Seeds, skins, pulp, stems and grains in a recirculated water system can cause blockage in many tank washing nozzle designs, inhibiting their ability to work correctly. Cleaning tanks and maintaining a sanitary environment is essential to success in food processing and beverage industries. Problems within these systems lead to loss of time, money and resources, an unacceptable situation.
Situation
A large beer producer was having continual problems with clogging spray balls in their lauter / mash tun. The spent grain and husks were finding their way into the recirculated cleaning fluids and plugging the small holes in the spray ball resulting in ineffective cleaning. Rotary spray balls also clogged or jammed and stopped spinning for similar reasons.
Challenges
Other tank nozzles used had the following issues:
- Small holes and moving parts lead to clogging
- Nozzle blockage leads to unclean tanks and more maintenance downtime becomes costly
- The expense of high water consumption from extra wash cycles and the inability to use recycled water effectively
Solution
The HydroClaw is the world's first 360 degree clog resistant tank cleaning head. It was originally developed by Bete Fog Nozzle to solve clogging problems in the wine industry where grape pips and skin often cause similar issues to those being experienced in this case. The HydroClaw's patent pending design gives 3 to 5 times the free passage of conventional spray balls up to a massive 7.6 mm. This means that most contaminating particles can flow through the tank cleaning head without causing any clogging.
Product
The HydroClaw was explicitly designed to offer a tank washing innovation for wineries, allowing grape seeds and skins to pass through the nozzle.
This design feature makes it the perfect nozzle for other food processing applications. It is being used in the following tank cleaning processes:
Juice production, jam making, tomato processing, winemaking and brewing
ADVANTAGES OF THE BETE HYDROCLAW
- Nozzle designed to let particulates and sediment flow through with no clogging
- Clog resistance and low maintenance = reduced downtime and more economical water usage
- 316L stainless steel construction means it is perfect for clean in place (CIP) and food grade applications
- Complete 360 degree coverage
Results
The HydroClaw was initially tested on one of the six problem tanks at the site and it worked well. After one month of testing no clogging issues occurred. As a result the HydroClaw was rolled out to the six other tanks.
As well as solving the clogging issues the customer also marked an improvement in cleaning times. The HydroClaw had a more powerful cleaning action than the traditional spray balls and so, as a bonus, the cleaning times were also reduced.