Canned food has been around since the early 1800s, when the French government offered 12,000 francs (I don’t know how much that is in today’s currency, but it sounds like a LOT) to the first person to come up with a way to effectively and affordably preserve food, so the French army could take it with them during Napoleon’s planned conquest of Europe. Nicolas Appert, a candy maker and chef to the rich and famous, had been experimenting with cooking food inside sealed containers and noticed that it didn’t spoil if the seals didn’t leak. So he demonstrated his technique to the powers that be, and walked away with the 12,000 franc prize. It didn’t really pan out for the army because the process was slow & expensive, but canned food became something of a novelty among the aforementioned rich & famous of the day. This WAS the heyday of the Industrial Revolution, though, and food companies quickly advanced the technology for mass production. Today, there are very few food products that you won’t find a canned or jarred version of. In the early days, you had to use a can opener, but today you can find pull tabs on many cans, especially beverages.
A more recent innovation is a peel-off foil seal on the lid that seals the product for freshness, immediately after packaging. It’s then removed by the consumer after purchase, and the container is commonly supplied with a plastic lid that snaps onto the rim.
A container manufacturer uses Model 3925 Adjustable Spot Cooler Systems with Dual Outlet Cold Air Hoses to rapidly cool the freshly heated sealed foil onto metal lids like those that are used for coffee cans. This allows them to move the lids from the heat sealing station to the next process faster.
Because they generate cold air flow on demand, this is a very common application for EXAIR Vortex Tube Spot Cooler products. With no moving parts to wear or electrical components to burn out, they’re reliable & durable. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer
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