Subscribe RSS
Comment RSSCleaning Detergents Used in Brewing Industry
May 16, 2012 # 9:51 PM # Cleaning and Desinfection # No Comment1. Caustic
Caustic (Sodium hydroxide : NaOH) is a metallic base predominantly ionic, containing sodium cations and hydroxide anions. It is used in many industries, mostly as a strong chemical base in the manufacture of pulp and paper, textiles, drinking water, soaps and detergents.
It is frequently used as cleaning agent in brewing industry where it is often called “caustic”. It is added to water, heated, and then used to clean pipe works, machines, vessels, instruments and much more. It can dissolve organic soils. Surfactants must be added to the caustic solution in order to stabilize dissolved substances and thus prevent redeposition.
Advantages:
- Excellent detergency properties when “formulated”
- Disinfection properties, especially when used hot.
- Effective at removal of protein soil.
- Lends itself to automatic control by conductivity meter
- More effective than acid in high soil environment
- Cost effective.
Disadvantages
- Degraded by CO2 forming less effective carbonate.
- Ineffective at removing inorganic scale.
- Poor rinsability.
- Not compatible with Aluminium and other soft metals.
- Activity affected by water hardness
2. Acid
Acid cleaning is a process used to inorganic soils. Depending on the material to be cleaned, and the type of stains that are present, the cleaning acid employed may be strong or mild.
Advantages
- Effective at removal of inorganic scale
- Not degraded by CO2
- Not affected by water hardness
- Lends itself to automatic control by conductivity meter.
- Effective in low soil environment
- Readily rinsed
Disadvantages
- Limited effectiveness at removing organic soil
- Limited biocidal properties
- Limited effectiveness in high soil environments
- High corrosion risk e.g. Nitric Acid
3. Chelating Agents
Materials which can complex metal ions in solution, thereby preventing precipitation of the insoluble salts of the metal ions. It is a substance whose molecules can form several bonds to a single metal ion. In other words, a chelating agent is a multidentate ligand. There are many sequestering agents e.g. EDTA.
4. Wetting Agents
Wetting agents are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants. A material which can be used to reduce surface tension (wetting), the emulsification of fats or control foam Surfactants can be classified as follows: non ionic, anionic, cationic, amphoteric.
Related posts:
