Adirondack Beverages is headquartered in the small town of Scotia, New York, which is in the southernmost foothills of its namesake, Adirondack Mountains.
Here, they produce several varieties of beverages, under their own trade name, with another half of their business contracted to manufacturers of third-party beverages that bear private labels. These labels are applied to beverage containers, using a shrink sleeve applicator machine (also called labeler).
Adirondack Beverages' manufacturing line
The sleave labelers are for our higher-end products, like energy and other specialty drinks, our more expensive products"
As the bottles go by on a conveyor, the labeler cuts a sleave off of a roll and positions it over the container (picture a baggie that opens up over the container). The labeler then drops the sleave over a bottle, right before it goes through a steam tunnel, where the steam shrinks it and forms it to the bottle. Steam supplied to the steam tunnel is generated by a steam boiler.
Joe Mennella, the Maintenance Manager at Adirondack Beverages, said “The sleave labelers are for our higher-end products, like energy and other specialty drinks, our more expensive products.”
Steam provides uniform heat
Of all the methods used to attach labels to containers - hot air, radiant heat, and boiler steam, boiler steam conveys the most uniform heat and thereby even, from top-to-bottom shrinkage, of the labels that are applied, whether they be for plastic, glass, or aluminum cans. It’s best at attaching labels to multi-contoured containers.
But for the steam to work correctly, its temperature and pressure must be consistent, as both affect the shrinkage rates and the resulting quality of the shrink sleeve materials (PVC, PETG, PLA) that are applied to containers.
Joe Mennella adds, “We’re blowing this steam at the containers, pretty much wide open. So, if the boiler hiccups at all, you won’t have enough steam pressure to shrink the labels.”
Fulton VSRT-30 vertical steam boiler
The VSRT (Vertical Spiral Rib Tubeless) boiler is the world’s first fully wetted, refractory-free vertical tubeless boiler
That’s why, in 2017, when Adirondack Beverages chose to replace their previous boiler, they purchased a Fulton VSRT-30 steam boiler.
The VSRT (Vertical Spiral Rib Tubeless) boiler is the world’s first fully wetted, refractory-free vertical tubeless boiler that embodies the newest and most cutting-edge standard, in vertical steam boiler technology.
Featuring fully modulating burners
It features a fully modulating burner and up to a 6:1 turndown. Fully modulating burners are designed to safely operate throughout their full ring range from high re to low re.
In addition, the VSRT boasts an impressive 86% thermal efficiency, and 99.75% steam quality from its water-backed design with no refractory. Its small vertical footprint also lends to the ease of fitting it into a relatively compact space, as well as the ease with which it can be installed.
Low efficiency of past installed boiler at Adirondack
At Adirondack Beverages, the VSRT boiler replaced a previous boiler, which was purchased in 2012, for the same purpose that had trouble keeping up. When it would cycle off, it would take too long to start. Once it got less than 60 pounds of steam, its ability to shrink labels was diminished. Label quality suffered, which also created a lot of label waste.
Joe Mennella said, “There was even a person, who stood at the end of the heat tunnel, who visually checked the quality of the labels, as they went by. By the time, we realized we were low on steam, he was already pulling bottles off the line.”
VSRT boiler maintains constant steam pressure
The VSRT steam boiler, on the other hand, maintains constant steam pressure
The VSRT steam boiler, on the other hand, maintains constant steam pressure. It is set to where it runs up to about 90 psi and then starts dropping back through its full modulation cycle.
Joe Mennella adds, “It drops down to a low pressure, to keep the boiler running, so that it is not cycling off and on, which is working out really well. The VSRT, with its modulation, is working much better than our last boiler. The VSRT gives a steady output of steam. Its high turndown ratio has made a big difference.”
Consistent and dependable steam is critical to manufacturing operations at Adirondack Beverages, and the VSRT boiler fulfills these requirements.
Featuring high turndown burner
The VSRT boiler, having a high turndown burner, is quick to respond to load changes and minimizes on-and-off cycling, resulting in energy savings, and reduced costs, as well as less component wear.
A lot of the new boilers heat up really quickly, but they don’t store a lot of steam and the VSRT-30 boiler does just that. Most of these boilers, when they’re in between refilling, take at least a few minutes to start up and by that time, the steam is over. Steam boilers need to have a high turndown, so they’re ready to pick up and take off, without shutting off.
Need for availability of steam on demand
Joe Mennella further stated, “The VSRT is always ready to go, whereas, the previous boiler would sometimes cycle off and by the time it would go through its cycle, we’d already be out of steam. The VSRT only takes 15 minutes to build up pressure, the steam is ready on demand and the boiler hardly cycles on and off at all. It’s been working great.”
Label quality has been better and there’s been much less downtime on the machine, so output and quality are higher, and there’s the less wasted product.
Joe Mennella concludes, “It’s also a slimmer, smaller package. I hated the older one. I love the new one.”