Abstract: The method includes at least the following steps of spraying a flow of sterilizing vapor, including a vaporized sterilizing product, towards the preforms to be sterilized, so as to cover at least an inner wall (15) of the preforms to be sterilized with the product; and heating, by radiation, the preforms covered with sterilizing product in order to bring them to a temperature (T2) at or above an activation temperature (Ta) for the product. The spraying of the flow of sterilizing vapor is carried out in a protective chamber (40), heating is carried out outside the protective chamber (40), and the flow of sterilizing vapor is in the form of a jet of vapor (F) vaporized onto the preforms (12), in such a way as to bring about the deposition, by condensation, of a substantially uniform film of condensate (48) of sterilizing product on at least the inner wall (15) of the preforms to be sterilized.

Abstract: A sterilization method and an installation for producing sterile bottles by blow molding sterilized preforms includes, at the spraying station, the flow of sterilizing product atomized onto each preform whose temperature (T1) is less than the condensing temperature (Tc) of the sterilizing product so that a film of mist of the sterilizing product deposits by condensation at least onto the inner wall to be sterilized, and, at the activation station of the sterilizing product of the sterilizing unit, each preform treated in the aforementioned manner is heated by radiation to a temperature (T2) greater than or equal to the activation temperature (Ta) in order to sterilize at least the inner wall of the preform.

Abstract: An installation producing sterile bottles by blow molding starting from preforms (12), includes a sterilizing treatment unit (26), a thermal conditioning unit, a molding unit, where the sterilizing treatment unit (26) includes an atomizing device (36) provided with a nozzle (38) which sprays, onto each preform (12), in laminar-flow form, a stream (F) of vaporized sterilizing product at the interior of the preform (12) and along a mean axis of spraying (A2) of the nozzle (38), where this axis is generally parallel to the axis (A1) of the preform (12) during treatment and is radially off-center with regard to the axis (A1) of the preform (12).

Abstract: The invention relates to a sterilization method and to an installation (10) for producing sterile bottles (14) by blow molding sterilized preforms (12) according to the method, characterized in that, at the spraying station (28), the flow (F) of sterilizing product is atomized onto each preform (12) whose temperature (T1) is less than the condensing temperature (Tc) of the sterilizing product so that a film of mist of the sterilizing product deposits by condensation at least onto the inner wall to be sterilized, and is characterized in that, at the activation station (50) of the sterilizing product of the sterilizing unit (26), each preform (12) treated in the aforementioned manner is heated by radiation to a temperature (T2) greater than or equal to the activation temperature (Ta) in order to sterilize at least the inner wall of the preform (12).