Clean More With Less

According to the Global Industry Analysts Inc., the global market for industrial and institutional (I&I) cleaning products is projected to exceed US$52 billion by the year 2018, with the increase in demand for these in food and dairy processing sectors. In this growth trajectory, Asia-Pacific is rising to become one of the most dynamic markets for I&I cleaning products.

Compared to the matured market for cleaning products in the Western world, the market in Asia- Pacific region still hasn’t grown much in terms of sanitation and hygiene awareness, new technology adoption rate, adequate regulatory standards and consistent cleaning processes, just to name a few. The brewing, beverage and dairy sectors in Asia are in fact at a crossroad and are facing shifting market forces and challenges and at the same time expanding market opportunities for growth.

Given the changing consumer landscape and market pressures, not only do manufacturers have to provide a sterile and clean environment for producing increasingly sensitive and preservative-free liquid products, they also have to ensure consistent, if not better management of plant productivity. Adding to this challenge are fluctuating raw material costs, increasing utility costs, pressures on profitability and increase in the number of beverage brands which calls for greater production flexibility. There is also the corporate pressure on sustainability to save utilities and reduce the carbon footprint of the plant. A case in point is water that is used in a beverage product as well as for cleaning during the production process. Water security is one of the biggest challenges facing Asia today. This in turn changes the model for cleaning-in-place (CIP) efficiency, testing various key performance indicators.

Fortunately, there exist opportunities to enhance CIP efficiency and sustainability. The key to success depends on factors such as the right selection of cleaning products, application knowledge to implement these advanced cleaning technologies and CIP hardware design.

Good CIP Design

CIP is the cleaning and disinfection of equipment used for manufacturing and storage of liquid products. Cleaning is the prerequisite to making disinfection effective, as the former removes soil that lowers microbial loading on surfaces, while the latter eliminates any remaining microorganisms on surfaces.

As much as CIP is important, it occupies valuable production time. Many facilities seek to reduce CIP cycle times in order to increase production capacity but without compromising on safety and quality. Efficient CIP can help to enhance line productivity, reduce food safety risks and ensure consistent product quality.

Another factor that is gaining attention is the sustainability of CIP in reducing water, energy and chemical consumption. To many companies, sustainable CIP is no longer about making a bold new statement on sustainability. It is now seen as a sound business decision that can deliver real returns on investment. By choosing the right CIP combination of chemicals, tools and equipment that delivers both high performance and sustainable cleaning, manufacturers are actually cleaning with greater efficiency while expending fewer resources.

This becomes all the more important when the facility starts to produce a greater variety of liquids.

Sustainability: A Key Driver of Efficient CIP

The key parameters for attaining the desired cleaning and disinfection result are chemical action, mechanical action, temperature and time. Designing an efficient CIP involves a thorough understanding of the ‘chemistry’ of these factors and how they impact each other. Hence, the need to enhance operational efficiency while reducing time and cost to clean is a delicate balance. Adding sustainability targets to CIP can help to further define areas of savings that include raw cleaning chemical materials, water and emissions, thermal and electrical energy and carbon dioxide.

A conventional CIP typically takes up to five to six steps on cleaning and disinfection, involving up to three rinse cycles and the use of raw materials such as caustic soda or formulated alkaline detergents at high temperatures of up to 80-85°C. Hence, it can be demanding in terms of timing, consumption of chemical, energy and water, effluent cost as well as thermal stress and wear on processing equipment. In addition, the number of technical application criteria and site-specific conditions play an important role in CIP; failure to consider these could potentially lead to poor performance or overuse of expensive resources. New chemical concepts and CIP innovations are being developed and can be adapted to meet the specific needs of a plant.

One of these concepts is Rapid CIP which can be seen as a means to responsible manufacturing. For shorter cleaning time, reducing usage of utilities, and chemicals, and conducting cold/ambient temperature, CIP come into play.

Rapid CIP is a shorter cleaning and disinfection process compared to conventional CIP. This paradigm-changing concept comes in different programs that simplify cleaning complexities and take into consideration specific plant conditions and soil characteristics at the production site. The key characteristics of Rapid CIP are generally as follows:

1. A three-step program instead of the conventional five-step, where the cleaning process is reduced by a sanitation step and a rinse cycle. The three-step program combines cleaning and sanitation into one step, reducing cleaning time to the shortest possible and utilizing the lowest possible amounts of utilities and chemicals and resulting in reduced usage of water, energy and time.

2. Rapid CIP is normally done at ambient or moderate temperatures which therefore reduces the requirement of heating the detergent solutions to up to 80-85°C. It reduces expensive energy consumption as well as time that is required for heating and cooling of the entire CIP and production equipment that are under cleaning. As the manufacturing equipment does not undergo thermal stress, the life of the equipment and its consumable parts such as gaskets is prolonged.

3. Many times, Rapid CIP it is based on the use of acidic detergents and disinfectants. These acidic chemicals make cleaning and disinfection possible in a single step at ambient temperatures. Being acidic, they also facilitate the rapid rinsing of the equipment and pipelines under cleaning, thereby saving time and water. The acidic CIP program can be deployed under a carbon dioxide environment which further adds to the benefit of saving time and the cost of carbon dioxide that is normally wasted under alkaline cleaning conditions.

4. Reduced water and chemical usage for cleaning also reduces the load on effluent treatment plants, further adding to cost savings on waste water treatment. This helps the manufacturer to meet the local regulations due to less generation of waste water.

Concept of Rapid CIP

The various Rapid CIP technologies offer the F&B industry optimized sustainable solutions and maximum utilization of their production capacity at the lowest in-use costs, with the cleaning program giving the same but acceptable cleaning results. Typical savings potential that can be achieved by implementing Rapid CIP programs are shown in the example given in the table below.

Note: These numbers are indicative and will vary depending on actual site conditions and type of soil.

* In the case of ambient temperature CIP, energy cost reduction is 100%. However, with some specific, hard-to-clean soils, alkaline cleaning may be required to be done at elevated temperatures.

Application Methodology and CIP system Hardware

In selecting the right application and chemistry, there are many variables to choose from when designing the right cleaning program. The two most important parameters for choosing the right chemistry are the type of soiling present and the CIP hardware & hydraulics.

However, the implementation of effective CIP programs comes with some basic principles and these are:

• Hardware has to be as per engineering requirements

• CIP-able process equipment – no dead ends

• Adequate flow rates through pipes and spray devices

• Selection of appropriate spray devices

• Capacities of return pumps

• Interface management tools

• Use of best practices

The success of CIP program requires application knowledge and expertise that can help to achieve sustainability KPIs. Key considerations can be CIP phase interface management, CIP rinsing management and reduction of energy in hot CIP programs, among others.

CIP phase interface management is about managing the separation of CIP phases, such as rinse water and detergent. It relies on managing interfaces into pipes and avoiding interfaces in vessels, where the large area for interface interaction and the dynamic nature of the process can lead to significant CIP solution losses. Poor interface management contributes significantly to excess water, chemical, emissions and CIP operational time. In the case of hot CIP operations, it also contributes to excess energy usage. Effective CIP interface management is a combination of correct CIP distribution system design, and correct sequencing of CIP events when changing CIP phases.

CIP rinsing management has a bearing on effective water management. It is about determining the right measuring values (turbidity or pH) to terminate the rinse sequence and the location on the CIP system at which the rinsing values will be measured. For a pre-rinsing sequence where the objective is to remove water removable soil, turbidity would be a more appropriate measure. For post-detergent rinsing, pH would be a more appropriate measure than the typical “conductivity plus a little time”. Thus, managing the rinsing sequence has an impact on the amount of water used or wasted, and the time taken for effective cleaning.

In hot CIP operations, the CIP tank is often kept at the operating temperature and this requires energy. However, steam consumption can be reduced by heating only the required detergent volume for the CIP circuit rather than maintaining the entire tank at the operating temperature. This can reduce the energy requirement by around 50%. However, implementation of this strategy requires some modification to CIP systems. The advanced design of “static leg” CIP systems allows for all the flexibility required to provide these conditions, however they can also be successfully met by the adjustment of existing CIP units.

A Sustainable Future for CIP

There are a myriad of programs and activities to improve efficiency and sustainability in CIP while maintaining its effectiveness and this article has highlighted just a few technical opportunities. The point is that choosing a sustainable program need not be at the expense of productivity, and ultimately, profitability. The reality is that the scale at which resources such as water is used by this industry is huge, by virtue of the product and the production process.

Brewers, bottlers, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage makers are adding to the problem of water stress but they can also choose to be part of the solution by ensuring sustainable use. It is inevitable that Asian manufacturers will need to transform their operations to keep pace with market forces through greater automation and technology adoption. In short, a key CIP parameter is to clean more with less.

Anand Patel

Marketing Manager – Beverage & Brewing Sector

and F&B Training Coordinator

Asia, Middle East, Africa and Turkey of SealedAir