this is the case, filling equipment, and sometimes other machinery found in a packaging system, will be manufactured using an HDPE material to avoid corrosion and prolong the useful life of the equipment. However, even when the stainless steel is replaced with the HDPE material, different filling principles can still be used to achieve cosmetic or volumetric fills.

CAPPING MACHINES

Capping machines for cleaners and chemicals, just like any other industry, will be determined by the type of closure being used for the specific project. Screw-on caps, snap caps and other closures may be found on cleaners and chemicals, as well as unique closures and inserts such as spouts or fixtures. In most cases, however, modification of the capping machines specifically because of the product will not be necessary, meaning that standard cappers will only need to be built to the specification of the caps. When modification is necessary, it will usually be to remove fumes or protect against a hazardous environment.

LABELING EQUIPMENT

Labeling machines typically enter the equation after the product has been placed in the bottle and sealed. Therefore, once again modification of the labeler simply because a chemical or cleaner is being packaged is seldom necessary. Like the bottle cappers, modification might be necessary if a harsh product creates a hazardous environment due to fumes. Otherwise, labeling equipment can be used to apply labels in a variety of manners, from wraps to front and back labels to panel formats.

Each of the pieces of packaging equipment described above can also be manufactured in different levels of automation. For those with lower production, the machinery may consist of simple tabletop equipment. For others, with large production demands, the equipment may all be automated with a power conveyor to move containers from one packaging process to the next. Power conveyors may, as discussed in the Filling Machines section above, also be manufactured using stainless steel or HDPE depending on the products being run.

For more information on packaging systems for cleaners and chemicals, contact the Packaging Specialist at LPS today, or check out our website and look for Cleaners and Chemicals for a few sample systems for the industry.