Clean in place system (CIP) in food industry

The bacteriological safety of a food product is as important as its taste. Legislators impose strict sanitary requirements, and their violation leads to three groups of trouble for the manufacturer:

• Commercial — losses from product returns to the warehouse, fines.
• Legal — administrative suspension of activities, legal claims.
• Reputational — breach of relations with customers.

Therefore, it is impossible to get away without equipment cleaning in food production. Although this process does not generate profit itself. Any equipment cleaning is a forced downtime, and the manufacturer is interested in reducing its time without compromising the quality of the product.

The use of automated or semi-automated CIP stations instead of manual cleaning with equipment dismantling allows to:

• reduce downtime and decrease product cost;
• achieve physical and bacteriological purity;
• maximum control the cleaning process without personal participation;
• reduce manual actions to avoid the influence of the human factor.

In order to turn these advantages to become real from theoretical ones, it is necessary to choose the right CIP station. And to understand how it works.

Centralized and Decentralized CIP Systems: Their Applications

The first type is most effective in small food production enterprises, where the distance between the station and the cleaning objects is small. Centralized systems are also common in those plants where all CIP operations are performed from a single location. It houses one CIP station or a group of them, and from there detergents are delivered to various washing objects.

CIP system consists of three parts:

• CIP station;
• distribution lines;
• cleaning objects.

The first type is most effective in small food production enterprises, where the distance between the station and the cleaning objects is small. Centralized systems are also common in those plants where all CIP operations are performed from a single location. It houses one CIP station or a group of them, and from there detergents are delivered to various washing objects.

In food production, several CIP stations are often needed, depending on the cleaning objects. The cleaning process is different for cold or hot surfaces. It is also desirable to separate CIP equipment for raw products from pasteurized product lines to avoid the spread of surviving spores and bacteria.

CIP stations are applicable to almost all process systems in the beverage, brewing, confectionery and dairy industries. They can even be used to clean special equipment such as separators and pasteurizers. There are stationary stations and mobile CIP equipment.

The CIP process is shown by Herbert Sinners’ diagram.

It shows four parameters that affect the quality of equipment cleaning:
The four parameters are interconnected and influence each other. If anyone changes in the CIP cleaning scheme, this is compensated by the other three.

• mechanical force;
• chemical exposure;
• temperature;
• time.

The four parameters are interconnected and influence each other. If anyone changes in the CIP cleaning scheme, this is compensated by the other three.

The mechanical effect on the surface to be cleaned in the CIP system is achieved due to the work of shear forces caused by liquid pressure. The water flow velocity must be greater than 1.5 m/s to create sufficient turbulence and achieve the desired result.

Chemical exposure in the CIP station is used to remove product particles from the inside of the process system. This is Sterilization In Place. To achieve cleanliness, the chemical exposure must be combined with the mechanical force: the correct concentration of the detergent solution plus flow jet force.

CIP stations use:

• to remove organic contaminants (fat, food particles) — 2% alkaline solutions of potassium hydroxide KOH or caustic soda NaOH;
• mineral deposits (soot, limescale deposits) — various acids in a concentration of 0.5−2%.

Chemicals in the CIP circuit must be dosed correctly. Their concentration directly affects the cleaning process. Deficiency of “chemistry” will be a waste of money and increase water consumption, cleaning time. A high concentration of acid or alkali can damage equipment, harm people’s health.

The third parameter is the thermal effect. Molecules move faster as the temperature rises, so heat increases the effectiveness of detergents. But uncontrolled thermal exposure is unsafe. Therefore, temperature sensors installation in the CIP station is obligatory.

The fourth important parameter is the time of mechanical, chemical and thermal forces exposure. Of course, the line will be cleared anyway. But the wrong choice of flow rate, temperature and concentration of “chemistry” will increase the duration of the process, and, therefore, downtime.

The procedure consists of 4-5 steps.

Consider three key factors when buying a CIP station:

1. Efficiency. Let’s repeat that any equipment cleaning is a production line downtime. At the same time, the costs of CIP should be comparable to the effect of its use.
2. Safety. CIP cleaning uses strong chemicals combined with elevated temperatures. They can harm personnel and equipment.
3. Environmental friendliness. This is not only minimizing the consumption of resources and detergents, but also the possibility of their reuse

There are models of C IP stations where water and concentrates can be used several times. They have a recovery tank.

A CIP station without a clear instruction manual or if installed incorrectly will become a pain in the neck for the chief engineer:

• hydraulic impact;
• breakdowns;
• impossibility to carry out full maintenance.

The plant-operating engineer will face accidents, splashing of cleaning solution, conflicts in the cleaning schedule of different equipment. He will not notice the advantages of automation, because he will have to personally control the entire process.

Station installation without considering the production conditions will create problems for the quality specialist. He may face the presence of dead zones on the line, the impossibility of sampling.

Such problems can be avoided if a reliable engineering company is involved in the selection of equipment. The owner of the food production enterprise will save more on minimizing risks than he will pay for her services.

3D modeling will help to work out the issues of future design, safety and reliability of the station. At this stage the degree of automation is also specified. The client can receive:

• the possibility of remote control of cleaning parameters and automatic data collection;
• ergonomics of operation;
• automated dosing of cleaning solution to reduce the risk of human error;
• notification system about accidents and deviations in the cleaning process, including via e-mail;
• CIP time management;
• monitoring of water, electric and heat energy consumption;
• safety shower.

During operation 24/7 remote engineering support helps to solve emerging problems quickly, optimize the cleaning process to save energy and water.

Engineering companies carry out warranty service. Another plus from working with them is savings on components. Often such firms have discounts on spare parts from manufacturers from 15% to 30%.

Engineering in CIP cleaning is the stability and quality of the process. Ultimately, it is food safety.

Viravix Engineering offers a turnkey CIP washing for the dairy industry. Our specialists will carry out the entire cycle of work: from the design of the station to commissioning, with subsequent warranty service.