CIP Skids

What is involved in CIP Cleaning? 

CIP cleaning is typically the preparation & delivery of cleaning agents. There is normally a rinse cycle followed by cleaning, detergent wash, disinfection, rinse and final rinse. The CIP skid will have a heating element for the water/ chemicals as elevated temperatures assist cleaning. Pipeline cleaning is normally based on providing sufficient velocity in the pipeline for the turbulent motion of the fluid to dislodge the particles of the residue that need to be removed. A guide is 1.5 ms^-1 velocity which is then used in conjunction with the pipeline size to determine the size of the pump being used for the delivery of the chemicals.

The CIP skid can be either a single or multi-tank framework depending on the applications. The size and scale of them is related to the number of tanks & the amount of pipeline to be cleaned and whether it is in parallel or sequence. CIP skids normally contain a level of chemical dosing, a heating source such as heat exchanger and control panel/valves/pumps for the distribution of the chemicals.

CIP systems firstly ensure levels of hygiene between production batches & that each new batch/product run does not have carry over & cause contamination. An effective CIP system will reduce the cost of cleaning the pipeline / tanks when coupled with efficient cleaning spray heads.

The actual cleaning of tanks is typically via static or rotating spray balls which Flexachem also can provide & offer a recommended selection for. The cleaning of pipelines is mainly through the velocity of the liquid and turbulence generated in the pipe.

What is a modular process skid design?

Modular process skid design is taking a full system and segmenting it into parts that can be independently worked on and then integrated at a later point in sequence.

What is meant by a skid package?

Consulting engineering houses often go to market on behalf of their clients with tender packages. These contain the technical specification for the equipment and performance parameters that the bidders need to adhere to in order to be consider technically compliant with the end user requirements. The package could be in the form of a User Requirement Specification (URS) or technical data sheet(s). They can range in complexity and cost from a few thousand to several million Euros.

What are the skid design standards?

Skid design standards are the engineering performance expectations of the equipment and materials of construction. This could include the rated operating temperature / pressure / metallurgy / pipe schedule etc.

What is a pump skid?

A pump skid is typically a framework supporting a pump that may require other ancillaries such as seal system. While a lot of pumps are base plate mounted, it may be that the pump has valves etc on the skid to enable transfer of the liquid to other services.

What is the difference between Process skids & CIP skids?

Process skids generally have a production solution and CIP skids are part of the cleaning regime the client will have