Pre-treatment Solution for Industrial CIP Soil Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional clean-in-place (CIP) processes for industrial equipment, such as evaporators and heat exchangers, are inefficient in removing carbohydrate and proteinaceous soils, requiring extensive downtime and often leaving equipment not thoroughly cleaned.
Innovation Solution
A pre-treatment step using strong acidic or alkaline solutions, combined with penetrants and oxidizers, is applied before the conventional CIP process to soften and facilitate the removal of soils, allowing for a reduced number of cleaning steps and less water usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional clean-in-place process is used, then equipment cleaning is performed without dismantling, but cleaning time is excessive and soils are not thoroughly removed
Solution Approach 1:
A pre-treatment step is applied before the conventional CIP process to soften and facilitate soil removal. This preliminary action breaks down carbohydrate and proteinaceous soils, making them easier to remove during the subsequent cleaning steps, thereby reducing overall cleaning time while maintaining thoroughness.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses strong acidic or alkaline solutions with specific concentrations (at least 0.3% active ingredients) to change the chemical parameters of the cleaning process. These parameter changes enable more effective soil softening and removal, allowing the process to be completed faster without compromising cleaning quality.
2Ease of operation
If conventional clean-in-place process is used, then cleaning is performed in place, but soil removal efficiency is insufficient for carbohydrate and proteinaceous soils
Solution Approach 1:
Strong acidic or alkaline solutions with at least 0.3% active ingredients are used to change the chemical environment, enabling effective breakdown of tough carbohydrate and proteinaceous soils that conventional methods cannot remove thoroughly.
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-treatment solution combines multiple active ingredients including acids or bases, penetrants, and oxidizers to create a composite cleaning formulation that addresses multiple soil types simultaneously, improving overall soil removal efficiency for complex food soils.
3Reliability
If pre-treatment with strong acidic or alkaline solutions is applied, then soil removal efficiency is enhanced, but cleaning process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-treatment step is designed as a simple, straightforward application of strong acidic or alkaline solutions before the conventional CIP process. This preliminary action prepares the soils for easier removal without adding complex equipment or procedures, maintaining process simplicity while improving effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The pre-treatment method significantly enhances soil removal efficiency, reducing overall cleaning time and water usage by up to 30% compared to traditional CIP processes, while enabling the use of traditionally incompatible chemistries for improved results.
Implementation Method 1
pre-treating the soiled surfaces with a strong acidic solution or a strong alkaline solution
Implementation Method 2
The concentration of acid plus peroxide in a pre-treatment solution is at least 0.5% and usually at least 0.7%
Data Source
AI summary
A method of cleaning equipment such as heat exchangers, evaporators, tanks and other industrial equipment using clean-in-place procedures and a pre-treatment solution prior to the conventional CIP cleaning process. The pre-treatment step improves the degree of softening of the soil, and thus facilitates its removal. The pre-treatment solution can be a strong acidic solution, a strong alkaline solution, or comprise a penetrant. A preferred strong acidic solution is an acid peroxide solution. In some embodiments, the pre-treatment may include no strong alkali or acid ingredient; rather, the penetrant provides acceptable levels of pre-treatment.