Dairy Tank Washer - increase PSI?

[CTSap4Maple]

I’ve got a 800 gal. stainless dairy tank, with a fixed washer wand and ball fitting mounted on top to a 1 1/4” tri clamp fitting. I plumbed it to a 3/4 hp sprinkler pump with 3/4” mainline that reduces to a 3/4” barb fitting to the tri clamp. It sprays a little, but mostly dribbles from the bottom. How do you get enough psi to make these work? Is there some sort of tri clamp fitting for a pressure washer? Thanks for the help.


18690

[Haynes Forest Products]

When you do the math a pressure washer only delivers about 2-3.5 gallons per minute at high pressure. A sprinkler pump was more volume but lower pressure around 150 PSI. I think your better off with a bigger pump with a equal discharge size. Do you have a spray ball that spins. They take a lot of water so look for something bigger. I have a few spa pumps that I'm looking at for that purpose.

[BAP]

Dairy tanks use a 1-1/2” centrifugal type pump which moves a large volume of water. To make the spray ball work properly, it takes a large volume of water flowing through it. It is more a volume issue than a pressure issue.

[CTSap4Maple]

Thank you. I’ll give this a try. My spray ball does not spin, but I’ll look into upgrading that as well. OR, I’ll continue to access the manhole cover with my pressure washer.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I bought some spinning ball washers off Ebay and the had 3/4" threads and a garden hose didn't have enough volume to spin them. I have good flow and Im set at 75PSI so you do need more. I wonder if the cleaning balls in a dairy just rinse the big chunks out or with the pipeline acid it cleans in complete.

My plan was to do a end of the ROing process to wash the walls with permeate to get all the sugars left clinging to the sides. If I could overwhelm the sides and thru the system I would be chasing the sweet capturing a lot more concentrate.

[dw341969]

I used to work for a company that installed CIP (Clean In Place) systems like this. These systems take high volume at low to medium pressures, 100-150psi. They depend on acid/caustic washes followed by a rinse cycle. Acid for the mineral, caustic for the organic. Water of course to rinse. You will get some benefit using it without, but no where near what you can without the chemicals. My suggestion is to contact a company such as Hydrite, or Ecolab and ask someone for a specific wash cycle. There are others as well, those are just two I recall from the top of my head. Their input is invaluable, as they can give you specifics on the procedure and timing to get the necessary cleaning. What it costs, I don't know for sure. If you want some contacts, pm me.

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[dw341969]

>>>>Correction, WITH the chemicals....

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[CTSap4Maple]

Thanks dw. Before I get to what chemicals to use, is it a waste to get a larger volume pump to get the spray ball working? My tank is pre-80s vintage, and it seems even with high volume, the stationary spray ball would not reach all areas of the tank. It seems the newer CIP equipment is connected to the rotating paddle, or a rod inserted from the bottom port that spray up.

[dw341969]

It all depends whether using the CIP system is worth to you. You won't save a lot of time using it. If you clean the tank with a power washer now, and then just did a sanitizing rinse you will be likely the easiest/cheapest route. If cleaning with the power washer is a hassle, then CIP would be worth it. Bear in mind with a CIP system, you need a separate tank to mix chemical. It's used in industry because it affords you the ability to clean multiple tanks, all the while you can do other stuff while it is cleaning. There is a lot that goes into a CIP setup. More reasons why it is used.... Makes cleaning more convenient. You don't have to stand on your head to get a tank clean, or get inside the tank which brings up safety concerns. There are pros and cons to both methods.

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[Haynes Forest Products]

Other than the first of the year cleaning the top 12" of my tank stays clean during the season. I can tell you that bending a nice radius into your power washer wand is the best thing. Second is plumb it into the hot water side.

Now this might sound crazy but if OSHA saw your head sticking out of any kind of tank your toast. Now I know 99.99% of us will never have an issue. But if your in the tank with a cleaner it gets real expensive then there is the man lift, safety harness and a spotter. OH and you need to have had safety training with certification.

[n8hutch]

Other than the first of the year cleaning the top 12" of my tank stays clean during the season. I can tell you that bending a nice radius into your power washer wand is the best thing. Second is plumb it into the hot water side.

Now this might sound crazy but if OSHA saw your head sticking out of any kind of tank your toast. Now I know 99.99% of us will never have an issue. But if your in the tank with a cleaner it gets real expensive then there is the man lift, safety harness and a spotter. OH and you need to have had safety training with certification. Dont forget the snifter and or air tester!