Sanitary Bulk Material Handling Equipment Accessibility: Bringing Speed, Safety, and Confidence to Cleaning
Processing and packaging operations are becoming acutely aware of the significant cleanability and product safety advantages that result from the use of sanitary, application-specific material handling equipment versus force-fit, general industrial units. With the increased awareness and importance given to cleanability, plant operations, supervisory staff, and management are, now, looking for methods to improve equipment cleaning effectiveness and efficiency without compromising outcome. A priority method these professionals have identified for improving equipment cleaning effectiveness and efficiency is: accessibility. "If equipment manufacturers can figure out how to do open areas with CIP, that would save time and money," says Lee G. Johnson, Ph. D., vice president of technical services, West Liberty Foods. This post, the fourth in a series regarding sanitary bulk material handling equipment, will address how equipment accessibility must be included as an original equipment and operating environment design criteria to ensure the highest level of cleaning effectiveness and efficiency.
Regardless of clean-in-place (CIP) or open plant cleaning (OPC) applications, enabling quick and safe access by personnel to enclosed areas of the equipment, and aiding simple and safe access to components for disassembly prior to cleaning will: [i] shorten the duration of cleaning events, [ii] reduce the number of staff required for equipment cleaning, [iii] improve the outcome of cleaning and validation, and [iv] contribute to greater product safety.
The sanitary-specific construction of this bulk material tote dumper exemplifies OCC design.
This bulk material tote dumper, designed and built by National Bulk Equipment, Inc. (NBE) specifically for sanitary application, exemplifies a proactive equipment design focused toward improving accessibility. To ensure the accuracy and relevance of the design, NBE, first, performed a pre-production HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) assessment. The HACCP assessment guided the framework and component designs, the materials of construction, and the protections for personnel. Two examples of this sanitary tote dumper's designed-in accessibility to enclosed areas of the system are:
Enclosed hydraulics system enables easy viewing; simple access for cleaning and service.
• Easy Access to Enclosed Hydraulics Systems: A 9.525mm-thick, shatterproof viewing shield enables quick visual inspection. When access is required, simple tools can remove the shield. And, a tool-free clamp provides quick, and safe access to the reservoir. The hydraulic systems on this sanitary tote dumper are positioned below a seven-foot height and are, therefore, fully guarded on all six sides to protect personnel from moving parts. Though located well below, and separate from, the product contact area, this fully enclosed cabinet design also protects the product and the operating environment from fluid contaminants.
Discharge hood gate design enables easy and safe accessibility for disassembly and cleaning.
• Simple and Safe Component Disassembly: To speed cleaning, validation, and inspection of the internal surfaces of the sealed discharge hood, the hatch gate can be removed by one person, without tools, in less than 20 seconds. Easy reach to the discharge hood and quick removal of the hatch gate enables safe, visual validation and inspection; and, if necessary, obstruction-free, physical access to internal surfaces.
The sanitary processing and packaging marketplace has recognized that equipment cleanability, while a critical factor in the attainment of product safety and personnel safety, must be achieved with maximum equipment accessibility effectiveness and efficiency in order to provide optimal compliance contribution (OCC).
Additional posts in this series on sanitary bulk material handling equipment design include topics of: Equipment Cleanability, Structural Design and Contaminant Removal, Materials of Construction, and Product Safety Guidelines.
Sanitary Bulk Material Handling Equipment Cleanability: Value, Risk & Outcome
Can a typical, industrial bulk material handling system in a sanitary processing operation be thoroughly cleaned, even to the microbial level? Probably. But, with every cleaning event of a process-inappropriate bulk material handling system comes increased costs for labor, consumables (such as detergents and water), and energy. And, more importantly, with hard-to-clean equipment in sanitary applications comes a greater risk for inspection failure and product contamination. This post, the third in a series (Part 1 and Part 2) regarding sanitary bulk material handling equipment, will address several structural design features to look for in the construction of application-specific, sanitary bulk material handling equipment. To proactively specify these cleanability design features into sanitary bulk material handling equipment will reduce the costs and time of cleaning events, will aid in improving validation and inspection outcomes, and will ensure optimal compliance contribution (OCC).
Continuous weld seams are ground to a No. 4 finish, hand-burnished to eliminate pits, dimples, and crevices.
• Continuous-weld seams, ground smooth to a No. 4 finish: Weld seams, particularly in product contact areas and adjacent areas, must be free of pits, dimples, and crevices that could harbor contaminants such as material residue, microbes, and allergens. In addition to the No. 4 finish, hand-burnished weld seams will improve gross soil removal and resistance to microbial build-up during operation and cleaning.
