The high-end test line of Zhongchen Light Machinery has successfully gone into operation at the headquarters of Budweiser Anheuser-Busch in Wuhan.

AB InBev, the world's leading brewer, is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with one of its China headquarters located in Wuhan. AB InBev's dream is to "be the world's best beer company, brewing a better world," and its quality control and management standards are among the strictest in the beer industry. 

In 2013, we learned that Anheuser-Busch InBev was planning to build a high-end test line that could integrate glass bottles and PET bottles and fill a variety of products (beer, beverages, water, etc.) at its headquarters factory in Wuhan, China. After multiple in-depth technical exchanges with senior executives and project managers of Anheuser-Busch InBev, we provided the users with several reasonable suggestions for improvement and received high recognition from both the headquarters and the factory. Ultimately, we won this valuable order. 

In terms of overall strength, Zhongchen Light Machinery is one of the few Chinese companies that can integrate beverage and beer filling and packaging technologies, as well as glass and plastic bottle common bottling lines, which perfectly aligns with the main objective of this project. With years of rich design, manufacturing, and service experience in well-known multinational beer and beverage industries such as Carlsberg and PepsiCo, Zhongchen Light Machinery has firmly established a good market image as one of the most well-known and reputable enterprises in the beer and beverage industry. 

In terms of innovative strength, this high-end test line integrates four core technologies: electronic valve filling technology, probe-based electronic valve filling technology, pure beer filling technology, and PET bottle beer filling technology based on long tube filling. These four core technologies represent the most advanced research and application results of beer and beverage filling technologies in the industry at present. 

The main technical difficulties of this production line are: the filling machine needs to be suitable for both glass bottles and PET bottles, and a single filling machine needs to be used to fill beer (including lager and fresh beer), drinks, and water. Obviously, ordinary mechanical valves cannot efficiently meet these requirements. Therefore, based on the mature application of electronic valves, for glass bottles, we decided to adopt an electronic valve filling technology based on probes and secondary vacuum extraction; for PET bottles, we adopted a long tube filling valve with electronic probe metering and CO2 replacement. For rinsing, we used dual-channel electronic valve rinsing with multiple rinsing media (disinfectant water, clean water, sterile compressed air), and adjusted the rinsing and draining time online. In terms of lid treatment, this machine has both a crimping machine and a screw-capping machine, which are suitable for both crown caps and plastic caps. In addition, a super-clean positive pressure filling environment was set up, and the sterilization of fresh beer was carried out using pre-stage instant sterilization. 

The scope of supply for the entire production line includes: a filling and capping machine with rinsing, filling and capping in one, a CIP cleaning system (four-tank craft beer CIP system), a cover feeding machine, a drying machine, a labeling machine, a full bottle detection device, a CLO2 water generator, a positive pressure craft beer room (with stainless steel floor and exterior walls made of pure steelized glass for excellent visibility), a tunnel sterilization machine (for sterilizing pasteurized beer, cooling hot filling, and heating carbonated line), a flash sterilization machine (for fresh beer), and foam cleaning (for filling room and filler cleaning). 

The filling line complies with European safety standards, providing strong protection for workers and a high safety factor. It is easy to operate and has a low failure rate. The mechanical and intelligent automation level has been improved, not only saving labor costs but also reducing electricity consumption, water consumption, and steam consumption by one-third. 

Looking forward to cooperating with well-known beer and beverage giants such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, Zhongchen Light Machinery will continue to rely on reliable equipment, quality services, and continuous innovation as a strong backing, and work together with customers to make progress and achieve common development.