Could better CIP efficiency start with your tank-cleaning equipment?
Cleaning-in-place (CIP) is essential for safe and hygienic food and beverage production. But it also consumes water, chemicals, energy and valuable production time.
For producers facing rising operating costs and growing pressure to use resources more efficiently, improving CIP performance can offer valuable opportunities.
And the answer may be closer than you think. While attention often focuses on the cleaning programme itself, the pumps, valves, tank-cleaning equipment and instrumentation supporting the process can be just as important. Together, they influence how effectively cleaning media moves through the system and how efficiently the cleaning cycle operates.
Taking a closer look at your pumps, valves, tank-cleaning equipment and instrumentation, and how they work together, can help you identify opportunities to reduce resource consumption without compromising cleaning performance.
Better cleaning starts with looking beyond the cleaning cycle
When reviewing CIP efficiency, it's natural to focus on cleaning times, temperatures and chemical consumption.
But what about the equipment behind the process?
Is your tank-cleaning equipment reaching all the required surfaces? Are your pumps delivering the right flow? Are your valves directing cleaning media through the right circuits? And does your CIP equipment still match your production requirements?
Production rarely stands still. New products, higher volumes and more frequent changeovers can place new demands on equipment that may have remained unchanged for years.
This is where reviewing the performance of your CIP equipment can reveal opportunities. For example, more advanced tank-cleaning solutions can, in some applications, help reduce water consumption and cleaning time while maintaining effective cleaning.
The right pumps and valves help ensure cleaning media reaches the required flow rates, velocities and cleaning circuits throughout the system. Valve performance also influences how cleaning media is routed across the plant, helping minimise product loss and unnecessary consumption of cleaning media.
And reliable instrumentation can give you a clearer picture of what's happening during cleaning. Measuring flow, pressure and other parameters before making changes gives you a baseline to compare against afterwards. That way, you can see whether an adjustment has actually reduced consumption or shortened cleaning time, rather than relying on assumptions.
The opportunity isn’t necessarily to replace everything. It’s to understand which pumps, valves or cleaning devices could help your CIP process perform better.
How one producer reduced CIP consumption by nearly 50%
For a dairy, juice and food producer in the Middle East, improving CIP efficiency was particularly important.
Operating in a water-scarce environment, the company wanted to reduce water consumption, use less cleaning media and lower the fuel costs associated with heating cleaning and disinfecting fluids.
The solution started with the equipment supporting the cleaning process. Older tank-cleaning technology was replaced with rotary jet heads compatible with the existing tanks. New pumps and pressure-regulating valves were added to protect the existing equipment from the increased force. At the same time, the CIP programme was adjusted to support the new setup. Together, these changes delivered significant results.
The company reduced CIP media consumption by nearly 50%, significantly lowered water use and achieved substantial annual cost savings. The improvements also freed up three additional days of production time each year.
While the same results cannot be expected in every production environment, the example shows how targeted equipment upgrades, combined with adjustments to the cleaning process, can make a measurable difference.
Finding the right CIP equipment for your production
Every production environment is different. And so are the opportunities to improve CIP performance. That's why the starting point isn't necessarily deciding which pump, valve or cleaning device to replace. It's understanding where your current cleaning process could perform better.
Where is most water being consumed? Are cleaning cycles taking longer than necessary? Does your equipment still meet today's production requirements?
Looking at consumption data, cleaning effectiveness and equipment performance can help identify where improvements may be possible. Comparing results before and after a change also helps you understand the value it delivers in your own production.
Sometimes the answer lies in adjusting the CIP programme or operating practices. In other cases, upgrading a pump, valve or tank-cleaning device may help improve efficiency.
Through Tetra Pak® Plant Components, you can access a broad range of hygienic pumps, valves, tank-cleaning equipment and instrumentation designed for food and beverage processing.
Bringing these solutions together in one place makes it easier to explore alternatives, simplify sourcing and find suitable equipment for your needs, even if your existing equipment comes from other manufacturers. And with access to technical expertise, you can get help identifying where targeted changes to your CIP equipment may deliver the greatest value.
Make more of the CIP equipment you already have
Improving CIP performance doesn't necessarily require a completely new cleaning system. Sometimes the opportunity lies in making better use of existing pumps, valves or tank-cleaning equipment. Other times, a targeted upgrade or a combination of improvements may deliver greater value.
What matters is understanding how your pumps, valves, tank-cleaning equipment and instrumentation contribute to cleaning performance, where resources are being used and which changes could improve efficiency while maintaining the hygiene standards your production requires.
As the example demonstrates, looking beyond the cleaning programme and considering the equipment behind it can reveal opportunities to save water, energy, chemicals and production time.
Talk to us about how Tetra Pak® Plant Components can help you identify opportunities to improve CIP performance, reduce resource consumption and lower operating costs.