Mascara CIP Project
The customer came to us requesting a clean-in-place (CIP) system for their mascara line. The current cleaning process included a fill-and-boil method of cleaning in conjunction with manual cleaning. Sanitation was inconsistent, used thousands of gallons of water, and required several hours of manual interaction.
The tanks to be cleaned consisted of two mixing vessels. One vessel had a very elaborate counter-rotating scraped-surface agitator with a homogenizing blade and a heat transfer surface on the external. The agitator configuration in this vessel created a complex situation in which to ensure all the surfaces of the blades were cleaned properly. The distance from the top head of the vessel to the agitator crossarms was very short so the insertion depth of a cleaning device was limited.
This increased the consistency of cleaning and significantly reduced the number of hours required to perform manual cleaning.
The Design team at Central States Industrial (CSI) modeled the complex vessel using 3-D modeling software and developed a plan to install two jet cleaning devices in the top head and one flush-mount device in the bottom head to provide sufficient impingement to power-wash the mascara from the vessel walls and agitator surfaces. Specific attention was given to the bottom flush-mount device, and detailed modeling was done to provide directional drilling of the appliance to accurately hit the bottom agitator blades as they rotated during CIP.
The selection and location of the devices based on the modeling resulted in a vessel that was cleanable without any manual interaction. This increased the consistency of cleaning and significantly reduced the number of hours required to perform manual cleaning. Additionally, the use of the spray devices eliminated the fill-and-boil method which reduced the amount of water used during a normal CIP by a minimum of a thousand gallons per cycle. The return on investment (ROI) of this system was much faster than originally anticipated, and the system proved to be a very successful project for this large cosmetics company.
ABOUT CSI
Central States Industrial Equipment (CSI) is a leader in distribution of hygienic pipe, valves, fittings, pumps, heat exchangers, and MRO supplies for hygienic industrial processors, with four distribution facilities across the U.S. CSI also provides detail design and execution for hygienic process systems in the food, dairy, beverage, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and personal care industries. Specializing in process piping, system start-ups, and cleaning systems, CSI leverages technology, intellectual property, and industry expertise to deliver solutions to processing problems. More information can be found at www.csidesigns.com.