The clean-in-place skid is the central component of any contemporary CIP system. It is what provides the control, heat, flow, water, and chemicals to put tanks, valves, piping, heat exchangers, and other process equipment through a thorough cleaning without having to dismantle the production line.
At Hygienic Manufacturing Solutions, we put together modular CIP skid systems that are built for your plant in particular. We do not try to make your process fit an off-the-shelf unit.
Instead, our design work is guided by what has to be cleaned, how fast it can be put back into service, and what is required from a business, operational, and food safety perspective.
For us, the process comes first on every clean-in-place project.
We don’t look at pumps or control systems until we establish what the skid needs to do. That means accounting for the equipment in question, required flow and pressure, temperature, chemical dosing, cycle times based on the raw materials, utilities, and your production schedule.
All of this is put together in a modular fashion so the unit can be fabricated and put through its paces before it is delivered to the site. This keeps construction in an active plant to a minimum and gets you commissioned in less time.
Traditional field-built systems tend to require a lot of coordination among separate contractors for the electrical, fabrication, automation, and testing. A modular skid is more controlled.
Fabrication can happen while site work is in progress, and components can be assembled in a controlled environment before shipping. There is also less chance of a disconnect between the design and construction sides of the house.
Single-source responsibility makes for simpler project management. If an issue presents itself, there is no need for the client to figure out if it is the fault of the fabricator, the installer, or the equipment maker. At Hygienic Manufacturing Solutions, we handle the system as one project.
It is a matter of balancing time, temperature, chemical concentration, and mechanical action. You need turbulent flow in the piping for proper cleaning, plus enough force and coverage from the tank spray devices. If the design is lacking, you will have dead legs, poor drainage, or areas where product is trapped.
A pump has to put out the flow that is called for. Valves steer the cleaning solution into the proper circuits, while heat exchangers must provide adequate temperature. Chemical dosing cannot vary, and the system needs to stand up to the pressures it will face in a safe manner.
We want a skid you can rely on for a repeatable process, not just an assemblage of parts on a frame.
There should be no ambiguity when it comes to the materials used in a skid. Everything from water and product to chemicals and pressure will have an impact on the life of the system.
Choosing the wrong material means risking corrosion, contamination, and component failure, not to mention maintenance costs that are hard to predict.
Our equipment quotes are designed so there is no ambiguity about what we are proposing or why it is suited to the task. We consider a well-made CIP skid to be an investment in reliability, sanitation, and uptime.
As for automation and control, we don’t see it as an afterthought to add down the line. Poorly integrated controls will turn an otherwise capable skid into a perpetual troubleshooting exercise.
There has to be coordination between the valves, pumps, dosing, temperature control, and the like. Most modern CIP skids employ programmable logic controllers to regulate cycles and keep an eye on process conditions.
What makes integrated automation so worthwhile is the repeatability of the process. Instead of an operator having to put in manual work to replicate each step, the system takes care of data recording and sequencing for every cycle.
For quality control and compliance, that is a considerable advantage, especially in exacting manufacturing settings like the pharmaceutical industry.
With modular construction, we can complete a good measure of work before the skid arrives on site. It is an efficient way to bring together engineering, fabrication, piping, and instrumentation in one coordinated undertaking.
There is also the advantage of factory testing to identify any issues early. When it comes time to tie the unit into plant utilities, startup and commissioning will be unencumbered.
We bring all of that to Hygienic Manufacturing Solutions; we handle project management, construction, automation, and engineering under one roof. Whether we are replacing an old CIP unit or putting together a new one for an existing production line, we know the skid has to coexist with the rest of the facility’s existing power, water, steam, and wastewater capacity.
We’ve been in the business of running and bettering manufacturing systems for long enough that our experience informs our designs. We are not interested in making things more complicated than they need to be. Our aim is to provide the right system for the task.
For your next project, we can see a new CIP skid through from the first stages of engineering to final startup.
