Stefan Ryan’s Post

Food & pharma lines put serious thermal and chemical stress on hoses, especially during Clean-in-Place (CIP) and Sterilize-in-Place (SIP) cycles. We found a great article from Angst+Pfister worth reading regarding this topic. A few process tweaks can change the game: • Match cycle frequency to contamination risk. • Pre-flush new hoses: 176°F (80°C) ~8 h. • Verify chemical compatibility (PAA, caustic, nitric, phosphoric, steam). • Validate the clean to prevent residue-driven degradation. Case in point: a dairy that tuned concentration/time and upgraded materials doubled hose life and cut hose-related downtime ~60%. Details in the article 👇 https://lnkd.in/edE5ayhR #food #pharmaceutical #manufacturing #dairy #hose #maintenance

CIP SYSTEM A CIP system, or Clean-in-Place system, is an automated process for cleaning the interior of pipes, tanks, and other processing equipment without disassembly. It is widely used in hygiene-sensitive industries like food, dairy, and pharmaceuticals to clean equipment using a combination of high-pressure water, heat, and chemical cleaning solutions, followed by a rinse. The primary purpose is to ensure a high level of sanitation and compliance with safety standards efficiently and consistently.

Precision Matters in Liquid Filling We’re currently working with a leading dairy producer to upgrade their aseptic bag-in-box line and precision is at the heart of the project. Engi-O fillers ensure every bag is filled with pinpoint accuracy, consistently achieving and exceeding the desired production rates for our clients. When it comes to end-of-line bag filling and bag-in-box solutions, this equipment makes the difference delivering reliability, efficiency, and accuracy in every fill. #AsepticFilling #FoodTech #HMPSPropac #AustralianMade #PackagingAutomation

How to Keep Your Continuous Mixer Clean Whether your application requires the highest standard of hygiene, such as pharmaceutical or food production, or involves a material that would severely impact production without regular cleaning, such as conditioned fly ash, ensuring the right design choice of a mixer is essential. Here Ajax Equipment’s Eddie McGee looks at the mixer design features that can help minimise material build-up and make cleaning a quick and easy process.

🌟 Revolutionizing Milk Powder Production with Inline Viscosity Measurement 🌟 In the fast-paced world of dairy processing, achieving consistent, high-quality milk powder isn't just about tradition—it's about precision engineering. Real-time inline viscosity measurement is transforming spray drying efficiency, enabling immediate adjustments to milk concentrate streams for optimal droplet formation, powder solubility, and yield. Key insights from the process: Viscosity Fundamentals: As solids content rises during evaporation, viscosity impacts atomization—higher levels can lead to larger particles and nozzle clogging, while ultrasound or thermosonication treatments reduce it for higher solids loading and less biofilm fouling. Spray Drying Mastery: Control inlet temps (up to 200°C), feed flow, and atomization to minimize Maillard browning and preserve nutrients. Techniques like pulse spray drying (PSD) enhance protein retention. Inline vs. Offline: Continuous monitoring with vibrational or acoustic sensors (e.g., hygienic, CIP/SIP-compatible food viscosity meters) outperforms batch sampling—faster corrections, reduced waste, and automated SPC integration for HACCP compliance. Benefits? Extended run times, uniform particle size/flowability, and superior sensory/nutritional profiles in whole, skimmed, or specialty powders. Dairy engineers and process managers: How are you leveraging inline tech to boost your spray drying ops? Share your experiences below! 👇 #DairyProcessing #MilkPowder #SprayDrying #FoodTech #ProcessOptimization #InlineMeasurement #ViscosityControl

