Procedure for analysis and quantification of a fluid residual product in a cleaning process

#The present invention concerns a procedure for analysing a fluid residual product in a cleaning process for objects that are part of a manufacturing process, and a device for executing the procedure.

#In current plants for the production of, for example, foodstuffs, different products are handled, transported and manufactured by the use of common equipment and devices. Unique equipment and devices are used in certain cases for the manufacture of a product. The common equipment and devices are cleaned on each occasion that exchange to another product occurs, and when there is the risk or suspicion that the equipment and devices do not satisfy hygienic standards, for example, in the event of the risk for or suspicion of the presence of undesired bacteria. Mechanised, often automatic, computer-controlled methods are currently used for the cleaning of equipment and devices in foodstuff plants, these methods being specially adapted for each production line. The cleaning takes place in a circuit without the equipment or devices needing to be disassembled. CIP (cleaning-in-place) is defined as a cleaning system with the circulation of rinsing and cleaning solutions through equipment and devices that are connected in a circuit. When a rinsing or cleaning solution flows past a surface that is to be cleaned, one of the processes that takes place is a mechanical processing of the surfaces, which is necessary for a satisfactory result. Different, specially adapted, cleaning programmes are required for different types of contaminants and for different equipment and devices in order for the cleaning result to be satisfactory.

#The cleaning is controlled by time control (see Swedish patent document 510024) in the cleaning systems that are currently in use. Procedures and devices for quality control are currently mainly adapted for those products that the industry manufactures. Quality control of residual products during, for example, cleaning, comprises measurement of individual parameters and the weighing together of statistics over longer periods of time. One common method is also to collect the residual products that arise in a process in a vessel, after which the contents are analysed. The process can also be visually followed, that is, with the aid of the eye. Individual parameters that can be measured are, for example, concentration, temperature and electrical conductivity.

#The invention will be described in detail below by the description of an embodiment according to the attached drawings, where

#FIG. 1 shows schematically a cleaning system with a device according to the invention.

#FIG. 2 shows a diagram of measured parameters that are used as the basis the calculation of product loss.

#DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1. Definitions Residual product a water/product mixture in cleaning systems Boundary product the name given to residual products in dairies Product loss the “pure” residual product that is lost (denoted by “complete loss” in dairies) Rinsing solution the fluid medium, normally water, with which the residual product is transported through the cleaning system during rinsing, before cleaning with cleaning solution

#This example describes an application of the method within the dairy industry. The constituent parts of the invention when installed in a dairy are shown in FIG. 1. In a dairy, different products are handled, stored, transported and manufactured in different parts of the plant. Each piece of equipment, device, piece of apparatus, tank, etc., for the handling, storage, transport or manufacture of one product is part of an object 2 to be cleaned. Several objects to be cleaned are normally connected to one cleaning line 3. One dairy normally has 10-15 cleaning lines. Equipment for the method for which patent protection is sought is installed onto the relevant cleaning line 3 between the objects 2 to be cleaned and a boundary valve 7. The boundary valve 7 determines the destination to which the boundary product is to be led: to a discharge 9 or to a boundary product tank 8. The boundary product is normally used as animal fodder if it has a concentration that exceeds a pre-determined value. The boundary product that is led to the discharge 9 is normally treated at a municipal discharge treatment plant after the neutralisation of its pH in the neutralisation plant of the dairy.

#During the measurement procedure, the boundary product is first led through a de-airer 4 (Trille™) in order to reduce the amount of air in the solution. This is necessary to ensure that the subsequent measurement is reliable. The boundary product then passes through a flow meter 5 and a concentration meter 6 of, for example, an infra-red type. The boundary product is then led through the boundary valve 7 for distribution as determined by the cleaning programme.