The Importance of Process Monitoring and Control Within CIP Applications

What is Clean-in-Place (CIP)?

CIP is a set of procedures for the deep cleaning of a process system while it sits in place, without dismantling equipment and pipework. These automated systems increase hygiene and product quality by preventing contamination while standardizing cleaning to maintain consistent results.

CIP systems use the same pipe network as the product to distribute cleaning, rinsing, and sanitizing solutions, removing residue from manufacturing equipment. Prior to CIP, manual cleaning required disassembling and hand-cleaning equipment, followed by reassembly and sanitization. This was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and difficult to standardize, often limiting equipment size and causing long downtimes. Inefficient cleaning led to repeated processes, increased operational costs, and higher chemical and water consumption.

Key Benefits of CIP Systems

CIP systems used within the food and beverage industry have been proven to offer many benefits.

• Increased Efficiency and Labor Reduction: CIP systems are faster, less labor-intensive and more repeatable than traditional cleaning methods, leading to increased operating efficiency.
• Reduced Human Error: Automated cleaning makes sure the correct chemicals and solutions are used at each stage and that equipment is cleaned and sanitized properly.
• Reduced Consumption: CIP systems can help to reduce water, chemical and energy consumption. The automated functions facilitate accurate dosing and management to prevent excess usage and waste.
• Health and Safety: Correctly designed CIP systems reduce or prevent operator exposure to cleaning chemicals, improving health and safety.
• Improved Quality and Consistency: CIP systems promote thorough, consistent and standardized cleaning, helping to maintain the overall quality and consistency of the final product.
• Increased Hygiene: CIP systems can maintain higher levels of hygiene than those achieved by manual cleaning, essential for product safety and the prevention of contamination.

Stages of CIP

CIP systems are widely used in a variety of different sectors within the food and beverage industry. In order to mitigate the risks associated with manual cleaning, CIP systems must be very specific in terms of temperature, cycle times, flow rates and chemical concentration to prevent contamination and achieve standardization.

A typical CIP process involves a series of steps, including pre-rinsing, detergent circulation (often using caustic solutions), intermediate rinsing, acid washing (if needed), sanitizing, and a final rinse.

Here's a more detailed breakdown of the stages:

1. Pre-Rinse: Flushing the equipment with water to loosen residue, dissolve sugars and soften fats.
2. Caustic Wash: Pipes are flushed with turbulent hot water and a caustic solution such as sodium hydroxide to remove fats.
3. Intermediate Rinse: Clean water is used to remove any remaining caustic detergent.
4. Final Rinse: It is possible for detergents to linger in the system. This rinse removes any final residue.
5. Sanitizing Rinse: Solutions such as peracetic acid (PAA) are flushed through the system to kill any microorganisms before production continues.

Flow Measurement in CIP Systems

Flow measurement is vital to the overall efficiency of CIP cycles, particularly during the caustic wash phase. Both temperature and flow of the caustic solution must be carefully monitored to make sure that the water maintains its high temperature and the flow is strong and turbulent enough to achieve the desired scrubbing effect needed to remove fatty residue. Maintaining temperatures between 57° C and 82° C and flow velocities of 1.5-2.1 m/s is essential. Any deviation risks incomplete cleaning, requiring a costly rewash.

Electromagnetic flow metering technology can mitigate these risks and provide accurate and reliable flow monitoring solutions, which maintain flow velocity and temperature within the required parameters to allow each caustic wash to be successfully completed before the system moves on to the next stage in the cycle.

Dosing Control with Water Quality Monitoring

Accurate dosing during the sanitizing rinse is crucial for effective CIP cleaning. Properly controlled chemical levels, such as peracetic acid (PAA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and chlorine, are vital to achieve consistent microbial disinfection. For optimal results, these sterilants must be maintained within precise ranges (100-450 ppm), depending on the level of fouling in the system.

The Q46/85 Peracetic Acid monitor and Q46/84 Hydrogen Peroxide monitor have proven essential in providing precise dosing across multiple UK food and beverage manufacturers, including dairy companies. These monitors use electrochemical sensing technology to deliver continuous, accurate dosing, integrating easily with dosing pumps via analogue output or PID control. In a recent six-month trial, the Q46/85 PAA monitor showed excellent performance, requiring no calibration and providing reliable, low-maintenance results.

Final Thoughts

As the world population continues to grow, the demand for food increases. Food and beverage manufacturers will continue to seek solutions that will enable them to increase productivity and reduce operational costs while maintaining high levels of quality. CIP systems play an important role in this expansion and efficient and reliable systems are integral in meeting demand.

Flow and water quality monitoring play a vital role in the success of these systems and by integrating leading-edge solutions from the BlueEdge portfolio, food industry manufacturers can create systems that meet the challenges imposed by the modern world.