Application of hypochlorous acid generator in CIP pipeline cleaning and disinfection

In the Cleaning in Situ (CIP) system. The final disinfection step is the lifeline to ensure food safety and equipment hygiene. Traditional CIP disinfection usually relies on heat, peracetic acid, or sodium hypochlorite (bleach). However, with the increasing requirements for production efficiency. Safety and environmental protection in the food. Beverage and dairy industries. Hypochlorous acid generators as a field preparation technology are redefining the standards for CIP disinfection.

Hypochlorous acid generator generates high purity hypochlorous acid (HOCl) solution on-site by electrolysis of a mixture of salt water and water. This solution is gradually replacing the traditional disinfectant and becoming the ideal choice for CIP system “out of the box” because of its broad spectrum and high efficiency sterilization, safety and no residue, and friendly to equipment

Before the introduction of hypochlorous acid, many factories relied on chlorinated disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite or peracetic acid. These approaches have obvious drawbacks:

1. Safety risks: Traditional chlorine-containing disinfectants (such as sodium hypochlorite, that is, 84 disinfectant) have strong alkaline and irritating chlorine taste. Which is not friendly to the operator’s respiratory system and has a high risk of storage leakage.
2. Strong corrosion: sodium hypochlorite alkaline (pH>11). Long-term use of stainless steel seals (such as EPDM, FKM material) and gasket corrosion. Shorten the life of the equipment.
3. Environmental protection and residue problems: traditional disinfectants often need to be rinsed with a large amount of water after use to avoid chemical residues affecting the flavor of products (such as beer and milk), which not only wastes water resources. But also has the risk of flavor pollution caused by incomplete washing.

In contrast, slightly acidic hypochlorous acid (pH 5.0-6.5) stands out for its “high efficiency and low harm” balance:

• Bactericidal efficiency upgrade: Hypochlorous acid oxidation potential is very high. Can quickly destroy microbial cell wall, Lactobacillus, yeast, mold and stubborn biofilm in the pipeline has excellent removal effect. Its sterilization speed is about 80 times faster than sodium hypochlorite.
• Excellent compatibility: The slightly acidic environment is very low corrosive to stainless steel pipes and rubber seals (such as EPDM). Which significantly reduces maintenance costs.
• Tasteless and no residue: decompose into water and trace salt after action. No harmful by-products. Under a specific concentration. The disinfection can be directly put into production without water washing. Which simplifies the process and eliminates flavor pollution

The application of hypochlorous acid generator has covered many food and beverage segments, and has been verified by the head enterprise:

• Beer brewing: In the application case of  Beer, the  hypochlorous acid generator was use to clean the CIP pipeline. Effectively removing the stubborn biofilm in the pipeline and inhibiting its regeneration. And the long-term use did not cause corrosion to the pipeline. The use of hypochlorous acid can also avoid affecting the flavor stability of the beer.
• Dairy processing: For pasteurized milk, yogurt, and ice cream production lines. Hypochlorous acid is particularly effective in preventing yeast and mold contamination. In water disinfection of dairy products. Hypochlorous acid generators have been shown to increase the acceptance rate of microorganisms to 100% while reducing the energy consumption of equipment operation.
• Beverage and wine machine spray: In the beer filling machine, the use of slightly acidic electrolytic water (hypochlorous acid water) for continuous spray. Not only good antibacterial effect (microbial pass rate maintained above 94%). But also because of the cancellation of the original hot water spray and foam cleaning. Making the daily output increased by 25.2 kg/day, the economic benefit is significant.

1. Water quality is key: the water used for dilution or electrolysis to generate hypochlorous acid must be softened or deionized. Calcium and magnesium ions in water will affect the activity of hypochlorous acid, and iron ions will catalyze its rapid decomposition.
2. Ready to use: hypochlorous acid solution is relatively unstable, not resistant to storage. Therefore, it is better for the CIP system to be link with the generator to achieve “just-in-time use”, and the freshly generated disinfection solution is directly pump into the CIP loop through the pipeline to ensure that the disinfection solution is in the highest active state.
3. Concentration validation: Microbiological challenge validation is required for specific equipment and products to determine the minimum effective concentration and minimum contact time. Do not blindly pursue high concentrations.
4. System compatibility: Although hypochlorous acid is less corrosive, it is still necessary to confirm the compatibility with specific non-metallic components (such as some special rubber materials, mirror seals). According to Trelleborg, EPDM materials exhibit excellent tolerance in most CIP fluids.
5. Monitoring and recording: A modern CIP system should be equip with an online monitoring module to record the effective chlorine concentration (or ORP value), pH value, temperature, flow rate and time during the disinfection phase in real time as the basis for quality traceability

First of all, we have many customer cases and praise; Secondly, our hypochlorous acid generator is up to the standard of food grade production technology, hypochlorous acid purity is high; Finally, our cip pipeline disinfection system uses core advantages such as special process dual-membrane design.