Sloppy lab environments don’t just hurt accuracy—they destroy credibility. In sectors like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, feed, and fertilizer, testing results become regulatory documents. They’re not internal tools. They’re your defense if something goes wrong. But how defensible are results from a lab with: - No particulate air monitoring? - Calibration logs missing key entries? - Temperature shifts between day and night? - Unverified traceability of instruments? Here’s the reality: regulators and clients don’t just look at test data. They look at how your lab conditions guarantee the data can be trusted. Why this matters: - For food: One misread microbial count can trigger a mass recall. - For cosmetics: Failing sterility can pull your product permits. - For fertilizer & feed: If NPK claims don’t match, your batch might lose distribution rights. And yet, many facilities still rely on basic cleaning routines and once-a-year calibrations. To meet ISO 9001, HACCP, or ISO 22000 in Malaysia, your lab needs: 1. Defined SOPs for monitoring HVAC and surface hygiene 2. Documented calibration schedules with traceable standards 3. Immediate corrective actions for any out-of-spec readings If you haven’t audited your lab’s environment lately, now’s the time. Curious what full compliance looks like in detail? Check out our latest piece breaking it all down, here: https://lnkd.in/gRjsCCK6 #LIMS #FoodMicrobiology #FoodTesting #AccreditedTesting #ISO17025

Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) is a widely used method for cleaning the interior surfaces of pipes, tanks, equipment, filters, and associated fittings, without disassembly. Commonly employed in industries such as food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics, CIP ensures equipment is cleaned efficiently while maintaining hygiene standards. It is a key practice in industries where maintaining a high level of cleanliness is essential for product safety, quality, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

🔬 Sterilization and Aseptic Filling: Ensuring Product Integrity at Every Step Aseptic filling is one of the most critical stages in any food, dairy, or beverage processing line. It brings together precisely engineered, aseptically designed components that work in perfect harmony to ensure product sterility — at all times. This has numerous advantages: 🕐 Extended Shelf Life 🛡️ Enhanced Product Safety Maintained 🍎✨Nutritional & Sensory Quality 🔄 Versatility Across Product Types 🚚📦🌍 Easy Transportation & Distribution 💰🌱♻️ Cost Efficiency & Environmental Benefits …and much more. 🎥 Let’s take a closer look through an animation at how Alfa Laval Aseptic Fillers ensure this critical application with maximum uptime and minimal production losses — supporting safe, efficient, and sustainable operations. #AsepticFilling #FoodProcessing #DairyIndustry #BeverageTechnology #AlfaLaval #FoodSafety #Innovation

Right chem, right dose, right time, right record. That is how sanitation works on paper and on the plant floor. Clean isn’t a feeling. It’s a controlled process. Chemical control is how we turn sanitation from “looks good” into something you can defend in any audit and trust on the floor. Start with the science. Match chemistry to the job and the surface. Use alkaline for fats and proteins, acid for mineral scale, and the right sanitizer for the zone, such as peracetic acid, chlorine, or quaternary ammonium. Check surface compatibility and water hardness before you lock your SOP. Make it to spec, not by feel. Prepare solutions with a controlled dilution method. Verify the actual concentration with a titration kit or an approved test strip. Label every secondary container with product name and make date. If it is unlabeled, it does not go to the floor. Apply with time and temperature under control. Achieve full wet contact time. Do not rinse early unless the product label allows it. For CIP, meet programmed time, temperature, and conductivity and rinse to neutral. Treat the HMI readout like a record you will show to an auditor. Prove the result before start-up. Visual clean is not enough. Use ATP and protein swabs at known hot spots and follow your environmental monitoring plan in higher-risk zones. Any failure means stop, re-clean, and re-test. Data decides, not the clock. Store and segregate safely. Keep incompatible chemicals apart. Close containers. Rotate inventory by lot and date. Keep a spill kit and eyewash ready. Where a rinse is required, verify that no sanitizer residue remains on food-contact surfaces. Make it stick with records and training. Capture who prepared it, how it was verified, where it was used, and the results. Train operators on TACT fundamentals: time, action, chemistry, temperature. When one factor drops, another must increase with approval. Review these controls in shift huddles so the practice stays alive. #FoodSafety #Sanitation #ChemicalControl #HACCP #BRCGS #CIP #EnvironmentalMonitoring #ATPTesting #QualityAssurance #FoodManufacturing #DataIntegrity #ContinuousImprovement