Non-obstructing raceway contains unbundled utility lines; reduces material build-up, eases cleaning, inspection.
• Unbundled Utility Lines and Hoses: Counter to the typical, industrial machine design philosophy, the utility lines and hoses should be left unbundled. Unbundled utilities will minimize the accumulation of food, dirt, or other organic matter; and therefore reduce the opportunity for growth of microorganisms. Unbundled does not mean uncontrolled. A non-obstructive raceway contains the utility lines and hoses and enables fast and thorough cleaning, promotes material release, eliminates re-cleaning, and aids validation and inspection.
• Laser-cut, Single-plate Sideframe Construction: Typical, industrial machine design often builds substructures using square-tube framework. However, inherent with square-tube construction is the significant number of internal angles, corners, and welded seams that will often block contaminants from cleaning procedures. Laser-cut, single-plate frameworks provides significant cleanability and sanitary operating advantages over square-tube framework. By eliminating the internal angles, corners, and weld seams, laser-cut, single-plate framework reduces cleaning steps, reduces water and detergent use, improves cleanability, and protects product from contamination.
Sure, process-inappropriate equipment can be put into sanitary processing operations, and it may perform its mechanical operations effectively. But, for the sanitary process operation that is driven by external influences such as regulatory compliance, or internal influences such as HACCP programs, application-specific sanitary equipment construction will provide OCC without compromise to the equipment's mechanical operation.
Sanitary Bulk Material Handling Equipment: Structural Design and Contaminant Removal
As part of an ongoing series regarding sanitary bulk material handling equipment, this post will address the specific issue of structural design of sanitary bulk material handling equipment, and the critical role structural design has in ensuring the safety of sanitary product. Of course, sanitary structural design and sanitary materials of construction are equally important factors effecting the ability of bulk material handling equipment to provide optimal compliance contribution (OCC). For detailed information regarding materials of construction in sanitary equipment, please see this previous post.
In the matter of sanitary bulk material handling systems' structural design, it is worthwhile to restate an essential premise, that premise being: it is possible for two different pieces of equipment, placed into perfectly matching sanitary applications, performing the same mechanical function, and each having achieved compliance, for a unit designed to the specific, sanitary requirements of the application to have a significantly greater ability to prevent contaminants from entering the sanitary process stream than a general, industrial unit force-fit into the application. Let's take a look at several application-specific, sanitary design features that improve cleanability, improve validation and inspection outcomes, protect product safety, reduce consumables use, and ensure improved OCC.
Rounded cross members and angled flat surfaces eliminate material accumulation and pooling of liquids.
• Rounded framework beams and angled, rounded cross members: The use of rounded structural framework in sanitary construction, rather than square tubing common in general industrial equipment construction, eliminates flat surfaces where material accumulation and pooling of liquids can occur. The rounded cross members are also angled away from product contact areas to move material and liquids away from product and speed drainage and drying during cleaning.
• No internal angles or corners; flat surfaces angled 45˚ to horizontal: Notorious for accumulating contaminants and being difficult to clean, validate, and inspect; internal angles and internal corners in structural elements and component construction should be cut out during fabrication to eliminate areas where contaminants can gather. If flat surfaces are present, on controls enclosures, for example; these surfaces should be angled, at least to 45˚ to horizontal, and directed away from product contact areas.
Material release openings remove foreign materials from the sanitary process stream.
• Material release openings: With force-fit, general industrial dry bulk material handling systems, foreign materials (materials other than the intended process material) are often inadvertently directed into the sanitary material process stream because no accommodation has been made to collect and remove them. An application-specific, sanitary bulk material handling equipment design must proactively integrate foreign material release openings at every handling action point; from input to final packaging.
Sanitary suspension design offsets controls enclosure from equipment framework.
• Controls enclosures offset from structural framework: The necessary proximity of control enclosures near to the process stream, and their numerous inherent right angles, make controls enclosures a challenge to thoroughly clean and inspect. Beyond simple standoffs (also common to force-fit equipment), a highly sanitary enclosure management design uses a cut-out inset area and suspension to offset the enclosure from the structure. This design creates material release openings and visual inspection openings, and eliminates right angles, welded joints, and flat surfaces where microbes, allergen residues, and proteins associated with gluten can accumulate.
Structural design of application-specific, sanitary bulk material handling equipment must be a proactive effort. A pre-production HACCP assessment of the application will effectively guide the framework and component designs as well as the selection of the materials of construction. Avoiding the common design errors associated with force-fit, general industrial bulk material handling systems will ensure the protection of product and personnel, reduce cleaning and sanitizing times, and enable the highest levels of optimal compliance contribution.
