In plants that process liquids – such as food, chemicals or wine – product safety and quality, as well as production process efficiency, depend largely on a factor that is often underestimated: the cleanliness of the surfaces that come into contact with the product. Ensuring hygiene requires the efficient cleaning of pipes, tanks and plant components to prevent contamination and maintain compliance with the hygiene standards in force in the industry, without disrupting the continuity of operations.
This is the context in which Cleaning In Place (CIP) is used, making it possible to automatically clean and sanitise plants without having to dismantle the equipment. CIP systems are widely used in the food and chemical industries and in winemaking.
Table of Content
What is Cleaning In Place (CIP)?
Cleaning In Place is an automated washing system for cleaning and sanitising parts of the plant that come into contact with the product. It is designed to clean areas that come into contact with liquid, including pipes, valves, pumps, tanks and filling machines.
The basic idea is to circulate the cleaning solutions required through the equipment and pipelines, reaching the internal surfaces without dismantling the plant.
The CIP system – like the Granzotto G-CLEAN system – allows the incorporation of cleaning into the overall management of the plant, transforming it from a predominantly manual operation into an automated and controllable process.
Benefits of the Cleaning In Place system
Compared to manual cleaning, an automated Cleaning In Place system offers a variety of measurable benefits:
- improved product quality, thanks to more constant cleaning that is repeatable over time;
- reduced cleaning, sanitising and rinsing times, meaning a lower impact on production continuity;
- reduction in errors linked to human intervention, because the process is standardised;
- increased operator safety, thanks to the elimination of direct contact with plant components or cleaning solutions;
- reduced consumption of water and detergents, with economic benefits and a decreased environmental impact, thanks to integration with systems for recovering residual liquid from the pipes (G-RECO) before cleaning them;
- cleaning of specific sections of the plant, limiting production downtime, thanks to the integration of systems that manage product transport by optimising routes (G-MOVE).
Want to reduce machine downtime
with an automated washing system?
Request a preliminary consultation with a Granzotto Impianti expert.
Uses of Cleaning In Place in different industrial sectors
The versatility of CIP makes it suitable for use in every industry, with cleaning requirements varying according to the process and the materials processed:
- the winemaking industry: wine, alcoholic beverages, vinegar and glazes;
- the food industry: oil, water and soft drinks, sauces and fruit juices;
- the chemical industry: paints, varnishes and solvents, cosmetics and detergents.
The characteristics of the product processed and of the production process naturally determine the design requirements of the plant. This is why Granzotto develops bespoke solutions, assessing the customer’s goals, the type of product, the space available and safety requirements.
How does the Cleaning In Place process work?
A Cleaning-in-Place system operates as a closed circuit: cleaning solutions and water for rinsing are pumped along the same route usually taken by the product – pipes, valves, tanks and filling machines – without the need to dismantle any components.
A CIP cycle generally consists of a sequence of steps:
- a pre-rinse to remove heavy product residues;
- washing with a cleaning solution, which spends sufficient time in contact with the inner surfaces to ensure effective cleaning;
- one or more intermediate rinses to remove all traces of the cleaning solution;
- a final rinse to restore the circuit to suitable conditions for resuming production.
The number, duration and exact sequence of the steps depend on the characteristics of the product being processed, the type of residue to be removed and the plant specifications. The CIP system must therefore be designed on a case-by-case basis together with a qualified technical partner.
The main components of a Cleaning In Place system
Cleaning-in-Place systems consist of a set of components which, when used together, enable the automation and effective management of cleaning operations: tanks for cleaning and rinsing solutions, pumps for the circulation of fluids, valves for routing them to the various circuits, systems for dosing chemicals, a control unit that coordinates the entire cycle, and, of course, the system’s pipes.
The overall effectiveness of the cleaning process depends on the balance between four factors that influence one another (a principle known as Sinner’s circle): the concentration of the cleaning solution, its temperature, the time spent in contact with the surfaces, and the mechanical action exerted by the flow, the turbulence of which helps to “scrape” the inner walls of the circuit. The correct management of these parameters makes it possible to achieve the required level of cleanliness while optimising consumption and machine downtime. The result is a CIP system in which cleaning, control and process management are incorporated into the overall plant architecture.
Granzotto’s G-CLEAN CIP systems, for example, incorporate G-MOVE for transferring liquids, G-TECO for managing the temperature of water and cleaning solutions, G-CONTROL to coordinate the sequence of steps, monitoring their parameters and duration in real time.
The winemaking industry: the importance of the CIP system in wineries
In the winemaking industry, ineffective CIP can affect the quality of the wine due to cross-contamination between different batches, with a direct impact on the finished product. A well-designed Cleaning In Place system, on the other hand, ensures the constant sanitisation of tanks and pipelines, minimising machine downtime and limiting the impact on the winery’s productivity, even when things are particularly busy, such as during the grape harvest.
This is precisely why choosing a qualified partner with specific experience in designing CIP systems for the winemaking industry has a direct impact on results. Designing an effective cleaning and sanitising system requires specific skills and in-depth knowledge of the production process.
Contact us to speak to our experts or find out more about the G-CLEAN solution dedicated to Cleaning In Place.
Trust Granzotto to design your CIP washing system
Request a consultation with one of our experts
