Specifications for Sanitary Hose Assemblies: What Criteria Should You Consider

December 2, 2013
Silicone Sanitary Hose Assemblies

Silicone Sanitary Hose Assemblies

We manufacture and sell a lot of sanitary hose assemblies.  Most of these go into the food, beverage, personal care or biopharmaceutical industries.  Our goal is to give the customer the highest quality, cost effective sanitary hose for their application.  We train our employees to ask specific questions when helping clients pick their optimal sanitary hose assembly and thought we would share these.

  • What is the application?  This requires little explanation.  It is always good to get an overview of what the customer is trying to accomplish.  Is this a transfer hose, a jumper to a tank on load cells, etc.?  How flexible does the hose need to be for the application?
  • What regulatory requirements does the hose liner have to meet?  Do you just need an FDA compatible material or does it also need to meet UPS Class VI?
  • What is the product?  What product is to be conveyed through the hose will be a main driver in what the hose liner material should be?  Different elastomers are required for different products dependent upon chemical compatibility.
  • What is the application pressure?  Different hoses have different pressure/vacuum ratings.  Also hose pressure ratings differ from size to size.  Normally the larger the hose the lower the pressure ratings. If your process is at elevated temperatures, make sure you take that into account.  Most sanitary hose pressure ratings decrease at elevated temperatures.
  • What is the application temperature?  Also, if the hose is going to see steam, will it be intermittent or constant steam.
  • How is the hose to be cleaned?  While the sanitary hose you are considering may meet you process application’s chemical compatibility requirements, does it meet the requirement of your cleaning solutions.
  • What is the cleaning temperature?  This is often higher than the process requirement for sanitary hose assemblies.
  • What is the cleaning pressure?  This may also be higher than you process pressures.
  • Is the application static or dynamic?  This is an often overlooked issue with sanitary hose assemblies.  If the hose is to be put in an application where the hose in constantly being flexed (think filling machines), there are many types that cannot handle the constant motion.  Many wire reinforced hoses will have the internal wires work harden and snap under constant motion.
  • Will the hose be handled constantly?  In some applications sanitary hose assemblies can take quite a beating.  Hoses that are constantly being attached then unattached tend to take most of the abuse.  Some sanitary hoses are better suited to this than others.

Once you have the answers to these questions, choosing the proper sanitary hose for your application becomes pretty easy.  We does this every day.  If you need help with you process, contact us via our website or call at 800-800-8464.