Overall mitigation of fouling: a better understanding of the events during cleaning of food process plant

摘要

The fouling of food process plant is a severe operational problem which necessitates frequent cleaning - often at least daily. Th length of time taken to actually clean equipment in practice is often unknown, so commercial cleaning cycles are specified empirically and conservatively. To maximise operational efficiency, it is vital to understand the processes involved in cleaning. The sequence of events in cleaning food deposit (whey proteins) has been monitored using a series of visualisation techniques to gain an insight into the processes and rates which control the process. On contact with cleaning chemical the deposit swells into a removable form: this appears to be zero order process. The structure of the swollen layer has been studied using fixing techniques followed by SEM, the material has an expanded structure which allows rapid removal.