Membrane filtration in food processing involves energy – and water-intensive processes to clean. GEA explains how new tools for its Smart Filtration Flush system can reduce water usage by 50 per cent.
GEA has released two new digital tools – a software duo called GEA Smart Filtration CIP and GEA Smart Filtration Flush – which automatically intervene in cleaning-in-place processes (CIP). They pulse the pumps and flush the membranes individually and according to real-time water quality, reducing water and power consumption by upto 50 per cent.
Less water for rinsing
Membrane filtration plants separate or concentrate substances without thermal stress. Membrane filtration is primarily used in food manufacturing – including new foods – and in dairy processing. Common product examples include dairy protein and fish collagen isolates.
Until now, cleaning this equipment was energy – and water-intensive, requiring three or four individual cleaning steps with different chemical cleaning agents to be pumped and circulated throughout the equipment for a specified amount of time before rinsing it out with water.
In contrast, GEA Smart Filtration Flush uses sensorsto constantly measure the permeate quality of thewater during the flushing process, reducing the freshwater required.
Setting blanket rinsing intervals and water quantities in advance are no longer needed as the software stops the process as soon as the necessary hygiene level is reached, and the cleaning agents are discharged.
Depending on the type and size of the plant and the water properties, operators can reduce their freshwater requirements by up to 50 percent.
GEA R&D engineer for membrane filtration, Nils Mørk, says, “A typical dairy whey protein concentration process needs two to four filtration plants connected in a series. This set up can require more than 100,000 litres of water, per cleaning cycle.
“Today, we know from plant tests that we can save well up to 50,000 litres of water per cleaning in such large plants and 500 to 700 litres per CIP in small productions.”
Additionally, when less water is fed into the process, this decreases the amount of wastewater which needs to be discharged.
“Many manufacturers can only clean their filtration systems successively because the peak flows during flushing of filtration plants often exceed pipeline capacity. That can create a potential safety hazard for staff and cause contamination in the production area.
“We eliminate this peak water flow problem with Smart Flush because we can significantly reduce pressure fluctuations in the water supply and reduce the overflow of drain lines,” Mørk says.
Less energy with pulsating pumps
The second software module, GEA Smart Filtration CIP, is a software module that regulates cleaning efficiency. It causes the pumps to operate in a pulsating manner as opposed to running continuously. As a result, the pumps consume up to 50 per cent less energy during the CIP process.
Traditionally, the best results were achieved by cleaning with high shear forces (e.g., mechanical washing with a strong rinse flow). This approach meant the maximum allowed pressure drop across the membranes was applied during the CIP process, which entails much higher energy consumption. GEA Smart Filtration CIP breaks with this inefficient method, without losing efficacy.
Washing machine principle
Tests conducted by GEA on various membrane plants prove that the same level of hygienic cleaning is achieved even if the pump only operates at short intervals – providing the time, temperature and chemical concentration iskept constant.
“Our method, now applied to membrane plants, mirrors the basic principles used successfully by washing machines: agitate the clothes followed by intervals of rest, allowing the cleaning agent do its job,” explains Mørk.
Compared to plants with standard pump operation at full load, small production plants with GEA Smart Filtration CIP would save between five and seven kilowatt hours per cleaning. Large filtration plants would require 60 to 100 kilowatt hours less electrical energy per CIP process thanks to this innovation.
This story first appeared in the April/May edition of Food & Drink Business magazine.
