Deep cleaning of large slat conveyor belts (NPC)
Hi everyone,
Curious what other plants might be doing. At our bottling facility we use slat-style conveyor belts to move around closed, sealed, products. So in general other than cleaning the contact side of the slats regularly to prevent buildup, we don't have a super defined sanitation program for these like we would a DPC surface.
Does anyone else use these, and do you have a "deep cleaning" procedure or interval where you remove the belt and clean the excess grease/dust from the rollers and underside of the slats? I'm looking at this as a preventative maintenance opportunity/environmental control but at the same time the impact is pretty huge to remove and replace 200 yards of conveyor, and I imagine the nooks and cranny's underneath would need a toothbrush or hot pressure washer to get properly cleaned.
Let me know how you handle difficult conveyors or NPC conveying systems!
Hi Earth2O,
Slat conveyor cleaning can be a bit of a nightmare. I've been at sites where the conveyors are split and cleaned periodically (as you say). To reduce the frequency of splitting conveyors, I've seen conveyors constructed with regular access holes so that they can be foamed internally from a lance and then rinsed (clearly some interlocks and precautions are required for this from a H&S perspective).
I've previously developed internal cleaning systems with spray nozzles inside the conveyors and an automated CIP although this was not a particularly cheap option. The extent and frequency of the need for cleaning/CIP will depend on your products, spillages and amount of build up.
I don't encourage the use of high pressure hoses unless used away from the production environment.
Kind regards,
Tony