Laboratory Carbonator
Precise laboratory scale carbonation in beverage samples. Ideal for research and development into new beverage flavours.
Carbonation of precise pre- defined levels of carbon dioxide in beverages, providing the versatility of different carbonation levels for sensory testing
Beverage design
CO2 levels inside a beverage will affect the taste of the product, so during the design phase the optimum CO2 level is important depending on the flavor or product you are designing. When new beverage flavors are designed it is useful to make that same flavor with different dissolved CO2 amounts for taste testing.
Until now it has been very difficult to manufacture beverage samples with a defined CO2 level. Traditional ways to make this would be to do on a larger scale on the production line which can be expensive and take up production time. Alternatives in the laboratory are to use carbonated water but this is not easily diluted to varying CO2 levels.
Laboratory carbonator
Steinfurth specializes in the design and manufacture of electronic and mechanical measuring instruments for the beverage industry. The Steinfurth laboratory carbonator the LCS710 is at the forefront of beverage R&D. This benchtop device allows flavoring companies and beverage manufacturers to produce small scale batches of beverages with varying carbonation levels.
Dosing Capacity
The LCS710 CO2 carbonator has a dosing capacity of 0 to 10 g/l and has a very high accuracy of 0.1 g/l. This is achieved by using a high accuracy CO2 dosing needle with feedback analysis on the amount of CO2 injected into the container. The system can be crossed checked very simply by weight.
Glass bottle carbonation
The LCS710 laboratory carbonator comes as standard with accessories to carbonate Glass bottles. Glass bottles upto 360mm high by 100mm diameter can fit inside the LCS710 laboratory carbonator and the dosing needle supplied can be extended depending on the bottle size so the CO2 is injected in the optimum location inside the package.Once carbonated to the desired level the bottle is removed and a cap placed on the bottle by hand.
PET bottle carbonation
Accessories are available for the system to allow the user to carbonate PET packages, the LCS710 will accept PET bottles from 330mm in height to 100mm in diameter. The PET bottle adapter is designed for the users package and holds the PET bottle in place so that carbonation can take place without distortion of the bottle. Once carbonated to the desired level the bottle is removed and a cap placed on the bottle by hand.
Laboratory carbonation of Cans
The LCS710 laboratory carbonator can also be used to carbonate canned products. This is achieved with the Use of a can adapter. These are designed around the customer’s actual can sleeve. These can be made for typical industry standard can sizes from 200ml to 500ml and above if required. The main restriction being the container height should not exceed 330mm tall and 100mm diameter. Once carbonated the can is removed from the adapter and then seamed using a manual seaming device.
Simple installation
The LCS710 beverage carbonator is designed to be located on a benchtop and is very easy to install and operate. The system simply needs a power supply and CO2 gas supply in order for it to operate. The system is 560 x 610 x 280mm (W x H X D) and weight of 33kg
System operation
Operation of the system is very straightforward and user friendly. The container is filled with the product to be carbonated. An injection probe is placed into the container. Using the keypad on the front of the system the operator selects the amount of CO2 to be injected and the dosing type. The dosing can be set to fast or slow and will be selected based on the product to be carbonated. The package is then placed into the LCS710 laboratory carbonator. A pressure of 6 bar is generated within the bottle and 2 defined sniff phases take place to flush the package headspace. The system will then inject the predefined amount of dissolved CO2 into the container. The system will continue until the correct CO2 amount is completely absorbed into the liquid. The container is then removed and a closure applied manually.
Safety
The LCS710 laboratory carbonator also has in-built safety interlocks. When the operation is started the door latches automatically and will not release until the end of the cycle when the chamber is vented.
About the manufacturer
Steinfurth has designed very innovative and technical solutions for some of the beverage industry’s most difficult problems.
Since the company’s foundation Steinfurth has always listened to the market needs, adapting its technology to meet the growing needs of the market. Reacting quickly to market trends and customer requests to design specific solutions has always been Steinfurth’s strength.
The systems manufactured by Steinfurth are designed around global standards and are approved testing methods including systems used for designing new beverages as part of research and development.
LCS710 benefits
- Cost savings during beverage development
- Simple adjustment for different bottle sizes
- Fully automatic function / Menu-driven input of bottle size and CO2 value
- Automatically secured safety cage
- Excellent repeatability of results
- Double dosing speed user selectable
- High accuracy with Glass, PET bottles and cans regardless of the temperature
- Automatic head space purging with CO2 gas
- Reduced foaming of the beverage samples
- Optimized automatic cleaning program
- Low maintenance
- Laboratory Carbonator
- Laboratory CO2 dosing
- R&D carbonator
- Beverage design carbonator
- CO2 dosing system
- CO2 injection system
- Carbon Dioxide Carbonator
- Carbon Dioxide Dosing
- Soft Drink carbonator
- Soft Drink CO2 injection
- Pilot plant for CO2 injection
- Benchtop carbonator
Typical laboratory carbonator questions answered by our experts
How long does it take to dose a bottle with CO2 using the LCS710?
This will be dependent upon the volume of the bottle, the level of CO2 required and the temperature of the liquid. Typically for a 500 ml bottle with liquid at 5 degrees Celcius and dosing 6 g/l of CO2 will take 2-3 minutes.
How long does CO2 carbonation last?
CO2 carbonation lifespan will be dependent on the volume of the container and also the material of the package. The shelf life can vary as well based on the storage temperature and how the package is transported. Beverages in a glass bottle or aluminum can tend to last a lot longer as it is extremely difficult for CO2 to permeate out from the container (unless it is compromised). The Cap on a glass bottle would be the weak point. In the case of PET CO2 does permeate through the plastic and CO2 will reduce over time due to this effect. Typical shelf life is 6-12 months but in certain containers the carbonation will last a lot longer.
How does carbonation of a liquid work?
Liquid is chilled as at lower temperatures CO2 dissolves into the liquid more efficiently. CO2 is then injected into the liquid at high pressure. On an industrial scale this is done with large scale production lines. This carbonated liquid is usually stored in a buffer tank prior to being filled into a package to be sent to the consumer.
How can I test the shelf life of a carbonated package?
Usually the manufacturers will store multiple sample bottles from each batch to do shelf life studies. To test the carbonation levels a bottle will be taken at specific intervals and tested using traditional CO2 testing methods (pressure and temperature method). Alternatives to this are to use an optical technology to measure the CO2 which can test the CO2 in the package without opening it. These types of machines are called an optical shelf life tester and available at https://www.jwii.com.au/non-destructive-co2-analyser/
