REDUCE CO2
DE EN
REDUCE CO2
DE EN

Vaccine logistics: ASCO develops solutions for dry ice production and packaging

ASCO Kohlensäure AG is expanding its product portfolio to include customisable filling and transfer systems for dry ice production. The CO2 specialist thus offers dry ice producers and distributors an effective solution for producing the required quantity of dry ice on site and automatically filling it into transport boxes. An uninterrupted cold chain down to -80°C and efficient working processes are particularly important for the global shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We were able to respond quickly to numerous enquiries from customers seeking a solution for filling shipping boxes with dry ice or transferring dry ice from large containers into shipping boxes,” said Marco Pellegrino, Managing Director of ASCO Kohlensäure AG. The company is thus expanding its dry ice technology portfolio with two dosing units, which are used in particular in the pharmaceutical, logistics and food industries.

The new dry ice filling system (dosing system) is compatible with all ASCO pelletisers and, in its standard configuration, comprises two dry ice production lines with dry ice dosing units and a conveyor system, depending on capacity requirements. This enables the automated pre-filling of (shipping) boxes with freshly produced dry ice. Vaccine doses, for example, are then placed in the box and automatically filled with dry ice. Finally, the box simply needs to be sealed for dispatch.

The ASCO dry ice transfer system is particularly suitable for the pharmaceutical, logistics and food industries where dry ice is purchased ready-made. With the new solution, the dry ice, delivered in the supplier’s containers, can be transferred to the dosing unit via a lifting process. From there, weight-based dosing of the dry ice using predefined recipes enables automatic filling into customer boxes. This allows the dry ice to be used as quickly as possible with minimal staff involvement.

As maintaining the cold chain is of crucial importance, particularly in the food and pharmaceutical sectors, ASCO Kohlensäure AG has focused intensively in recent weeks on making the two dry ice filling systems available. The challenges involved in shipping COVID-19 vaccines – producing a large quantity of dry ice in a short time and dosing it into shipping boxes – further strengthened the company’s efforts.