MONITORING OF SYSTEMS FOR INTERNAL CLEANING OF CONTAINERS

• US 20160008859A1
• Filed: 02/12/2013
• Published: 01/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ALFA Laval Corporate AB (ALFA Laval AB)
• Original Assignee: ALFA Laval Corporate AB (ALFA Laval AB)
• Inventors: HXBROE, Denniz
• Granted Patent: US 10,086,414 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/004 comprising sensors for monitoring the delivery, e.g. by displaying the sensed value or generating an alarm B05B12/08 takes precedence; registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus in general G07C3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 13/0636 by means of rotatable spray heads or nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 15/14 Arrangements for preventing or controlling structural damage to spraying apparatus or its outlets, e.g. for breaking at desired places; Arrangements for handling or replacing damaged parts
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 3/06 by jet reaction , i.e. creating a spinning torque due to a tangential component of the jet
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 3/066 the movement of the outlet elements being a combination of two movements, one being rotational
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 13/00 Accessories or details of general applicability for machines or apparatus for cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 9/0936 using rotating jets

Abstract

A monitoring arrangement monitors the operation of a cleaning-in-place system which is operable to remove contaminations, deposits and other impurities from the internal walls of a container. The CIP system comprises a pipe for extending into the container through a wall portion of the container, and a nozzle head for ejecting liquid into the container in a predetermined pattern. The monitoring arrangement comprises a sensor unit with a sensing surface responsive to liquid impact for enabling the sensor unit to emit a sensor signal indicative of the liquid impact. The sensing surface is elongated and configured to extend along a perimeter of the pipe when the sensor unit is mounted at the wall portion of the container. This enables improved performance of a processing unit that obtains and processes the sensor signal for monitoring the operation of the CIP system.

Claims

1. A monitoring arrangement for a cleaning system installed in a container, the cleaning system comprising a pipe configured to extend into the container through a wall portion of the container, a nozzle head connected for rotation at an end of the pipe inside the container so as to eject a liquid, and a drive member operable to impart a rotation to the nozzle head around a first axis such that the liquid is ejected into the container in a predetermined pattern, said monitoring arrangement comprising:

a sensor unit for mounting at the wall portion of the container, the sensor unit comprising a sensing surface responsive to liquid impact for enabling the sensor unit emit a sensor signal indicative of the liquid impact, and

a processing unit configured to obtain the sensor signal from the sensor unit and process the sensor signal for monitoring the operation of the cleaning system,

wherein the sensing surface is elongated and configured to extend along a perimeter of the pipe when the sensor unit is mounted at the wall portion of the container.

2. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sensing surface is configured to extend along at least 25%, at least 50% or at least 75% of the perimeter of the pipe.

3. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, the sensing surface is configured to surround the pipe when the sensor unit is mounted at the wall portion of the container.

4. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sensing surface is configured to extend along an essentially circular path around the pipe when the sensor unit is mounted at the wall portion of the container.

5. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sensing surface comprises individual segments, and wherein the sensor signal comprises sub-signals indicative of the liquid impact on the respective segments.

6. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to process the sensor signal so as to identify occurrences of liquid impact on the sensing surface and match the occurrences to the predetermined pattern.

7. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to be responsive to the location of liquid impact within the sensing surface, and wherein the processing unit is configured to process the sensor signal to determine a distribution of liquid impact on the sensing surface.

8. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the nozzle head of the cleaning system is configured to rotate at least two jets of liquid around the first axis and around a second axis of the nozzle head, wherein the processing unit is configured to monitor at least one of:

a dimension of each jet, the number of jets, a pressure of each jet, the rotation of the jets around the first axis, and the rotation of the jets around the second axis.

9. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the nozzle head of the cleaning system is configured to rotate at least one beam of liquid around the first axis, and wherein the processing unit is configured to monitor at least one of:

a dimension of said at least one beam of liquid, the rotation of said at least one beam of liquid around the first axis, and a pressure of said at least one beam of liquid.

10. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to process the sensor signal for determination of a value of at least one monitoring parameter indicative of the ejected liquid, evaluate the value of said at least one monitoring parameter for detection of a malfunction in the cleaning system, and issue a warning signal indicative of the malfunction.

11. The monitoring arrangement of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to record data representative of the predetermined pattern based on the sensing signal, and to generate a validation report based on the recorded data.

12. A cleaning system for installation in a container, wherein the cleaning system comprises a pipe configured to extend into the container through a wall portion of the container, a nozzle head connected for rotation at an end of the pipe inside the container so as to eject a liquid into the container, and at least one drive member operable to impart a rotation to the nozzle head around a first axis such that the liquid is ejected into the container in a predetermined pattern, the cleaning system further comprising the monitoring arrangement of claim 1.

13. A method of monitoring the operation of a cleaning system which comprises a pipe extending into a container through a wall portion of the container, a nozzle head connected for rotation at an end of the pipe inside the container so as to eject a liquid, and a drive member operable to impart a rotation to the nozzle head around a first axis such that the liquid is ejected into the container in a predetermined pattern, said method comprising:

obtaining a sensor signal from a sensor unit which comprises an elongated sensing surface that is responsive to liquid impact, said sensor unit being mounted at the wall portion of the container such that the elongated sensing surface extends along a perimeter of the pipe, and

processing the sensor signal for monitoring the operation of the cleaning system.

14. A computer program product comprising computer code which, when executed on a data-processing system, is adapted to carry out the method of claim 13.