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Optimization of cleaning detergent use in brewery fermenter cleaning
Author(s) -
Atwell Charlotte,
Martin Elaine,
Montague Gary,
Swuste Jeroen,
Picksley Mark
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of the institute of brewing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.523
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 2050-0416
pISSN - 0046-9750
DOI - 10.1002/jib.393
Subject(s) - cleaning agent , brewing , environmental science , process engineering , waste management , pulp and paper industry , chemistry , engineering , food science , organic chemistry , fermentation
This paper investigates improvement possibilities in the cleaning operations undertaken at an industrial brewery. Experiments were performed on a bench‐scale cleaning rig which was designed to simulate ‘real‐life’ cleaning conditions of a clean‐in‐place set in the brewery. The rig was used to clean consistently fouled coupons using difficult soils from the brewery. The objective of the experiments was to determine the reduction in effective cleaning performance with varied levels of Na 2 CO 3 in the detergent from NaOH degradation and the maximum level that may be present before cleaning quality is impacted. The shear force of the cleaning fluid across the surface of the coupon was also varied to determine the impact on cleaning performance. Data collected from these offline measurements has been used to predict the end point of the detergent usage based on cost optimization within the empirically determined limits. The results show that the NaOH detergent usage can be extended while achieving the same time to clean without impacting the cleaning quality and preventing premature disposal. This will provide an increased confidence level when cleaning fermenters with NaOH. It will also reduce cleaning costs and benefit the environment by reducing chemical effluent and minimizing water consumption. Copyright © 2017 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling