Hygiene ¦ IDM
February 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com · 33
A milestone
in tank
cleaning
Finally fast and safe cleaning
Authors: Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Weyrauch (photo),
Hohe Tanne GmbH; Dipl.-Ing. André Boye,
Fraunhofer IVV
Innovative cleaning robotics for faster and safer cleaning
of tanks and containers with controlled jet motion. The
Adaptive Jet Cleaner (AJC) enables previously unattainable
needs-based cleaning and thus an enormous increase in
efficiency.
The cleaning of large and stubbornly contaminated tanks
is usually done by means of rotating jet cleaners. These have
the disadvantage that the path of movement is set by gear
ratio. Consequently, needs-based cleaning in the scope of
industry 4.0 that is adapted to tank geometry is impossible.
Hohe Tanne GmbH and the Fraunhofer IVV Dresden rose to
the challenge. A novel, needs-based cleaning system was developed,
which demonstrably reduces cleaning time by up
to 60% and resource consumption to the same extent – in
short: it is revolutionizing previous cleaning processes.
Adaptive Jet Cleaner (AJC)
Our new development involves a jet cleaner with an intelligent
drive concept, the core of which is formed by two
independently controllable axes. This allows for freely configurable
360° tank cleaning, as well as targeted cleaning of
every single point in the tank. Due to the AJC being freely
configurable (in contrast to current market standard cleaning
machines), any cleaning track can be programmed and run.
Thus, an optimized and individual cleaning program for each
process can be created. Hard-to-clean areas in the tank, such
as sensors, process connections, agitators or heavily dried
product deposit due to liquid levels, can be locally worked
on with a higher cleaning intensity. This is achieved, for example,
by local adaptation of movement speed and motion
profile of the aiming beam.
The design of the AJC is compact and meets all relevant
hygiene standards – on the inside as well as on the outside
(EHEDG, 3A). Only materials which have a high chemical resistance
(acid, lye) and are approved for hygiene critical areas
are used. The AJC is mounted in a tank or container using
industry-standard and common connecting elements, such
Adaptive Jet Cleaner (two nozzle design) mounted in tank
(photo: Hohe Tanne)
photo: Hohe Tanne