Cleaning In Place- Principle, Parameter, Procedure

1
PMG Engineering Private Limited
The End-to-End Engineering Company in Food Industry
info@pmg.engineering | www.pmg.engineering
Competent People. Smarter Work Systems. Exceptional Customer Interactions.
Clean in Place (CIP)
Clean in Place is a method of cleaning the interior surfaces of process equipment and fittings,
without disassembling them. Industries that rely heavily on CIP are those requiring high levels of
hygiene, i.e. dairy, beverage, brewing, processed foods, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics and CIP is
an integral part of automated industry. CIP is concerned with the removal of soil that can cause
damage to quality of the final product being processed.
CIP method highly depends on type of soil or food residue to be cleaned. Every industry has their
own type of soil depending upon the product being processed. And hence it is recommended to
have CIP Process to be designed accordingly. Selection of chemicals and their strength, chemistry
of product and its interaction with different solutions, time of interaction of chemicals with process
line etc. are to be considered while designing the CIP line. Soil also differ in nature; it can either
be simple water soluble or can be water insoluble. Water soluble one’s are easy to clean as simple
flush of water can dissolve them. Water insoluble soils are hard to tackle as they are again divided
into organic and inorganic soils. Organic ones include fats, oils, grease, proteins, starch, and
carbohydrates. Inorganic soils include minerals, salt deposits, millstones etc.
CIP performs in two ways: - Single use cleaning CIP and recovery CIP. Single use cleaning is for
that industries where the line gets way too dirty and chemicals once used can’t be further used due
to high soil contamination in the chemical solution, but it is to be noted that they can be highly
costly as new chemicals are to be used every time and they can have high environmental load as it
is disposed and drained after every CIP Cycle. In Recovery CIP the process line is not so filthy
and hence the chemicals can be collected and reused, though the equipment for recovering cleaning
solution is more expensive.

2
CIP: Design Principle
Depending on soil load and process geometry, the CIP design principle is one of the following:
1. Deliver highly turbulent, high flow-rate solution to effect good cleaning (applies to pipe
circuits and some filled equipment).
2. Deliver solution as a low-energy spray to fully wet the surface (applies to lightly soiled vessels
where a static spray ball may be used).
3. Deliver a high energy impinging spray (applies to highly soiled or large diameter vessels where
a dynamic spray device may be used).
CIP systems have several advantages over the former manual cleaning. It has more consistent
results due to accurate and rapid monitoring, due to less down time and fully automated process.
Due to no need for dismantling of equipment and lesser manual work it lessens the burden on
workers and human error. The Most important point is that it doesn’t compromise with quality as
it provides consistency in the cleaning process.
CIP: Parameters to be considered
CIP effectiveness depends totally on the correct functioning of the 5 T’s.
Titration (1.5%): It is always important to select cchemical concentration in the supply tanks and
in the circuits is in accordance to our need. It should be able to remove any deposits and residue
of soil in the process equipment’s. It generally lies in the range of 0.5-2% and the optimal one
being 1.5%.
Turbulence (1.5m/s): Flow velocity in all parts of the system should be sufficient to cause
turbulent flow. This should be around 1.5-2 meters per second, below this laminar flow will occur
which will not yield effective cleaning.
Temperature (~70°C): Temperature of the cleaning solution and water at the beginning & end of
the circuit is important to consider. Temperature impacts on the rate of chemical reaction. Typical
temperatures can be around 85 Deg. C for cleaning solution but for water it should not exceed 70
Deg. C
Time (15 min): Duration of each step of the CIP procedure and the total CIP time can be one of
the important factor that shall be determining the cleaning is achieved or not. The standard time
span should be 15 minutes.
Technology (Design): Total design of the complete line including all circuits to and from the
chemical and water tanks should be proper. Even fault in the equipment design can result in
cleaning of the line. Any corners or buildup site in the equipment will not full fill the CIP.

3
CIP: Procedure
The standard procedure for CIP which needs to be followed after or between product run include
5 major steps.
1. Pre-rinse: Water at temperature of about 40-60 Deg. C is used initially to remove any type
of loose soil like melt fat and also for the water soluble materials such as sugar.
Note: Temperature shouldn’t exceed 60 deg. C.
2. Alkali/ Caustic Circulation: Alkaline cleaning solutions dissolve proteins and saponify
salts. The typical and most frequent alkaline agent used in the composition of the detergents
is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH), otherwise known as caustic soda.
3. Intermediate Rinse: To purge out the alkaline detergent used and to remove the remaining
soil, process line is flushed with water.
4. Acid Circulation: Acid solutions are used for removing hard deposits such as milk stone
(calcium phosphate) and water scale. The deposits are typically formed on hot surfaces and
they cannot dissolve in alkalis. Acid solutions are most effective when used at pH 2.5 or
lower & they leave surfaces without film. HNO3, H3PO4 are the most frequent acid agents
used
5. Final Rinse: To remove any trace of acid in the line, water is flushed.
Before starting production, the line is sterilized using disinfectants to inhibit any microbial
activity to a certain level. It is always recommended to verify and validate all the cleaning
procedure.

4
Repeatable, reliable, and effective cleaning in a manufacturing facility are prominent characteristic
of the CIP system. Various influencing parameter are to be kept in mind as well as manipulated to
achieve the required quality standard in manufacturing unit. The process can be validated hence it
proves its authenticity. If proper care is taken in each stage of CIP including flow and temperature,
it will provide safe environment for food manufacturing and processing owners.

Cleaning In Place- Principle, Parameter, Procedure

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to Cleaning In Place- Principle, Parameter, Procedure (20)

More from PMG Engineering Private Limited (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Cleaning In Place- Principle, Parameter, Procedure