Bottling line for resealable aluminium beverages

A family-owned beverage producer and contract bottler in Germany, RHODIUS Mineralquellen, required a new line for its resealable aluminium bottles, so it enlisted the help of its long-time partner, KHS Group. An existing KHS canning line with a maximum capacity of 50,000 cans per hour was extended to cater for the new container format — known as the Alu Bottle.

“Lots of brands are looking for high-quality alternatives that can be incorporated into existing closed-loop systems and which will help them stand out from their competitors at the point of sale,” said RHODIUS managing partner Hannes Tack. “Our packaging system provides them with great opportunities, especially for trend beverages in the RTD (ready-to-drink) segment such as functional drinks, flavoured water and energy drinks.”

The specifications for this project were demanding. RHODIUS wanted to have the new aluminium bottle with a screw cap integrated into an existing KHS line at its bottling plant in Burgbrohl, with the clear instruction that ongoing operation was not to be disrupted. The limited amount of space and ambitious schedule of around nine months for implementation were also a challenge.

“We ran through lots of different scenarios at the beginning of the project, integrating the new packaging into various lines in our minds,” said KHS project manager Gerd Bodenheimer.

A KHS canning line already in production with an output of up to 50,000 containers per hour was eventually selected. RHODIUS then invested in new depalletising, filling, labelling and inspection technology for the conversion.

An unconventional solution was found for the filling section of the line, with an Innofill Glass DNRF glass bottler being used instead of a classic can filler.

“We deliberately went for a long-tube filler. The long tube gently inserts the beverage just above the container base, forcing oxygen to the top and thus ensuring optimum oxygen values in the product,” said Thomas Hüser from Technical Sales at KHS.

With its volumetric flow metering, the glass filler can process a broad spectrum of beverages without any loss in quality — which is essential for a big beverage producer and contract filler like RHODIUS.

Conversion of the bulk depalletiser also called for an unusual approach. Both the existing and new KHS Innopal AS 1 HZ machines were moved to the basement of the production shop. Two canners were also decoupled from one another. The new array allows both empty cans and empty aluminium bottles to be delivered to a single place for all lines. Another key task was to convey the empty containers to the filling line above. The perfect solution was ultimately provided by a vacuum conveyor built by KHS partner H. F. Meyer.

The converted line was successfully commissioned in July 2026. “All processes ran smoothly from planning through installation to commissioning,” Tack said.

The revamped line has again reached its initial maximum capacity of 50,000 bottles per hour and already processed the first saleable products. To start with, RHODIUS is filling its own water brand into 400 mL bottles and a special Halloween edition of Bluna. Further product launches are planned for the end of the year.

Images: Supplied