HEAT EXCHANGERS
AUTOMATIC RECOVERY
HRS
REDUCE WASTE AND FUTURE-PROOF PRODUCTION
WITH AUTOMATIC PRODUCT RECOVERY
It seems that everybody is talking
about Industry 4.0. Whether you
are reading a magazine, visiting a
trade show or talking to business
consultants, it doesn’t take long for
the latest manufacturing buzzwords
of ‘Industry 4.0’, ‘fourth industrial
revolution’, or ‘internet of things’ to
be mentioned.
All three terms refer to the shift
in industry towards autonomous
production systems using not
just pre-programmed machinery
and robots, but machines which
are controlled and monitored by
computer-based algorithms, often
using the internet to link controls
and systems in different locations,
sometimes known as ‘cyber-physical
systems.’ While there is a lot of hype
around Industry 4.0, there is no
doubt that the general direction of
travel in manufacturing is for the
use of more autonomous systems.
This trend also presents a fantastic
opportunity for businesses to
tackle key challenges, such as
increasing energy efficiency,
improving working conditions, or
minimising and preventing waste.
For example, installing a system
which automatically diverts residual
product when it no longer meets
specification can significantly
reduce waste and improve cleaning
processes.
The scale of residual
food waste
When processing various, often
viscous, food products a certain
amount adheres to the inside
surfaces of machinery and
pipework. Some product may also
be left behind upon completion of
each production run. The scale of
this problem is huge, with a 2010
European study suggesting that 4.1
million tonnes of food is lost during
processing each year in the UK1,
costing hundreds of thousands of
pounds annually.
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PECM Issue 33
A combination of good design – to
minimise the amount of product
that remains behind or adheres to
the surface – and cleaning systems
can be used to overcome the issue.
The three main techniques –
physical ‘pigging systems’, water-
based flushing, and forcing clean
air through the system – all remove
residual product as part of cleaning-
in-place (CIP) procedures.
Depending on the range of
products handled and product
complexity this may need to be
carried out several times a day
between production batches.
Regaining control
While all three of these recovery
techniques have the ability to
salvage residual product, inevitably,
a certain amount is still lost as
waste. However, by using inline
monitoring equipment linked
to a system designed to allow
product which meets the specified
parameters to be reworked, the
amount of valuable product
recovered from equipment such as
pasteurisers and sterilisers can be
maximised.
This technique works by using
an inline instrument to measures
changes in the physical or chemical
properties of the product, such as
concentration. This information
is passed to a controller which
determines whether to ‘keep’ or
‘discard’ that material based on pre-
determined quality parameters.
This concept of feedback control
is not new in automation. Every
HRS pasteuriser or steriliser already
has a temperature transmitter and
a three-way valve installed after
the holding tube. If for any reason
the pasteurisation or sterilisation
temperature (set point) is not
maintained through the holding
tube, the temperature transmitter
sends a signal to the valve to return
the product to the holding tank.