Efficient Plant October 2017 - 45

FOOD & BEVERAGE
processing
Portability can be a signiﬁcant advantage in operations such as craft and regional breweries. In this
application, a SANI-PUMP, with a 3/4-hp high-speed motor on a cart and a VFD for speed control,
sits at the ready for its next assignment at Chattanooga Brewing Co., Chattanooga, TN.

waiting for the seal to break and chip. They

that the compound that was used is made to FDA

can chip for a lot of reasons. Cavitation can

regulations.

occur and you might get parts of seal in your
process. Now you will have to dump your

changeovers clean): Clean-in-place [CIP]

entire batch. That's expensive."

procedures are critical in food and beverage

If you follow your own protocols and

processing (see "Clean is Top Food Pump

procedures, this can be avoided, he said.

Priority," Maintenance Technology, October

"I recommend a focus on failure prevention

2016). The pumps used in food-and-beverage

before failure analysis," he said. "Whenever

processing applications can also be used for

there is a failure they usually write up a failure

CIP procedures as long as proper procedures

analysis. They do this to ﬁnd out why the

are followed.

failure happened.
"If you set your sites on a higher level and

"That pump is used for multiple applications,"
McCormick said. "At a typical dairy, some [pumps

go for failure prevention you're going to have

handle products such as] bottled water and milk,

less failure analysis to do. Prevention before

skim milk, buttermilk, 1% milk, and 2% milk.

failure-this is very important. People are

Some even run through an orange drink...a lot of

ﬁnally starting to ﬁgure that out."

that is produced in dairies. As long as it has been

Insufﬁcient replacement parts
(don't be a pirate): When replacement
"There is always some type of inspection

Not using proper CIP procedures (keep

parts that were not designed/manufactured by

cleaned in place and veriﬁed cleaned in place and
then tested, it is okay."
When various colors or ﬂavors are pro-

going on. Every process has a sample batch.

the original-equipment manufacturer [OEM] are

cessed, different pumps may be used. Again,

They will draw from each one. If there is any type

used, pump failure can happen, McCormick

however, details such as temperature and

of contamination they will do a full inspection

stated.

pressure, and seal selection, must be carefully

and sometimes they will have to trash the entire
batch."
Lack of proper maintenance (focus on
failure prevention): A best practice for most
companies is to have regularly scheduled

"In some cases, it's okay to use 'pirate' parts,
but only if the manufacturer uses FDA-approved

considered.
"Consistency is important when processing

materials like rubber compounds and seal materi-

any beverage or anything edible," McCormick

als," he explained.

said. "Every bottle or can of soda needs to look

"There are a few who ruin it for the others

and taste the same as the last 5,000 bottles

maintenance written into their procedures. In

because they get cheap and don't go through

or cans. Avoiding all these common mistakes

many cases, this happens during changeovers.

the correct process. But remember that putting

can help to keep sanitary equipment running

Many elements are inspected, including seals,

someone else's parts into an OEM component

efﬁciently and reliably." RP

gaskets, and O-rings. If they are compromised

voids the warranty. This kind of goes hand in hand

in any way, they are replaced.

with preventive maintenance. Cheap is not always

Michelle Segrest is president of Navigate Content

better."

Inc., and has been a professional journalist for 28

"Proper maintenance is going to save you
money in the long run," McCormick said. "Down-

McCormick advises asking the manufac-

years. She specializes in creating content for the

time is a huge expense. If you don't change that

turer or supplier of pirate parts to send you the

industrial processing industries. Contact her at

seal in a reasonable amount of time, you are just

documentation of 3A or FDA approval to conﬁrm

michelle@navigatecontent.com.

OCTOBER 2017

RELIABLE PUMPING SUPPLEMENT |

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant October 2017