CIP pump solution reduces downtime and maintenance costs
Just like any other piece of mechanical equipment, the older a pump gets, the more you start having to spend on parts and the more regularly it needs to be serviced. What the process engineers of one of the largest frozen food brands in the UK understand is that by considering ease of maintenance when initially buying a pump and making sure the pump is exactly right for your application, there are considerable savings to be made.
Castle Pumps was originally contacted by the frozen food giant in 2018 for a pumping solution for transferring various alkaline-based detergents used to clean its process equipment. With air supply on-site, a BOXER 50 air-operated diaphragm pump was specified in polypropylene with Hytrel & PTFE diaphragm, polypropylene seats, PTFE balls and o ring, for use with the cleaning chemicals without risk of premature wear or erosion.
Given the pump’s vital role in maintaining the plant’s strict hygiene standards, there was a large requirement placed on minimising downtime, which ultimately influenced the specification of the BOXER. Firstly, with no motors, packing or seals, the AODD pump design is less prone to leaking the cleaning chemicals than many other pump designs, making it a cleaner, lower maintenance solution. In addition, compared to other AODD pumps on the market with a typical 72 internal parts, the BOXER has just 30. This, combined with its long-life diaphragm designed to run for at least 50 million cycles, means the frozen food manufacturer can benefit from fewer parts to wear and replace, reducing downtime, spares costs and engineer time.
After being pleased with the performance of the initial trial model, multiple BOXER air-operated diaphragm pumps have since been installed across different parts of the food manufacturing plant.
