Mobile “ Smart Cart ” Automates Food Conveyor CIP
For an automated , wet Clean-in-Place process , a technician can push a cart with pre-programmed recipes and integrated water line hookups to tubular drag conveyors , facilitating quick sanitary compliance and production changeover
To promote food safety and sanitary compliance , processors are increasingly seeking the ability to Clean-in-Place ( CIP ), an automated method of cleaning the interior surfaces of tubular drag conveyors without disassembly . Now , with the advent of mobile tools like an innovative “ smart cart ” that quickconnects to any tubular conveyor and enables simple , customizable “ single button cleaning recipes ,” CIP is becoming easier , faster , less laborintensive , more repeatable , and almost fully automated .
Tubular drag conveyor systems gently move product through a sealed , enclosed tube using a drag cable and circular discs pulled through on a loop , so are ideal for delicate items . In a wet CIP process , the system is flooded with water , flushed , rinsed , cleansed , and thoroughly sanitized . The process thoroughly flushes out any potential allergens like nuts or gluten from conveying equipment and can be used with a variety of food types such as nuts , grains , cereals , powdered soups , and frozen fruits and vegetables .
Although the CIP process is very effective , streamlining its automation and simplifying the process for all of a facility ’ s tubular drag conveyors has been a priority for leading innovators in the industry .
“ The standard system required port hookups to water lines and installing piping . The processor also had to make decisions such as which water temperatures to utilize , or whether to use a cleaning solvent - and the correct amount to add manually ,”
4 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk
For an automated , wet Clean-in-Place process , a technician can push a cart with pre-programmed recipes and integrated water line hookups to tubular drag conveyors , facilitating quick sanitary compliance and production changeover .
Once it is set up , all you do is press a button and it will bring in the required amount of water at the correct temperature with the necessary amount of solvent for cleaning .
says John Adair , Engineering and Quality Director for Cablevey Conveyors , an Oskaloosa , Iowabased conveyor manufacturer that has designed , engineered , and serviced enclosed cable and disc tube conveyors for 50 years , and is in more than 65 countries .
To simplify the wet cleaning process , Adair and his engineering team at Cablevey have developed a small , mobile “ smart cart ” with integrated water line hookups that a single technician can easily take to any tubular drag conveyor in a facility . The cart is specifically designed to be a fraction of the size of similar carts on the market to facilitate mobility . When the cart is in position and connected to water lines , the CIP process is automated and controlled by a programmable logic controller ( PLC ) that reduces the need for manual labor and virtually eliminates the risk of improper cleaning .
“ Once it is set up , all you do is press a button and it will bring in the required amount of water at the correct temperature with the necessary amount of solvent for cleaning ,” says Adair .
The smart cart is designed to store and utilize pre-programmed CIP recipes to flush various residual materials from the tubular drag cable conveyors in a facility before new production runs . The cleaning