Malaysian Soft Drink Manufacturer Uses UV to Remove Bacteria from Process Water

F&N Beverages Manufacturing Sdn Bhd in Malaysia has installed a Hanovia (UK) UV disinfection system at its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Inanam, Kota Kinabalu. The Hanovia UV system is installed after an activated carbon dechlorination unit and is used to eliminate bacteria from water used in the soft drinks manufacturing process.

F&N is Malaysia’s largest soft drinks manufacturer, producing many of the country’s most well-known brands, including 100PLUS, F&N Fruit Tea and F&N SEASONS. The company’s brand promise is ‘Pure Enjoyment, Pure Goodness’, so quality is uppermost in all its manufacturing processes.

UV technology is required for this application to fulfil local QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) requirements. Hanovia was selected as the UV system supplier due to the company’s reputation in the beverage industry and the fact that its UV systems are optimised for process water applications such as those found in beverage manufacturing. Added benefits for the customer included low operating and maintenance costs.

Meeting the increasingly rigorous hygiene standards required in the beverage industries is a real challenge. If improvements need to be made to plant and equipment, they need to bring quick returns on the investment and measurable improvements in product quality.

For manufacturers seeking to improve the quality of the end product, UV is an economic, realistic option. It is an established method of disinfecting drinking water throughout the world, and is also widely used for high purity applications such as pharmaceutical processing and microchip manufacturing, where water of the highest quality is essential.

There are no microorganisms known to be resistant to UV – this includes pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria, Legionella and Cryptosporidium (and its spores, which are resistant to chlorination).

UV disinfection systems are also easy to install, with minimum disruption to the plant. They need very little maintenance, the only requirement being replacement of the UV lamps every 9 - 12 months, depending on use. This is a simple operation that takes only a few minutes and can be carried out by general maintenance staff.