Sanitary Bulk Material Handling Equipment: Materials of Construction In Process-specific Applications
The sanitary-specific construction of this bulk material tote dumper exemplifies OCC design.
In an earlier post, some of the risks of integrating process-inappropriate equipment into sanitary bulk material handling applications were presented. In that post it was noted that many sanitary processing operations settle for force-fit, general industrial equipment rather than process-specific, sanitary bulk material handling equipment. "Clearly, there are degrees, or relative levels to sanitary compliance," says Tom Krueger, CMC, president of Summit Laboratory. "It is critical to recognize how the sanitary-specific construction of process-appropriate, sanitary bulk material handling equipment can translate to improved product safety, and a greater optimal compliance contribution". (OCC)
Materials of construction is referenced in industry guidelines, third-party standards, and in government regulations as an important aspect of sanitary equipment construction. Yet, with such vague references as, 'adequately cleanable', 'appropriate', and 'compatible', it is common for minimally sanitary equipment to be in use despite the negative effects this process inappropriate equipment may have. National Bulk Equipment, Inc. (NBE) has taken a proactive effort to ensure that it's process-specific sanitary bulk material handling equipment provides optimal compliance contribution.
These weld seams, in the product contact area, are continuous and ground to a No. 4 finish.
Regarding materials of construction, NBE uses findings from their pre-production, HACCP assessment to guide the framework and component designs and the selection of the materials of construction. This step puts in priority the protection of personnel and product; reduces cleaning, validation, and inspection times; and enables the highest compatibility with the environmental conditions specific to the process operation. For example, as appropriate, the structural framework, located below the product contact zone can be carbon steel. However, that carbon steel will be sandblasted, fabricated with smooth-ground continuous welds, and then primed and painted with FDA-approved epoxy paint. Materials in product contact and adjacent areas, are constructed of Type 316L stainless steel, also with continuous-weld seams. These stainless steel seams are then ground to a No. 4 finish to eliminate any divots, crevices, or other imperfections in the weld seam where microbial contaminants could accumulate.
In materials of construction, as in every aspect of process-specific sanitary bulk material handling equipment design, specifications beyond the standard are what achieve OCC and the resulting process advantages of: reduced time targets for cleaning, validation, and inspection; minimal labor allocation for cleaning and validation; limiting of consumables (water, chemicals, power) during cleaning; and increased repeatability of positive inspection outcomes.
Sanitary Process Equipment: Product Safety Guidelines and Standards
Processing industries, such as: food, pharmaceutical, chemical, petfood, and many more recognize, everyday, their primary objective is to produce safe product that is free of microbial and physical contaminants. This is no mystery. It's a matter of fact. And, often, a matter of survival. Sure, their objective is clear, and the various industry guidelines, third-party standards, and governmental regulations are in place to, supposedly, assist in achieving the objective. Yet, with all the clarity of objective, and instruction for its achievement, a glance into these processing industries would seem to indicate a willingness to tolerate the integration of functionally inappropriate process equipment -- even at the risk of: [i] creating an unnecessary hindrance to cleanability and validation, [ii] increasing the likelihood of non-sanitary operation, [iii] heightened exposure to contaminates, [iv] incompatibility with sanitary facility design principles,[v] greater hazard for operators, cleaning and maintenance staff, and validation/inspection personnel, and [vi] reduced overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Sanitary tote dumper with application-specific, functionally appropriate design and construction provides definitive compliance with industry guidelines, regulatory standards.
Why the risk tolerance? Why the willingness to accept degrees of functionally appropriate equipment? Why the willingness to compromise and trade-off process equipment performance variables? "It's a common misperception within many processing and packaging operations that the necessity for truly sanitary equipment design increases only as material gets closer to the center of process operations," says Tom Krueger, CMC, president of Summit Laboratory. "Unfortunately, as a result, many processing operations have settled for force-fit, general industry bulk material handling equipment. In doing so, they have done little to eliminate the presence of contaminants at the point of material introduction, and possibly put their entire, downstream process operation at risk," says Krueger. "Likewise, without functionally appropriate sanitary bulk container filling and packaging equipment, the introduction into the marketplace of contaminated finished product can become an increased risk."
Bulk Bag Unloaders Integrate Material Metering and Blending Processes
The bulk material packaging and processing marketplace is expected to reach $134.9 billion in 2011. And, according to a research report published by Visiongain, much of this will be driven by consumer-level market demand for pharmaceutical and chemical products. Naturally, the complexity of end-use product formulations and packaging configurations will increase as bulk material packagers and processors compete to most effectively respond to the increasing demands of their end-market customers and gain market share.
