Page 13 - Sterafill brochure -More Information

ADDITIONAL EFFICIENCIES
Rapid sterilisation of aseptic zone
Reduced time required for pre-sterilisation before production runs
Considerably less wastage of packaging material at start-up, millimetres instead of metres
Packaging material constantly sterilised on both sides – preventing recontamination even when slitting material into different packaging widths
Versatile system for different types of materials: trials conducted on a range of polymers, particularly PE/PET;
and also using foil laminates
Surface of packaging material cured by plasma effect, enabling two surfaces to be bonded: sealing can improve the seal strength at normal temperatures, reducing packaging failures.
The bonding effect of the plasma on the packaging material would make it suitable for a single polymer packaging material – much easier
to recycle
TESTING AND VERIFICATION
Sterafill Ltd has a European patent 3472051 for sterilising packaging to the point of fill.
With the aid of a SMART grant we were able to prove the concept that plasma could destroy a >104 bacterial log reduction in a specific length of time. We then won an Innovate UK grant, and proved it could work in a manufacturing environment, replicating the results achieved from a trial carried out at the University of Liverpool. We made a proof of concept plasma system which could inactivate Bacillus atrophaeus (NCIMB 8058) spores in short contact times. The strain was selected to be equivalent to the VDMA recommended strain.
Three separate trials were run at Campden BRI, with extremely promising results. The next step would be to test the Sterafill process as a fully integrated system, to demonstrate the sterilisation process at scale.