AVEBE U.A.
“An approach that I really liked”
R. Sablerolle, AVEBE U.A.
AVEBE is a producer of potato starch and potato starch derivatives. Our process gives rise to calcium sediment, which is deposited on our equipment in the form of a hard scale.
In the past, the calcium sediment was removed with a high-pressure jet at >2000 bar. This method has serious disadvantages. Remnant flakes of calcium sediment scale would repeatedly cause blockages, while for mechanical cleaning at >2000 bar it was also necessary to take many precautions, including safety precautions. There is also always a considerable risk of damaging equipment at such a high pressure. “There must be a different and better way” was my thought. “There must be some way of removing calcium sediment better and safer”.
A digital search engine directed me to suppliers and producers of cleaning products. The Chemitec company suggested the following approach: a Chemitec chemical consultant first prepared an exact inventory of needs. They also wanted samples of the scale layer for analysis and tests in their laboratory. Using this information, thery developed a custom-made cleaning product for us. It was an approach that I really liked; creating a custom-made solution for a client.
Obviously AVEBE has some requirements that the cleaning product had to meet. Clearly the product should not corrode our equipment, it had to be environmentally responsible and easy to process with our own water purification system, while “food-grade” was absolutely essential. After we had given the go-ahead, Chemitec starting developing a product - within the framework set by us – that would meet all our requirements.
The resulting custom-made product was first demonstrated to us at laboratory scale. The results were sufficiently convincing for us to undertake the first practical test, -supervised by a Chemitec specialist. After the cleaning cycle, the reactor and all the appendages were cleaner than ever before while the waste product resulting from the cleaning operation was processes by our own waste-water cleaning system without problem.
Unlike in the past, this Chemitec CIP method produces no more problems due to blockages. The advantage of a clean reactor and appendages is that you have much better control over the process. This translates into a more stable process and much more reproducible results.
Because the cleaning product is easy to apply, we can now clean preventively. The advantage of preventive cleaning is that you can plan it in advance. You keep your equipment clean which makes the process more stable, which in turn is cost efficient.
Cleaning shutdowns are often troublesome and expensive. Troublesome because it involves much cumbersome work and expensive because it means a loss of production time. A “good custom-designed cleaning product” with a suitable accompanying application procedure avoids much cumbersome work with the accompanying long downtimes and a large loss of production.
Conclusion:
At AVEBE we now have hardly any cumbersome work, very short shutdowns and an extremely reliable process in which the short cleaning actions are easy to plan.
www.avebe.com
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