Got Milk? Here's Aseptic Packaging News

The French company Serac has launched a new restricted access barrier system isolator to optimize aseptic packaging of milk and drinks in and around sterile enclosures. Called the SAS 3, the isolator has been designed to allow three days of uninterrupted production without intermediate decontamination periods. While standard isolators are hermetically sealed, this one is not. An air barrier produced by positive overpressure inside the enclosure protects the sterile area. Air is continuously circulated and renewed via a vertical unidirectional speed-regulated airflow. The result? Particles in the enclosure are eliminated and protection against external contamination is provided. In addition, the sterile area is surrounded by barrier zones that are subjected to unidirectional airflow. They serve as an additional protective envelope between the enclosure and the rest of the workshop and make cleaning and maintenance operations easier. The heart of the machine — the sterile enclosure — can only be accessed in production via glove boxes that are placed at critical locations along the filling line. However, all other points — treatment, line input and output — can be reached via external doors without having to wear cleanroom clothing. To develop this new isolator, Serac drew inspiration from pharmaceutical industry designs.