This dual bulk bag unloader integrated material input, metering, and blending into a single equipment footprint, with a central HMI and controls architecture.
Bulk material processing and packaging operations responding to these market pressures are looking to remove, and/or optimize production processes within their bulk material unloading and manufacturing sequences. This integrated, bulk material handling system feeds, meters, and blends very free-flowing dry bulk material and liquid minor ingredients at a 12,000 lb./hr. blended-material process rate; centralizing multiple dry and liquid material handling steps within a single equipment footprint, and within a single controls architecture. Built by National Bulk Equipment (NBE), the dual bulk bag unloaders; constructed of 4" x 4" x 5/16" structural framework, each have a 4,000 lb. frame capacity and meet or exceed ANSI and ASME specifications. NBE bulk bag conditioning systems, built into the framework of each bulk bag unloader, also optimize total bag cycle process times by 25% compared to free-standing bag conditioning designs. The liquid supply tank, built of 304-2b stainless steel and built into the system footprint, discharges the minor ingredient into the blending hopper based the specific recipe and control instruction from the system HMI. The 250 cu. ft. capacity blending hopper is constructed of 3/8", 304-2b stainless steel and has an integral, 14 ga., 304-2b stainless steel dimpled jacket that is ASME inspected and code stamped for –20°F to +400°F, and 125 PSIG. A thorough material mix is provided by the blending hopper’s 10" solid mainshaft and double-ribbon agitator design.
The NBE bulk material handling controls and automation architecture enable standardized system integration to the facility’s SCADA system. Application-specific, operator interaction and process operations risks were identified and properly mitigated by NBE throughout the design, testing, and commissioning stages. NBE expertise in application-appropriate codes, standards, and regulations ensured system compliance at start-up.
Bulk Bag Filler and Bulk Bag Unloader: Automated, Single-system Process Operation
This bulk bag filler system; receiving input material from an integrated bulk bag unloader, an integrated bag dump station, and a vibratory conveyor system, enabled the material processing operation to effectively transition to an automated, 20,000 lb./hour, bulk bag filling process from a relatively low-capacity, operator-intensive, 50 lb. bag filling system.
Multiple materials, all with differing characteristics, including: fast-flowing, dusty, sticky, and static-charged, enter the process operation based on the specific recipe selected at the system HMI by the operator. The NBE bulk bag unloader, receiving bulk bags of severely agglomerated material, starts an integrated, automated material conditioning sequence, including: massage paddles with 2,200 lbs. of paddle pressure, and an agitator hopper to prepare the material for supply, via screw conveyor, to the bulk bag filler. For secondary ingredients, a bag dump station, integrated to the bulk bag unloader, enables manual introduction of material to the agitator hopper for conditioning, blending, and supply to the bulk bag filler. The primary ingredient, supplied from downstream pneumatic conveying, is introduced to the bulk bag filling process through a 24” wide, 304-2b stainless steel, vibratory conveyor with a total material supply capacity of 20,000 lbs./hour.
This automated, bulk bag filler and bulk bag unloader system was built to be compliance-ready at start-up and to conform to the specific, regulated processes and practices of the Class II, Div. 2, Group G process area, as well as explosion protection and control features for venting, directlng, and releasing overpressure. NBE was the single-source provider of the system’s controls and automation, and was singularly responsible for integration of the system controls to the facility’s supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA). This NBE bulk bag filler and bulk bag unloader system significantly increased line capacity, improved resource management, reduced operating burden, increased labor efficiency and safety, and extended equipment contribution and performance lifecycles.
Bulk Filling and Discharging Equipment Guide Book Presents In-use Advantages of Application-specific Sanitary Equipment Versus Force-fit General Equipment
The second in a series of bulk material handling equipment guide books has been released. This newest guide book, entitled, Sanitary Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specification Guide Book, was developed to bring clarity to the common, yet inaccurate, perceptions of complexity and confusion associated with the integration of bulk material handling equipment to sanitary process operations.
