What’s So Special About Specialty Sanitation Chemistries?

Utilization of specialty aluminum safe (ALS) products both as foam cleaners and gel cleaners permit the inclusion of a chlorinated chemistry due to the inhibitors inherent in the formulation in concert with the surfactants and chelants that provide the deep cleaning without damaging the base soft metals. For example, gel type ALS cleaners have enabled sanitation chemical provider to obtain excellent soil penetration with a high degree of contact time and minimal damage to the base aluminum metal or galvanized steel surfaces common in these cooler or freezer fins and coils.

The gel type ALS cleaner employed was found to have a loss rate of 3.76 mils per year (mpy) with over 20 mpy loss being considered corrosive for aluminum. In a frying operation cooling tunnel, the above mentioned non-hydrogenated oils left a high level lipid residue in the cooling tunnels’ fans, coils, and fins. The ALS gel cleaner (e.g. Rochester Midland’s Powergel ALS) enabled the operator to obtain a complete clean, with no damage to the unit’s base soft metal coupled with a 30 percent reduction in labor, water usage, and time.

Environmental Sanitation

Strong caustic cleaners for floorings, drains, etc. can result in huge fines. The employment of enzyme cleaners, foams, or powders on both food processing equipment or on environmental surfaces can appreciably reduce the level of strong alkaline or acidic cleaners that create waste treatment issues.

One example of this is the utilization of enzymatic floor tile and grout cleaners to safely and efficiently remove soils and biofilms from problematic quarry tile surfaces found in many older processing plants. These enzymatic tile and grout cleaners (e.g. Rochester Midland’s Enviroguard Floor and Grout) permit the environmental sanitation program to forgo using strong acid and alkaline cleaning products that will create severe treatment pressures on a plant’s wastewater effluent and its down flow treatment system.

The same principle in bacterial enzyme utilization is being actively employed with drain cleaners. No longer are most processing plants utilizing strong alkaline chemistries to unclog drains. They now relay on these bacterial enzyme systems to efficiently remove biofilm clogs from a plant’s drain field without damage to the piping or to the wastewater and the environment.

Another exciting area of more sustainable chemistries includes the growing usage of “dry” conveyor belt lubricants in packaging halls that reduce water usages. One brief example of an environmental benefit is of a beverage plant that employed a dry lube reduced its water usage by over 1 million gallons ($7,000 annual savings) with an $18,000 in overall line lube savings.

There clearly is a growing need to clean smarter using more efficient chemistries in more demanding processing scenarios while reducing time, utility, and labor costs. This all has to be achieved utilizing more sustainable, environmentally friendlier chemistries. The challenges are being confronted and met by the sanitation suppliers and will evolve as the regulatory, financial, and food safety programs continue to evolve as well.

Giambrone is vice president of technical services at Rochester Midland Corp. Reach him at [email protected].