Wright Flow Technologies Pumps for Sanitary Applications

Aug. 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Product contamination has always been a concern for Food and Pharmaceutical companies. In recent years this concern has also moved to the Toiletries, Personal Products, Electronics, Photographic and Chemical Industries, while the focus on Food processing and distribution has become even more intense. The concepts of cleanliness and Sanitary Products are rapidly expanding and imparts a consciousness in industry personnel.

Industries such as Food and Pharma, Bio-technology, etc use pumps for the transfer of clean and Hygienic liquids. In these transfer applications, it is essential to make sure that the products are being transferred without any damage to their cleanliness. In other words, the pump should be a sanitary pump. These sanitary pumps are used to transport and meter solutions, slurries and colloids of food and agricultural materials in operations where cleanliness is desired or mandated. For example many food processing plants use sanitary pumps. This article focuses on the various aspects of Wright Flow Lobe pumps that go into the sanitary product markets.

Clean – What does it mean?

Terms such as sanitary, aseptic, sterile and clean are widely used, but there appears to be no universally accepted definition. In an attempt to clarify the terms used, in general:

Sanitary: Means “visually” or “superficially” clean. It would be expected to achieve a sanitary condition on pumps by circulation of cleaning media and manual strip-down/auto-claving. After cleaning the pumps/system could be subject to swab tests to verify.

Asceptic: By definition, this means “free from micro-organisms that could cause disease”, but now more generally it means “free from all extraneous organisms, i.e., only those that are wanted are present.

Sterile: Means “the complete absence of living organisms”- “bio-logically” clean. Would be achieved by steam circulation and could be subject to biological tests to verify (finished product can be terminally sterilised).

Clean: As in “clean area” would be an area that has been sterilized.

These conditions are achieved by procedures ranging from manual strip down and cleaning of component parts (possibly supported by auto-claving) to CIP (Cleaning in Place) or SIP (Sterilising in Place, sometimes referred to as Steaming in Place or Steaming Through). It is not uncommon to find a combination of procedures being used to achieve the required environment for processing. For example a particular piece of equipment may be subject to manual strip down and cleaning whilst the rest of the plant undergoes CIP or, CIP could be followed by SIP to achieve the required environment for processing to continue.
Sanitation Standards

Mandatory sanitation standards vary for different products and depend on the regulatory agency governing processing activities, as well as the local or on-site inspectors. There are also voluntary standards published by various organizations. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as well as other standards. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) were developed to establish criteria in determining compliance with the FDA standards, particularly in regard to the terms “sanitary” and “unsanitary”.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has exclusive jurisdiction in the areas of poultry, meat, and egg products. Regulations can be found under Title 9, of Code of Federal Regulations.

The International Association of Food Suppliers (IAFIS), McLean, Virginia, maintains 3A Sanitary standards. This widely accepted voluntary standard provides criteria for the sanitary construction and installation of Dairy processing equipment. The 3A Sanitary standards can often be applied to processes other than dairy. Some of the special features are:

Material, in general, should be 18-8 stainless steel, with a carbon content of not more then 0.12%, or equally corrosion-resistant material.
The gage of metal should be sufficient for the various applications
Product surfaces fabricated from sheets should have a No.4 finish or equivalent
Square corners should be avoided. Minimum radii are often specified
No threads should be in contact with food. Acme threads should be used
Surfaces should be sloped to provide drainage
Designs should permit interchangeability of parts

On 1st January 1995 the requirements of The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations became mandatory for all new machinery supplied or put into service within the European Community. The Statutory Instrument contains a section on the additional health and safety requirements for agri-foodstuffs machinery. This section states that where machinery is intended to prepare and process foodstuff, it must also be designed and constructed as to avoid infection, sickness or contagion.

The European Hygienic Equipment Design Group (EHEDG) concentrates on specific areas within the food industry, such as design principles, pumps, valves, materials, pipe couplings, test methods etc. with the aim of publishing minimum requirements for hygienic and aseptic equipment, principles of hygienic design and the test methods for assessing equipment against the requirements.

Industrial Challenges and Product Issues

Food Processing Industry

• Liquids, solids and combinations must be handled without deterioration of the product or damage to the equipment
• Sanitary condition are a necessary additional condition beyond normal unit operation
• Chemical and biological properties play a more predominant role than mechanical properties in the design of equipment for the food industry
• Products containing vinegar and salt are among the most corrosive materials. Hence the materials need to be corrosion-resistant
• The character and toxicity of the product must be considered
•The pH of the fluid products is the major factor in materials selection. The most acidic goods commonly processed are cranberry juice, lemon juice, sweet pickles and cranberry sauce; all are below pH 3.0. Few foods are alkaline; generally they are below pH8.0. Crab meat is pH 6.8, and some chicken preparations are pH 6.5.

Dairy Industry
• The shift towards ultra-high-temperature extended shelf life milk products with a 60 day shelf life is requiring dairy companies to put greater emphasis on sanitation
• Within ESL (Extended Shelf Life) and UHT (Ultra high temperature) plants, CIP equipment is essential
• Formation of Mold Spores is always a major issue in Dairy industries

Bio-technology Industry
• Product degradation is undesirable and needs to be maintained in its original state.
• Continuous operation is desired due to time constraints in processing sensitive products
• The contact parts needs to be non-contaminating
• Products are shear sensitive, hence gentle handling required
• No damage to the living cells is expected. Hence sharp parts are to be avoided
• Products are very expensive, hence leakage may not be acceptable even to the lowest degree.

Pharmaceutical Industry
• Products handled are very sensitive and hence contact parts needs to be clean and non-contaminating
• Liquids are generally expensive and hence leakage would be undesirable

Wright Flow’s Solution

Wright Flow Pump is an ISO 9001 and 14001 certified Company that specialize in the design and manufacture positive displacement rotary lobe pumps for the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and industrial markets. Before getting into the details of various products, let us understand a Rotary Lobe Pump

Lobe pump
Lobe pumps are used in a variety of industries including pulp and paper, chemical, food, beverage, pharmaceutical and bio-technology. They are popular in these diverse industries because they offer superb sanitary qualities, high efficiency, reliability, corrosion resistance, and good clean-in-place and service-in-place characteristics. Also their gentle pumping action minimizes product degradation.

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