BFS (Blow Fill Seal) technology originated in Germany and has been widely used in the 1960s. At first it was mainly used in products such as rinses. In the 1970s, it was used in small-volume injections (such as eye drops packaging) and in the 1980s. For large-volume injections (such as infusion bottles). BFS equipment is now widely used in the fields of plastic packaging terminal sterilization products, aseptic products, etc., and is suitable for mass, uninterrupted production of products.
BFS process starts by extruding a sterile polymer tube directly into the system. The container is then immediately formed, filled, sealed and demolded. Integrated operation, closed system, without external intervention. The delicate logistics of prefabricated containers and the time-consuming cleaning and sterilization process are no longer required.
The entire filling path including the batching system is specially designed for CIP/SIP. This means that all product transportation lines are cleaned through an automated procedure, sterilized with compressed steam and dried with sterile filtered air. This makes BFS technology the safest aseptic filling method.
Process of Aseptic Blow-Fill-Seal Technology
Extrusion
The plastic tube extruded from the granules is fed into the opened blow mold
Forming
The main mold is closed to seal the bottom of the container. The mandrel enters the neck of the mold, and compressed air is used to blow the tube blank into shape. Smaller containers are vacuum formed.
Filling
The liquid medicine is filled into the container through the mandrel under the precise control of the filling system.
Sealing
The mandrel is removed, the head mold is closed, and the designed sealing part is vacuum formed.
Demold
Open the mold, the container leaves the mold, and the next cycle begins. The conveyor belt takes the container to the next process.
Application of Blow Fill Seal Equipment
Whether it is to fill a bottle or an ampoule, what to fill, how to fill it, and what function the container needs are usually based on the end uasge. The BFS equipment can use different plastics to automatically produce different containers such as cans, tubes, ampoules, dropper bottles, pouch bottles and single-dose packaging. The filling volume ranges from 0.04 to 10,000 ml.
BFS technology can be used for aseptic packaging of ophthalmic products, respiratory (inhalation) drugs, biological preparations, vaccines and other injection drugs, enabling continuous, automatic molding, filling and sealing of unit-dose liquid packaging.
Avaliable packaging containers include ampoules, vials and bottles, and the sterility of the product can be guaranteed during the entire process. Compared with glass packaging, the benefits of BFS include reducing waste and breakage, and eliminating product preservatives that may be allergic to patients.
The bfs aseptic filling is more flexible and more economical than the traditional filling process. But BFS technology is not only used as the preferred technology in the pharmaceutical field. But also more and more widely used in the chemical and food industries.
Technical Advantages of BFS
- Fully enclosed to effectively isolate particles: It has a closed system that is isolated from the outside world, and the liquid medicine transmission system, filtration system, and filling system are fully enclosed, which can effectively control and isolate particles.
- Integrated and more efficient: Blow molding, filling, and sealing are completed in the same station of the same equipment, forming in one step, and the whole process takes only 11 seconds.
- High performance, sterile and dust-free: automatic online cleaning/sterilization, the system maintains a positive pressure, which can achieve sterile effects.
How to Identify BFS packaging?
BFS technology has a more obvious way of identification:
① The bottle is integrally formed without a combined cap
② There will be an integrated molding suture at the mouth of the bottle
③ For smaller dosage forms: For example, 10mL, 5 bottles are formed in a row. The packaging is divided between the bottles, and the suture lines between the rows of bottles can be seen in a single bottle.
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