The equipment in Figures 11–5 a, b, and c
features drop stations that can be used to dis-
pense foam, high-pressure water for rinsing,
and a sanitizer. The foam station provides
adjustable air and detergent regulators to cre-
ate proper foam consistency. The rinse unit
can provide up to 69 kg/cm^2 of pressure.
Portable Gel Cleaning
This system is similar to portable high-pres-
sure units except that the cleaning compound
is applied as a gel (due to air restriction) rather
than as foam slurry or high-pressure spray.
This medium is especially effective in cleaning
food-packaging equipment because the gel
clings to the moving parts for subsequent soil
removal. Equipment costs and arrangement
are comparable to those for portable foam and
high-pressure units.
Centralized or Portable Slurry Cleaning
This method is identical to foam cleaning
except that less air is mixed with the cleaning
compounds. A slurry is formed that is more
fluid than foam and penetrates uneven sur-
faces more effectively. Exposure time of
cleaning compounds applied as a slurry is
less than with foam, as the foam has superior
clinging ability.
Combination Centralized High-Pressure
and Foam Cleaning
This arrangement is the same as centralized
high-pressure cleaning, except that foam can
also be applied. This method offers more flex-
ibility than most cleaning equipment because
foam can be used on large surface areas with
high pressure applied to belts, stainless steel
conveyors, and hard-to-reach areas. A system
with these capabilities is expensive because
most must be custom designed and built.
Cleaning-in-Place
As labor rates continue to increase and
hygienic standards are raised, cleaning-in-
place (CIP) systems become more valuable.
Dairies and breweries have used CIP for
many years. It has been adapted sparingly in
other plants because of equipment and
installation costs and the difficulty of clean-
ing certain processing equipment. Because of
these limitations, CIP is considered a solu-
tion for specific cleaning applications and is
custom designed. CIP equipment is best used
for cleaning pipelines, vats, heat exchangers,
centrifugal machines, and homogenizers.
CIP systems are those in which the equip-
ment is cleaned and sanitized using an auto-
mated and enclosed cleaning system. They
are used extensively in the beverage industry,
dairy industry, aseptic processing operations,
and in operations where fluids are handled
and processed. There are some CIP opera-
tions that require some manual operation
prior to start-up. In some operations, start-
up requirements may mandate that the crew
manually make proper connections to the
unit operations that are to be cleaned using
the CIP system.
Custom-designed CIP equipment can
vary in the amount of automation, accord-
ing to cleaning requirements-from simple
cam timers to fully automated computer-
controlled systems. The choice depends on
capital availability, labor costs, and type of
soil. It should be designed by a reliable con-
sulting firm and/or a reputable equipment
and detergent supplier. These organizations
can provide site surveys and confidential
reports on the hygienic status of existing
equipment and cleaning techniques.
Small-volume plants cannot always justify
full automation. With reduced automation,
the required circuits can be set manually by
means of a flow-selector plate. Pipelines can
be brought to a back plate with required con-
nections made by a U-bend inserted in the
appropriate parts. Microswitch logic can be
interlocked to the CIP set. With full automa-
tion, the entire process and CIP operationsSanitation Equipment 201