By Diane Silcock
THE Food and Beverage, and Dairy Processing sector is facing rapid growth. To meet customer demands and sustainability goals, manufacturers are under pressure to optimise operations, reduce downtime and costs, enhance efficiency and conserve water/energy, while maintaining quality. But are these companies looking in the right places to achieve this?
Industrial Nozzles and Systems (INS), representing Lechler, a leading global manufacturer of high precision nozzle technology, has a solution that will achieve the aforementioned outcomes.
Tank cleaning nozzles improve efficiency and cut downtime
A key area in the Food and Beverage, and Dairy industries is tank cleaning. Whether it’s a tank being used for storage, cooking or mixing various batches of different types of products, Lechler nozzles specifically designed for tank cleaning can substantially improve cleaning efficiency. This in turn reduces downtime, enables the next batch to be made much quicker, and saves water and thus energy. The cost savings can be massive.
Tank cleaning nozzles demand tech awareness
INS owner Steve Smith elaborates, “I think the biggest challenge is very often knowledge. Many manufacturers keep buying the same nozzles without considering newer technology. Companies don’t realise how important the nozzles are and the massive difference that they can make to their business.”
For instance, a global ice cream manufacturer set about to minimise their water consumption of the CIP process and improve the cleaning quality. Using Lechler XactClean HP+ nozzles for their tank cleaning, as opposed to rotating cleaning nozzles, the company achieved a water saving of 20 765 m3 and more than €110 000 annually.
Tank cleaning nozzles achieve 90% water savings in brewery
Another example is a brewery with 100 tanks and 100 static spray balls, utilising 4 500 m3 of water an hour. That’s 4.5 million litres an hour to clean all the tanks. “With the use of our Lechler XactClean HP+ nozzles, the brewery reduced their water usage to a mere 400 m3 of water an hour, and in so doing, achieved a 90% water saving,” says Smith.
In a dairy processing case study, changing to a more modern rotary nozzle, meant a reduction in cleaning time as well as in the volume of water used. This resulted in better product turnaround time in the plant, the vessel becoming available quicker for the next batch, and the tank being cleaner while utilising less water. “It’s pretty much a win-win in all these areas,” says Smith.
Tank cleaning nozzles fuel ongoing product innovation
Lechler has invested significantly in product development, expanding its range and focusing on developing nozzles or redeveloping a nozzle to meet industry needs. The product development is often tailored to specific applications or OEM needs with a strong focus on designing for global supply chains. He says the tank nozzles are one of the most active product ranges in their very complex product range.
A recent innovation by Lechler is a range of retractable lances which are accessories to nozzles. The lance to which the nozzle is attached, is dropped into the tank, cleans and then is retracted without interfering with the mixing mechanisms.
In a water scarce country such as South Africa, and with sustainability goals to achieve, water conservation in industry is critical. INS and Lechler are playing a vital role in helping companies with ways to substantially reduce their water usage. And the added value is the significant cost savings they can achieve along with higher productivity.
Smith concludes, “Water is energy, in the sense that you have to move it from A to B. Therefore, the less water you have to move, the less energy you need. And by using less energy means you are not as reliant upon your power supply.”
