Arcus

Arcus recently carried out a food production and water efficiency review which led to installing a 6,000 litre custom stainless steel hot water tank for a facility in Dublin. AllinAll Ingredients, a leading provider of Food Solutions, were having issues with their existing washdown system which had been installed in their factory a couple of years previous.

The main washdown pump, which supplied the eight chemical satellites around the facility, was cutting out during the cleaning process. It would then take several hours for the issue to resolve itself. This meant the cleaning cycles were slow or delayed, and hence was affecting production.

AllinAll appointed Arcus to complete an in-depth analysis of the existing system, to try and pinpoint the issue, and to suggest potential solutions. Arcus Engineers visited the site and mapped out the system, analysing and researching every component to determine where the issue may lie.

Arcus Process:

Over the following weeks, comprehensive research and calculations were carried out. Arcus were able to identify a number of possible issues that would contribute to the system not working correctly. The primary issue was around the size of the hot water tank, the positions of the temperature sensors and the capacity of the gas water heater. This meant that the system would prematurely run out of hot water during wash cycles, causing the fault. The findings and possible solutions were presented to AllinAll by Arcus in a report, along with P&ID drawings and detailed water use calculations.

Food Production & Water Efficiency:

AllinAll then appointed Arcus to project manage the modification of the washdown system based on one of the suggested solutions – the removal of the existing 3,000 litre hot water tank, and the install of a 6,000 litre custom stainless steel pressurised hot water tank, which had features specific to the application to maximise water use and stay within the existing footprint, as well as relocating various sensors to be more effective. All this was achieved without needing to change the existing electrical control, or the physical footprint of the washdown system. Arcus carried out the turnkey project on time, and within budget.

AllinAll reported that the issue is now resolved, and that it has greatly increased their efficiency around their cleaning processes. It allows multiple operators to clean simultaneously in different mixing rooms, meaning the cleaning cycles can be planned into a specific block of time. Previously, they had to be spread out due to hot water shortages and system faults.

AllinAll Ingredients’ Testimonial:

Tracey Noonan, Operations Manager at AllinAll Ingredients, had the following to say:

Previously we were only able to use 1 or 2 wash points out of 8 at any one time, causing a huge amount of downtime and inefficiency in production. With the new install, we can plan our production schedule without any restrictions. This allows us to increase production and reduce our costs per kg, whilst eliminating unscheduled downtime and increasing efficiency.

Arcus provided a level of technical expertise and professionalism that made the process very easy for us. They were very communicative throughout, providing regular updates on the status of the project. They also installed the new equipment over a weekend, thus minimising our downtime. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Arcus for anything relating to industrial washdown and pumping systems.

Arcus specialise in the design and manufacture of industrial washdown, spraying and cleaning solutions for a range of industries including Food & Beverage Production, Chemical Production, Marine, Agriculture, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical and many more across the UK, Ireland and worldwide.

Want to find out more about AllinAll Ingredients and their range? You can find all the information about them on their website.

All in All Website