Packaging Industry
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Clayton Industries Supports the Packaging Industry
The packaging industry is one that plays a role in practically every other industry, since it oversees the design, production, and distribution of packaging materials and products, a service that nearly every industry requires. Steam generation has long been a partner to the industry, providing a variety of solutions to a wide range of applications.
Like so many other industries, sterilization is an important aspect to packaging, being used to sterilize containers and other packaging prior to being filled. This is especially important when packaging is being provided to industries with low or zero tolerance to potential contaminants. This same steam can also be used to decontaminate machines and workspaces throughout the process.
Another common use in the industry is the steam heat being used to shrink and seal packaging. A common application is shrink wrapping, in which an oversized plastic film is applied to a product before it passes through a steam chamber, causing the plastic to shrink uniformly around the product, which is common in consumer goods. Steam heat is also used in heat sealing, where steam generated heat is used to seal plastic films together, ensuring a secure closure. Finally, steam is often used to steam shrink labels to products. Similar to shrink wrapping, oversized labels are attached to products, such as bottles, before passing through a steam tunnel. The heat from the steam causes the label to shrink around the product, conforming tightly to the shape of the container and producing a seamless finish. Additionally, heat from steam is often used in conjunction with adhesives, as well as being used to vacuum seal in canning operations.
Steam also plays a role in the creation of plastics. Heat from steam is often used to heat plastics prior to their formation into objects such as trays, containers, or blister packs, making the material soft and pliable for the molding process. It can also be used in blow molding to create hollow plastic containers, ensuring an ideal level of temperature and pressure to create perfect molds.
When creating a product that can come in all shapes and sizes, you want your supply of steam to be able to handle your changes in demand without compromising the quality of your product. Clayton’s quick starting, highly efficient Steam Generators are standing by to provide your next steam solution.
Key Benefits
Precision Control
Regardless of your need, Clayton Industries can deliver the ideal levels of temperature and pressure to fully suit your application.
Rapid Response
When your facility experiences operation peaks, Clayton Steam Generators respond quickly to changing demands without a drop in steam quality, ramping up when you experience surges and lowering when your need decreases.
Quick Starting
No need for a boiler to be left on hot standby for overnight. Clayton’s Steam Generators are able to go from a cold start to full steam output in under ten minutes, regardless of size.
Featured Case Study
Steam technology enabled a beverage company to expedite labeling process.
Steam generator creates the 99.5% dry heat needed for effective shrink sleeve labeling.
As the only vertically-integrated bever- age development, manufacturer, and marketing company in the United States, Power Brands has helped hundreds of beverage startups across the world actualize their unique drink visions. A client simply comes to Power Brands with an idea for a beverage, and then their team of specialized experts help bring the client’s brand to life — aiding them through every step of the design, production, and marketing process. With a new production facility opening in Los Angeles, Power Brands needed to obtain additional manufacturing equipment, including machinery to help adhere client’s product labels to beverage containers — i.e., equipment for shrink sleeve labeling.
Frequently Asked Question's
Steam boilers supply heat for shrink sleeve labeling, steam shrink tunnels, equipment cleaning, and certain packaging sterilization processes. The required steam pressure, flow, and quality depend on the packaging equipment and application.
A steam shrink tunnel distributes heat around a container as it moves through the tunnel on a conveyor. The heat causes a loosely fitted shrink sleeve to contract around the container’s shape. Controlled steam distribution helps produce a consistent finish across contoured bottles and other containers.
Dry steam contains little entrained liquid water, helping deliver consistent heat to shrink sleeves. Excess moisture can make heating less predictable and increase unwanted wetting. Clayton’s Power Brands installation used a mechanical steam separator to provide 99.5% dry steam for the labeling process.
The required steam pressure depends on the tunnel manufacturer’s specifications and the installation. There is no single pressure suitable for every packaging line. For example, Clayton’s Power Brands project required 550 pounds of steam per hour at 80 psig; those figures describe that installation, not a universal tunnel requirement.
Size the boiler using the steam consumption and required inlet pressure of each connected machine. Account for equipment operating simultaneously, startup demand, distribution losses, and planned expansion. Check minimum demand as well as peak demand so the selected system can support both low production periods and full-capacity operation.
Yes, one boiler can supply multiple packaging machines if it provides sufficient steam at the required pressure during simultaneous operation. System selection should consider each machine’s demand, pressure losses, and the effect of machines starting or stopping. Different equipment requirements may also call for separate pressure-control arrangements.
No. Dryness describes how much liquid water is present in steam; cleanliness concerns contaminants. Steam used where it could contact food or food-contact packaging surfaces needs a separate quality assessment. Depending on the application, controls may include filtration or a dedicated clean steam system. Dry steam alone does not establish purity.
Clayton states that its steam generators can reach full steam output from a cold start in under 10 minutes. Actual readiness depends on the selected equipment and installation. Packaging lines must also allow time for steam piping and tunnels to warm up and reach their operating conditions.
Packaging facilities can reduce steam system losses by insulating distribution piping, maintaining steam traps, and returning suitable condensate. Boiler tuning and an appropriately selected economizer can also improve efficiency. Assess the entire steam system to identify savings in generation, distribution, and end use.
Provide the required steam flow, operating pressure, steam quality, production schedule, and number of machines running simultaneously. Include minimum and peak demand, available fuel, feedwater conditions, installation space, and expected expansion. These details help a supplier select a system suited to the packaging line’s operating requirements.
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