What are some of the Considerations When Adding Equipment to Sanitary Process Systems?
Cesco 135 Sanitary MagTrap
When incorporating new sanitary process equipment into existing systems, it’s important to keep in mind good sanitary piping practices and principles. This is especially true if you or your customer use CIP as a means of cleaning. While initial layout and design is essential to system that will clean in place well, it is equally important to maintain clean design when adding new pieces of sanitary process equipment. When looking for new pieces of equipment keep in mind the following things:
- Is the piece of equipment self-emptying and draining?
- Does the equipment have any stagnant areas or dead legs where product can accumulate?
- Is it designed to protect product from external contamination?
If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then you need to reevaluate the cleanability of your system.
The benefits of ensuring these features are two fold; by avoiding areas for product or external contamination, you prevent unwanted microbial growth and also decrease the risk of equipment corrosion. By employing good sanitary piping practices, not only do you protect your product, but you also extend the life of your equipment.
Holland’s Sales Engineers are well aware of the challenges of incorporating new sanitary process equipment into existing processes. A recent example was with a customer looking to incorporate MagTraps into a 2.5” process line.
This customer was looking to install (2) MagTraps into their process line, one trap upstream of their sanitary positive displacement pump and one upstream of their liquid filler.
After consulting Holland and taking into consideration both process flow and rheologic variables, the Cesco Model 135 sanitary MagTrap was selected. Sanitary MagTraps are used to remove both small pieces of metal and steel that often pass through metal detectors. They protect process equipment, the product and prevent damage and costly down time.
When installed vertically, the Cesco 135 Sanitary MagTrap is fully drainable, however, due to process constraints, this customer’s MagTraps had to be installed horizontally, creating drainage concerns. In addition to process constraints, the Cesco 135 weighs 48 lbs. and is difficult to properly support (Holland can combat this however through the use of custom brackets welded to the body).
To combat this issue, Holland modified the sanitary MagTrap body and installed a small, minimal dead leg tri-clamp port to allow for drainage following CIP. This simple modification not only helped ensure cleaning during CIP cycles, but also prevented potentially corrosive product build up during down times.
In conclusion, the next time you install a new piece of sanitary process equipment into an existing system, ask yourself the following:
- Is the piece of equipment self-emptying and draining?
- Does the equipment have any stagnant areas or dead legs where product can accumulate?
- Is it designed to protect product from external contamination?
By keeping these simple steps in mind, you protect both your product and your sanitary process equipment. For advice and additional piping considerations, do not hesitate to contact a Holland Sales Representative.
