CIP System: Are You Cleaning Enough or Too Much?

The OpX Leadership Network recently released CIP for CPGs guidelines that outlines generic definitions, equipment considerations, and best practices for CIP that can be leveraged across multiple process lines. The checklist aids operators and their teams in organizing, developing, and validating a documented CIP plan for processing equipment.

Only correctly designed, installed, and maintained systems can efficiently and consistently clean in place. According to CIP for CPGs, for a system to truly be cleanable in place it must abide by the following five rules.

1. The unit operations and equipment components used in the system have been designed for CIP and verified to clean in place by 3-A-SSI, EHEDG, or an acceptable alternative method.
2. Installation of the system must maintain its CIP integrity. This includes not only the materials and craftsmanship but also the proper fluid dynamics for the CIP solution supply and return to the process equipment. (3A-SSI accepted practice 605 is a good guideline.)
3. The process piping and equipment must be able to receive the prescribed flow, temperature, time, chemical concentration, and pressure of cleaning solution required by the manufacturer or process design engineer. Often the process lines are not capable of delivering the CIP flow required by the equipment and additional design considerations are necessary.
4. Once a CIP process has been validated, proper change control procedures should be in place to maintain an accurate record of the critical process parameters (e.g., time, temp, flow, pressure, and conductivity/concentration). Routine visual inspection, chemical residual verification on final rinses, and microbial verification are common safeguards to ensure system performance is consistently achieving proper cleaning.
5. A preventative maintenance and instrument calibration program must be in place to ensure the equipment and process are maintained as designed. Periodic inspection of in-line filters and magnetic traps is required to mitigate potential threats from foreign materials.

Ferrante is the senior director of marketing and communications at PMMI. Reach her at [email protected].