The Sanitary Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications Guide Book addresses two primary areas of concern shared amongst production and process engineers, plant operations and management personnel, and corporate managers, with respect to sanitary
The Sanitary Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications Guide Book details bulk bag filler systems, bulk bag unloader systems, bulk container dumper systems, and bag dump stations. Specific content includes: materials of construction guidelines for sanitary structures and components; WIP, CIP, and SIP-ready equipment design and construction; U.S. and IEC/ISO controls and automation compliance; and application-specific risk assessment implementation.
bulk material handling equipment. These concerns are: (i) identifying alternatives to force-fit, general industrial equipment designs touted as sanitary merely because of their stainless steel materials, and (ii) gaining confidence in matters relating to regulatory compliance of sanitary bulk material handling equipment, and the conformance of sanitary bulk equipment to regulated processes and practices. The guide book responds to these, and other issues, by explaining how application-specific, compliance-ready, sanitary bulk material handling systems eliminate the inspection failures, retrofits, corrective fabrication and finishing, and re-programming and re-inspection resulting when general, industrial equipment designs are force-fit into sanitary applications. The guide book also addresses the issue of sanitary equipment relative to process and practice acceptance, and the corresponding importance of selecting a bulk material handling equipment manufacturer based on an assessment of their proficiencies in areas such as: domestic and international regulatory matters; SCADA and single-unit controls and automation integration; manufacturing resources; systems commissioning; and installed base of relevant, integrated, sanitary bulk material handling systems.
The Sanitary Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications Guide Book details bulk bag filler systems, bulk bag unloader systems, bulk container dumper systems, and bag dump stations. Specific content includes: materials of construction guidelines for sanitary structural framework and components; WIP, CIP, and SIP-ready equipment design and construction features; U.S. and IEC/ISO controls and automation compliance capabilities; and application-specific risk assessment implementation. The guide book also offers a summary overview of other bulk material handling equipment, including: bulk material mixing and blending, bulk material weighing, and bulk material storage systems.
The first guide book in this series is entitled, Automated Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications, and is also available for immediate download.
Bulk Material Filling and Discharging Equipment Guide Book Assists In Bulk Material Handling Systems Evaluation
A guide book entitled, Automated Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications is the first in a series of guide books being offered to assist production and process engineers, plant operations and management personnel, and corporate managers in their evaluation of application-specific, bulk material filling systems and bulk material unloading systems.
Automated Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications Guide Book provides materials of construction guidelines; performance capacities, pressures, and accuracies; and electrical standards guidelines for multiple bulk material handling equipment types.
The Automated Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications Guide Book details bulk bag filler systems, bulk bag unloader systems, and bulk container dumper systems. Specific content includes: materials of construction guidelines for structural framework and components; ranges of performance for operating capacities, pressures, and accuracies; and electrical standards guidelines for each bulk material handling equipment type. The guide book also presents the integrated automation capabilities of each system type and their ability to centralize multiple process controls, including upstream and downstream process operations, into a single, menu-driven controller interface. The guide book also offers a general overview of other bulk material handling equipment, including: bulk material mixing and blending, bulk material weighing, and bulk material storage systems.
The second guide book in this series is entitled, Sanitary Bulk Filling and Discharging Systems Data and Specifications, and is scheduled for release in June, 2011.
Bulk Bag Unloaders Use RFID to Automate Batching and Weighing Process
Bulk bag unloaders are typically not the first things to come to mind when the topic of radio frequency identification (RFID) is considered. Most commonly associated with warehouse management, RFID has found increased favor in other industries due the reduced costs for the required equipment and tags, and its improved reliability (now near 99.9%). Industries quickly adopting RFID technology include healthcare, medical device, financial services, and now, bulk material handling.
This fully integrated bulk bag unloader system uses RFID-driven process communications to automate simultaneous batching of multiple, and varied, chemical mixtures during a single process operation.
The bulk bag unloading process begins when an empty bulk tote is introduced to the system; RFID recognizes the tote and communicates to the system the specific batch recipe assigned to that tote. The primary ingredient is dispensed from a surge hopper into the bulk tote. As the first tote advances to its next batching location, a second tote enters the system. Each tote advances to one, or both, of two subsequent batching stations where secondary ingredients are added based on the RFID recognition of the bulk tote. Each secondary bulk bag unloader batching station consists of four bulk bag unloaders each with integrated material conditioning to ensure consistent bulk material supply is sent to a station-specific gravimetric feeder that provides accurate and repeatable secondary ingredient supply into the bulk tote.
The processor's previous manual measuring and weighing batching system produced one complete batch cycle every 20 minutes. With the fully automated, RFID-driven bulk bag unloader system, the processor now produces one complete batch every three minutes. In addition to the increased process rate, the producer's batch accuracies have increased, material waste is virtually eliminated; labor requirements are reduced; and the automated process efficiency and new equipment construction have enabled the producer to pursue new markets where cGMP-adherent processes are a requirement for entry.