Removal of final rinse water

Hi All,

Can anyone involved/ familiar with beverage production tell me how final rinse water is removed from a tubular pasteuriser at the end of CIP. Any water will cause dilution so I want to remove this.

In my past history with fluid milk, cream and whey processing there is multiple options all with plus and minus

1st- Product flush- use the next product to push the previous one (or CIP water) to the drain or where ever you'd like it to go. You know the seconds through your pasteurizer from the timing and booster pumps so based on a little trial and error decide how long you need to go to drain or where ever before you have 100% next product.

2nd- Air blow- fit the system with low pressured, filtered air (don’t remember micron size but someone on here will) this will push your entire previous product through the system. The filters, air, and valves however need CONTINUIOUS monitoring as they are notorious for bacteria.

3rd- Depending on the viscosity of your material, internal pipe cleaners (PIGS)- large chunk of rubber/plastic pushed by air through the system to "squeegee" the inside of the lines. A lot of trial and error goes into this as corners and valves are a big deal plus a "catcher" and "launcher" needs to be installed. However, in condensed cream and whey applications we saved about 3-4 gallons per push (2-3 pushes/day)

If you'd like me info let me know

G

Thank you gf,

Right now we are mixing the final rinse water with the juice product in our trials but I do not like the idea of not having a final formulation during blending before past and waiting post past for full dilution to take place.

I am proposing the sterile air flush to remove final rinse water from system and it will also be beneficial to push CIP cleaners through at the end of cleaning for rinse water savings and time savings. We can use juice product to push water out but that uses quite a bit of juice product to achieve required brix level.

Yes for you air blow may be the best option.  It will save you product in change overs, save water on pre-rinse during CIP, save chemical, so there are lots of angles to push for the installation of this equipment.  If you can tack $ signs to then it usally gets done faster.

Sterile Air Blow option can also turn out to be costly depending on what sort of utilities ( air compressor etc) you already have. Juice flush option, although resulting in some loss of product, make be cheaper in long run. Just something to think about, when you put up your business case.

Thanks Sriram,

We currently have compressors which should be able to do the job. We will need the filters and compressor hose fitting to the pipework to make it work.

Coincidentally, can anyone tell me the purpose of depressing the temperature when cold filling juice drinks??

Coincidentally, can anyone tell me the purpose of depressing the temperature when cold filling juice drinks??

 

Basically you cool the product to get it below the danger zone for allowing microorganisms to grow.  Depending on the source of the juice they are usually acidic enough to prevent pathogenic organisms but spoilage organisms like yeast and mould still need to be controlled.

Carrot juice for example isn't acidic enough to prevent Clostridium botulinum from growing and killing people so it has to be kept cold.

Thanks Sandima,

I am referring to juices which are cold filled but stored at ambient temperatures. After pasteurisation the juice is cooled before packaging then stored in cases at ambient temperature. Wouldn't the juice need to be stored cold also to prevent yeast and mold growth and not just bottled cold?

Also the juice drink uses preservatives..

Thanks Sandima,

 

I am referring to juices which are cold filled but stored at ambient temperatures. After pasteurisation the juice is cooled before packaging then stored in cases at ambient temperature. Wouldn't the juice need to be stored cold also to prevent yeast and mold growth and not just bottled cold?

I assume this thread is referring to the same process as discussed here -

http://www.ifsqn.com...ll-juice-drink/

Not my area but  from the Net, it seemed that pasteurized, "non-aseptically" processed, cold-filled fruit juices are typically recommended to be stored refrigerated.

Sandima's logic regarding the benefits of chilling seems reasonable from a microbiological POV.

From yr earlier thread the ability to achieve "adequate" shelf lives at ambient storage temperatures looks to be closely related to the (heavy?) preservative mix / initial satisfactory microbiological conditions.

yes Charles you are correct in your understanding. I do agree with Sandima's logic for cold filled juices which are not chemically preserved but for juice drinks which are chemically preserved, acidified and pasteurised (HTST) what is the reason for cold filling? The juice drink is filled into PET bottles.

The juice drink is cold filled but held at about 27 degrees C.

yes Charles you are correct in your understanding. I do agree with Sandima's logic for cold filled juices which are not chemically preserved but for juice drinks which are chemically preserved, acidified and pasteurised (HTST) what is the reason for cold filling? The juice drink is filled into PET bottles.

The juice drink is cold filled but held at about 27 degrees C.

I'm only speculating but the answer may be that the net shelf life is determined by "contributions"/protections due  to factors such as

(1) Initial microbiological status

(2) effect of aseptic control

(2) effect of preservative power

(3) effect of temperature

(4) effect of pH

(5) effect of packaging

consider this refrigerated example i noticed -

Non-Carbonated Fruit Juices.png   202.57KB   0 downloads

An ambient shelf life of 6 months may require all the help which is available. :smile:

(I appreciate PET bottles may differ, so how much is the difference ?)