Bulk Distributor Jan/Feb20 | Page 13

Cleaning & Depots January/February 2020 B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR 13 Left: Gröninger installed a tank container cleaning facility for Cogent Logistics in Singapore Top: Before and after - Gröninger has replaced entire control systems at three customer sites New Gröninger installation in Singapore G röninger’s Asian arm has had a busy time of late. In Singapore, the company has just installed a new tank container cleaning facility for COSCO-owned Cogent Logistics. Featuring one 200-bar and three 100-bar steam cleaning bays, superfast four-minute tank drying and an air purification system for odorous and noxious products, the new facility boasts the ability to handle between 40 and 60 tank containers a day, including food grade units. The system has a modern waste water treatment system, comprising a physical chemical and a biological part, which meets the strict parameters set by the Singaporean authorities. All the equipment is built into box containers, each one having a colour representing the activities. In other news, Gröninger points out that many tank cleaning systems have been built in the past decades that still run on the original controls. However, aging control systems carry a number of risks. To start with, the control cabinets are situated in humid environments and have to endure a lot. Panels and components might not, or hardly, be available anymore. In addition, the passage of time might have caused cables to become brittle. And as with other bits of technology, PLCs of the specific model might be difficult to obtain today. In case of a PLC failure this can lead to long downtimes. Moreover, the PLC software is probably outdated and will not be very flexible. This is compounded by the trend today of digitalisation which demands more transparency in the cleaning process. New operating systems can offer this transparency and offer many possibilities for linking data. But the question is: how do you replace a complete Automatic IBC cleaning IFCO expands in Portugal C TW says its engineering team has created ‘the best solution’ for cleaning IBCs (plastic or metallic) and mixing tanks. Developed with a modular design, the CTW washing machine can be configured to the customer’s specific needs and even upgraded if production grows or changes over time. The washing machine can be configured to clean multiple products with solvent, water or both cleaning media through a high-pressure jet or brushes. Benefits include a three minute average cleaning time, 80 percent less waste disposal, 75 percent workforce reduction, improved safety and quality, modular design, a compact lay out, and cost efficiency. Numerous options are CTW’s IBC washing machine can be available, such as different configured to customers’ heating systems, external specific needs cleaning, remote assistance for just in time service, and multiple washing/rinsing circuits to reduce cross contamination. www.ctwcleaning.com Quala opens new site in Texas R eusable packaging provider IFCO Systems is opening a new washing centre for reusable plastic containers (RPCs) in Portugal. The facilities contain improved technology to ensure an efficient label removal and drying process. The new washing centre will triple IFCO’s washing capacity in Portugal to approximately 30 million RPCs a year. The centre is located in Azambuja, near the capital, Lisbon, and is just 500m from IFCO’s warehouse. With 7,200 sqm of covered area and 4,000 sqm uncovered, the facilities offer enough storage space to improve the availability of RPCs for both Portugal and Spain. It includes more than 50 employees, eight loading and unloading truck docks and innovative technology. The facility has the capacity to wash 90,000 RPCs a day. By increasing capacity, IFCO will have the ability to wash RPCs from other markets, mostly from Spain. By washing them directly in Portugal, IFCO avoids the transport to Spain of approximately 4 million empty and dirty RPCs each year. IFCO RPCs are used to transport fresh foods such as fruits and www.quala.us.com www.groninger.eu vegetables, bread, meat, and fish, so IFCO ensures strict global hygiene and sanitation standards in all its washing facilities. RPCs are laundered to the highest standards and to the strict HACCP plan. Each IFCO centre is equipped with state-of-the-art cleaning and drying equipment. The Azambuja facilities contain an innovative centrifugal drying machine, which meticulously dries out the RPCs to improve washability and ensure that there are no wet RPCs during winter. IFCO has already installed water recycling equipment in several of the washing centres, which reduces the amount of water used during the washing process. Additionally, the company uses technology to save energy by combining heat and generated energy. The company’s SmartGuardian system measures and monitors key parameters such as water flow and temperature, pump pressure, contact time as well as detergent and disinfectant concentration. The system continuously monitors washing processes and provides consumers with verifiable and proven data. cleaning your wörld Tankcleaning manufacturer: Silo / bulk cleaning Chemicals cleaning Food cleaning Railway carriage cleaning Container cleaning Container heating IBC cleaning CIP / latex cleaning I n North America, Quala has opened a new location in Angleton, Texas, which was formerly operated by Premier Container Services. Jeff Noble, senior vice president – operations, stated: “We are looking forward to adding the new Angleton location into the Quala network. This new site allows us to offer another convenient location to our customers in the Gulf Region, complementing Quala’s nearby locations in Clute and Freeport. In addition to the chemical cleaning services, we’ll be offering cleaning of FRAC tanks and roll-offs. Plus, equipment maintenance services are available, making this a convenient stop for customers.” The new Quala facility is located at 28138 FM 2004, Angleton, TX 77515, minutes from Highway 274 and East Mulberry Street. control system without downtime? Over the past year, Gröninger has replaced entire control systems at three customer sites, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Control cabinets, PLCs, cabling, software, everything was replaced. These ‘open heart surgeries’ require thorough preparation and project planning, as over-run means downtime, and downtime means damage to reputation. Each project had its own challenges, Gröninger says. One was out of action for two weeks because the floors needed replacing and the other had to maintain part of the control cabinet. The conversions were all done successfully and within the agreed timeframe, leaving customers with future-proof systems again and so serving their customers even better. Tank Cleaning Systems Food / Non-Food Cleaning Systems Parts & Service The reference in new tankcleaning projects and renovations! CTW Everdongenlaan 9/19 2300 Turnhout Belgium T. [phone] [email protected] www.ctwcleaning.com www.groninger.eu Overschieseweg 111 3044 EH Rotterdam The Netherlands Telephone [phone]