Objective
To demonstrate the energy and material savings possible with a novel cleaning in place system which can be retrofitted, at low cost to a range of conventional evaporators.
To demonstrate that the cleaning cycle can be reduced from 5 hours to 2.2 hours and that the steam energy required for cleaning can be reduced from
18.5 t/daily cycle to 1.0 t/daily cycle.
Final report in preparation.
Conventional evaporator cleaning methods require the same steam and power consumption as is used in evaporating milk. Cleaning times can vary from
2 to 5 hours and this has a great effect on energy consumption and plant availability. Long or ineffective cleaning cycles are compensated for by building larger plants with increased costs and energy consumption.
Any cleaning system aims to provide sufficient energy to suspend or dissolve material which is adhering to surfaces. This energy may be provided in several ways, for example: kinetic energy (brushing, turbulent flow), thermal energy (hot water temperature) and chemical energy (acids, alkali, detergents).
Evaporators in the dairy industry have traditionally relied on the last two forms i.e. thermal energy and chemical energy. Kinetic energy has played a very small part in the cleaning of falling film evaporators as the energy of the falling film is insufficient to cause turbulent flow. This is the primary reason for the extraordinary length of the cleaning cycle in milk evaporators.
This project systematically approaches the need to increase the mechanical action of the cleaning agent throughout the evaporator. The velocity of all cleaning films will be increased tenfold and additional cleaning jets will be fitted to ensure that all parts of the evaporator are clean. Process pumps will no longer provide the means of circulating the cleaning agents. Larger pumps which are to be used only during the cleaning cycle will be fitted complete with a computer controlled system of isolating valves and cleaning cycle control.
Conventional evaporators do not reuse their cleaning agents. Because of the much larger flows involved in the present solution it will be necessary to recycle chemicals and detergent. A detergent holding and cleaning system is an integral part of the economics of the project.
The usage of caustic agents is increased by hard waters. In this project it is proposed to collect the process condensate from the evaporator and to use this as the make up water for the cleaning system. In this way heat will be recycled and the usage of caustic will be minimized.
This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel cleaning in place system for falling film evaporators in the dairy industry.
The total steam consumption of the wash cycle will be reduced from 18.5 t to less that 1 t.
Cleaning will be more effective and the number of washes will be reduced from 280 per annum to 230 washes per annum. This will yield further energy savings.
The recycling of hot condensate will achieve additional energy economies.
Plant availability will improve and the waste chemical load on the environment will be reduced.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
ROXBORO Limerick
Ireland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.