Mobile Microbrewery Bottling Trailer – F20.49.1

Acknowledgements

Project Advisor: Professor Michael Yost

Technical Advisor: Dr. Stephen Geer, Andrew Ferguson

Video

Elevator Pitch

The current design is unique to other mobile canning solutions. The entire line is fully operational and fully mobile within the trailer itself.  This means setup time is significantly reduced and the process is not intrusive to the microbrewery’s daily operation. Our canning line has been designed to utilize  CODI’s customizable products to ensure compatibility between each subsystem. This design also guarantees a moderate output of 6,000 cans per day easily matching the output of well-established breweries. The economic potential of this venture cannot be stated with words alone but can be easily shown through our projected return on investments detailed later on the project.

Design Approach

Design Solution

After iterating through multiple designs, the final product was chosen to be placed in a 53-foot semi-trailer over a 43-foot semi-trailer to maintain proper storage while still leaving enough space for employees to move around inside. Codi Manufacturing was selected to be the sole vendor of the canning line and canning accessories for their product reliability, unique solution to filling cans, and extensive catalog in supporting parts necessary for a fully operational canning line. Since a majority of the equipment utilizes pneumatic solenoids a 10 HP compressor will be used to supply a total volumetric flow rate of 35 cfm to each of the following products.

Depalletizer and Twist Rinse

The canning line begins at the DPL-250 depalletizer. Here the cans will be removed from incoming pallets and placed onto the canning line to feed directly into the twist rinse where the cans are inverted, rinsed, and then blown out with compressed air.

Filler And Seamer

A proper filler must be chosen to perfectly fit the mobile application. To be a competitor in the current market, the filler must produce at least 50 cans per minute and minimize dissolved oxygen within the beverage. Dissolved oxygen will ruin the flavor and desired carbonation levels that make a beer product enjoyable. The filler of choice is the Codi Manufacturing CCL-45. With a fill rate of 55 cans per minute, the CCL-45 provides a competitive output. The counter-pressure filling system offers some of the lowest dissolved oxygen levels in the market. The CCL-45 comes with an integrated HMI display to easily keep track of the canning process and built-in spill pans to prevent any large messes during the filling process. After the cans are filled, this machine also places and seals the lids of the cans. Before the cans can be labeled they must go through a rinse and dry machine to be prepped for the next step of labeling. 

PL-501 Labeller

The purpose of a beer can label, beyond providing FDA-required information, is to catch the eye of a prospective customer and be a reflection of the brewery. Besides visual appeal, labels should also be cost-effective, space effective, and remain tough in different conditions. Several options were considered for labeling and were run through a decision matrix. Ultimately it was determined that a standard BOPP (biaxially-orientated polypropylene) wrap-around labeler would be used due to its simplicity, small footprint, rate of output, and moisture resistance. Plastic-backed labels with dairy adhesive will be used to display the brewery’s can art. The machine of choice is the Pack Leader PL-501 Wrap Around Labelling System.

Packager 

Packaging is the final stage of the canning process. The packaging process needs to be quick and easy to ensure that it does not back up the entire process. Packaging also has to allow cases to be stacked easily and should be visually appealing to potential customers. Several options were run through a decision matrix. It was determined that Paktech carriers should be used due to their recyclability, high rate of output, and ability to display the can art. The machine of choice is the CODI Manufacturing Paktech Applicator.

Cleaning Procedure

To minimize cross-contamination between various clients’ beverages, a proper clean-in-place procedure will be implemented. This will also help maintain proper safety standards and minimize mold and bacteria growth in the filler lines as well as in the inside of the trailer. A seven-step procedure will be put in place to effectively clean the filling system and remove any excess liquid from the lines to prevent freezing in storage during the winter months.

1. Fill internal brewing pot with 10 gallons of hot water
2. Mix in 4 scoops (8 oz each) of Super No-Rinse line cleaner
3. Recirculate hot cleaning solution between CCL-45 filler and brewery pot
4. Replace hot inlet intake line with cold water line from the brewery and flush with cold water into a 30-gallon grey water tank
5. Perform visual, conductivity, and cleanliness tests to determine the effectiveness
6. Repeat steps 1-5 if not fully cleaned
7. Blow out liquid lines with compressed air to prevent freezing during storage

Next Steps

The current design is complete, but it is based on many assumptions that had to be made while the trailer is still a design and is not yet being constructed. All necessary systems and subsystems have been outlined, and products such as the CODI CCL-45 and Twist Rinse have been selected, but the finer details involved in putting them all together and getting the trailer to operate as intended may change. A team picking up this design should take these subsystems and products and further refine them as necessary for the final construction of the trailer.
The creation of a detailed marketing plan is crucial to the success of the product. This report proves the economic viability of the product assuming a certain number of clients, but does not include a method of retaining these clients. The next steps should include a detailed marketing plan to advertise, market, and pitch the service. Economic analysis of the operation of the trailer is preliminary because of its many assumptions. The numbers used and analysis of the market should be updated as the product begins to operate and more concrete data becomes available.

Meet the Team