Things to Consider for Food, Beverage, Pet Food, & Pharmaceutical Industries

Is your facility still doing things the old-fashioned way? Did you recently switch to a new ingredient that has a different consistency than what your system was designed to handle? Are you interested in shifting your green initiatives toward water savings? There are many reasons to implement a new COP or CIP design into your process. Here are some things for you to consider that can help you meet or exceed regulations, improve your sanitation, and simplify your overall process using COP & CIP Design Engineering.

What is COP & CIP Design Engineering?

First, let’s start off with the definitions:

• COP: Clean-Out-of-Place – When washing and sanitizing your equipment requires mechanical disassembly and cleaning by hand
• CIP: Clean-In-Place – A system built into your process that washes and sanitizes the inside of your equipment without disassembly

A CIP system is designed to meet your specific process’ needs. For example, if you have sugars in your process, a higher heat may be necessary to help remove that media from the line. Or, if you have a completely different media about to flow through the line, you may need a deeper clean that includes a chemical wash to avoid cross-contamination. Investing in a CIP system can ensure that you are doing everything you can to keep your process up to safety standards and delivering the purest product possible to your customer.

So why would you ever need a COP system if CIP systems seem ideal? A COP system is sometimes necessary or preferred over a CIP system. Here are some typical reasons:

• Cost – Although a CIP system may be preferred, sometimes the intricacy of these systems goes beyond your budget.
• Design – Some process designs just don’t allow for a CIP system. Equipment with many nooks and crannies, multiple fittings, or a large variety of internal parts may not be properly cleaned using a CIP system.
• Inspection – Removing and inspecting parts may be a necessary part of your process, making a COP system ideal over a CIP one.

A Clean-Out-of-Place system generally requires more labor, time, and downtime compared to a CIP system. However, they are still a necessity in certain processes.

Things to Consider Regarding Your Process

Whether you have decided to introduce a CIP or a COP system to your process, there are some things you need to examine and analyze before going forward:

Cleaning Requirements

What cleaning requirements are necessary to keep your process operating as it should with your media in the purest state possible? What temperature do you need the rinse to be at in order to effectively remove ingredients? How high does the pressure and flow need to be to reach the end of your process? Do you need chemicals to produce an effective clean or just high temperature steam? All of these questions help us understand what your facility needs in order to have a proper cleaning system put in place.

System and Equipment Design

Another thing to take into consideration is how a cleaning system may complicate your process design. Is your staff capable of maintaining or troubleshooting a more intricate system? Will imperative equipment be in difficult-to-reach locations? Do you have any spatial or infrastructure requirements? These are all things you need to consider when contemplating implementation of a cleaning system.

Media Type

Do you have any allergens, or potential allergens, in your facility? It may be necessary for your plant to have a CIP system in place as a safety measure. Do you have a media with a high level of viscosity running through a pipe line? Are you finding product recovery difficult due to the media type? A CIP system combined with a Pigging System may be just what you need to facilitate product recovery!

Process Time

How long it takes for the product to run through your process is also important information to note. If a CIP system can speed your process significantly, it may be worth the investment! (Headwaters can work these numbers out for you so you can clearly imagine the ROI.) Do you have changeover in your process? How fast and easy is it? These are also things to take into account.

Water Conservation

Is the amount of water you are currently using in you process negatively affecting your “green score”? With increasing pushes to commit to sustainability, it is becoming even more important to acknowledge your water usage and conversation efforts. A CIP system can reduce your water usage compared to COP hand-washing. If your CIP design engineering is performed adequately, it can even reduce the amount of energy used!

Which is Right for You?

Although there are a lot of things to consider and questions to answer regarding adding a cleaning system to your process, we can help make it easy. A Headwaters engineer can walk through your process with you and help you reach a decision on which system is right for your unique process, media, timeline, sustainability efforts, and financial situation. Fill out the form below or reach out to our team and we will comfortably guide you through the engineering design process.