Arlington Packaging, a UK supplier of Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) solutions, has developed a system for highly viscous materials that it says will minimise product waste and eliminate the costs associated with handling such materials.
Called Air Assist, the new system uses a dual-layered bag and compressed air to ensure that product can be successfully and easily extracted from its bulk packaging.
In pre-launch trials the system typically pumped out 98% of product from the Air Assist packaging, which is a substantial improvement on conventional packaging techniques where it is common for substantial quantities of residual product to remain, even after time-consuming and costly manual or mechanical product extraction is attempted, the Wiltshire firm said.
‘Traditionally, high residual waste levels have been tolerated as there has not been an effective packaging solution for such products despite the reduced profitability and squeezed margins incurred by anybody producing, storing or transporting such viscous substances,’ said Harry Fairbank, managing director of Arlington Packaging. ‘Clearly, the more expensive the product, the bigger the loss.’
Fairbank said the Air Assist technology makes this a problem of the past and will transform productivity for any manufacturer that uses or produces such viscous products.
The system features a triple-layered standard PE liner, and compressed air is blown between the outer and inner layer to push the product towards the bag’s standard discharge fitments. In this way, the compressed air squeezes viscous materials from four directions (back, bottom and both sides) at a consistent preset pressure into the system’s pump, which pushes the content through the liner bag’s outlet nozzle. The user simply connects the air and pumps out the product.
The air is blown between the bag’s two layers of film and never comes into contact with the contents, which means the system can be irradiated and safely used with pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, foodstuffs and in other aseptic applications.
