CIP – automatic cleaning steps for dairy plants

In the closed milk processing systems, the containers are cleaned by means of CIP. CIP – 'Cleaning in Place' – refers to the automatic cleaning processes which run in a circuit within a production plant without the plant or its components having to be disassembled.

The advantages of this cleaning method are

• uniform treatment of all surfaces which come into contact with the product
• avoidance of mechanical damage of plant components during disassembly
• elimination of contamination as a result of opening the plant or the use of cleaning tools
• an automatic process with reproducible steps, and traceability of the dominant parameters in the production data acquisition system.

CIP is designed either as no-recovery/single use or as a recovery system. In the "no-recovery system", the cleaning solution is pumped from the batch tank into the CIP circuit and discarded after the cleaning step. In cleaning with recovery, on the other hand, the chemically and biologically active ingredients are pumped in a circuit from the CIP system through the piping into the production plant and back into the recovery tanks. The cleaning media involved – with the addition of fresh media - can be used several times.
Depending on the requirements concerned, Krones integrates "no recovery" or recovery CIP systems in the plants, always with a view to enhancing the efficacy and the efficiency of the cleaning process.