Refinement for Performance Improvements (1978-Present) 

In the mid-70's, an innovative extension of CIP began to appear in the nations newer "extended life fluid milk processes". Engineering design and welded piping  combined to reduce the manual connections to supply and discharge elbows of HTST pasteurization systems (see photo at right)  which accomplished continuous standardization with CIP cleaned centrifugal machines, and supplied milk through  piping, tanks and distribution valve groups or transfer panels to fillers, all cleaned in a single circuit (see blue lines in photo to left) to minimize labor required for manual connections, and more importantly, eliminate the opportunities for re-contamination which existed in the more conventional processes. By-product tanks were cleaned by using the fill and discharge piping as CIPS/R lines, further enhancing flexibility and reducing opportunity for cross contamination as compared to conventional processes. In the late 70's and early 80's CIP was being applied to Clean in Place rather than Clean in Part.   
   
A new CIP System introduced in the late 70's and used extensively from 1980 onwards combined the function of the conventional return pump with an eductor.   This system shown schematically at the right was capable of cleaning very large tanks, at a considerable distance from the unit, with barely more water in the circuit than was required to fill the lines; i.e., 30-35 gallons for a tank 100 feet away, with 2" lines. And, this system was fully self cleaning, capable of fully evacuating all solutions from the circuit, and possessed greater reliability than contemporary pumped return systems.  The photograph at the left shows six (6) SUEA CIP Systems which were supported by Fresh Water and Recovered Solution tanks not shown to the left.  The left hand unit was the high-volume system for cleaning the Pasteurized Tanks, Lines, Valves and Fillers in a single circuit at 240 Gpm. 

This unit has since been applied to many dairy, food and pharmaceutical processes,   as a single system for the entire small process, or in multiples of from two to twelve, to handle large loads and meet cleaning scheduling criteria.  The schematic of a small fluid milk process at the left illustrates how a single system can be applied to clean an entire facility. The light blue lines define the Receiving Line circuit;  the green lines define a typical circuit for cleaning a storage Tank, and the purple lines define the Pasteurized Lines, Tanks and Valves (everything downstream of the HTST) but less the fillers which in this case were not of CIPable design. 
 
 
 

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