Solon Consulting
CIP Validation and CIP Consulting
Whether you’re planning a new cleaning system or checking one that’s already running, we work from what your product and recipe require: how tanks drain, when valves move, and what the instruments record.
Cleanability starts with the equipment’s design; 3-A Sanitary Standards are a reference for that work.
CIP consultants start with what the cleaning cycle is supposed to achieve and what the instruments actually record. The CIP validation process then compares the two, and our CIP consulting covers the changes that close the gap.
What we design and check in your CIP cleaning system
Check wash strength, temperature and flow
You’ve got a cleaning recipe, but missing readings make it hard to tell what happened during the wash. Our CIP consulting work compares chemical strength, time, temperature and flow with your recipe and equipment, showing where recorded data is missing or wrong.
Is the chemical dose giving you the wash strength you expect?
Incomplete dosing records can leave you unsure whether the wash circulating through your tanks and piping has the chemical concentration your cleaning recipe calls for.
Does the wash stay hot enough through the cycle?
If you haven’t measured wash temperature throughout the cycle, you may be missing a drop below the heat your cleaning recipe requires. We’ll check the readings.
Is there enough flow to wash the tanks and piping?
Low flow may leave too little turbulence to clean the harder-to-reach parts of your tanks and piping. We’ll compare measured flow with your cleaning requirements.
Record CIP readings, map water and heat needs and specify equipment
Your wash needs enough water and heat, and readings you can use to check it. For CIP process monitoring, we map those demands, mark up layouts and specify valves, pumps and instruments against your cleaning requirements. This is part of our engineering consulting services, including sanitary process design.
Can your water and heat supply keep up?
We’ll compare your cleaning cycle’s water and energy demands with the supplies available, so you can see where capacity falls short and what needs changing.
Put the valve movements and pump steps in the right order
Your valves and pumps need to follow the cleaning recipe. We specify their control sequences for PLC and HMI integration, so automatic cleaning steps match the operator’s manual procedures.
Put temperature and conductivity sensors where you can check them
Your team needs sensor locations and calibration procedures to check whether temperature and conductivity readings are accurate during cleaning. We’ll set those out.
process
CIP validation process from drawing review to cleaning trials and reports
Send us your piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), cleaning recipes and operator logs. We’ll review them, then test valve sequencing and flow against your cleaning requirements. You get a written report with the raw readings and adjustments needed, so your team can decide what to change.
Start with the piping drawings, cleaning recipes and operator logs
Your current P&IDs, recipes and operator logs show how the cleaning system is meant to run. We’ll use them to start checking the equipment.
Run cleaning trials to measure flow and check valve movements
We coordinate live cleaning trials to compare the order of valve movements and measured flow rates with your cleaning requirements. You’ll see what the cycle does.
Get the readings and recommended changes in a written report
You’ll get the test readings and observations together in a written report, so your team can judge how the system performed and decide what needs changing.
Drawings and instructions to check and commission your CIP system
Water, steam and chemical use table for each cleaning phase
For each cleaning phase, you’ll get a table of water, steam and chemical consumption rates to compare with the supplies available to your system.
Schedule of control signals and operators’ manual cleaning steps
The cycle timeline shows when automatic control signals occur and when operators need to carry out manual cleaning steps, putting both on the same schedule.
Find sensor locations and drainability changes on your floor plan
Your marked-up floor plan shows proposed sensor locations and piping changes to improve drainability, so your team can discuss each adjustment against the equipment layout.
Give the controls a written sequence for each cleaning recipe
Each cleaning recipe gets a written sequence of the logic steps the controls need to follow, setting out what the automation system must do during that wash.
Follow a trial procedure for temperature and chemical concentration
A step-by-step trial procedure checks whether the cycle reaches your specified temperature and chemical concentration during a run.
faq
What can we check, supply and change in your CIP system?
Want to know what a cleaning system review covers? We compare chemistry, time, temperature, flow and drainability with your written requirements, then check valve sequencing and instrument readings. The work identifies recipe settings and equipment changes to test before commissioning. Your team can use the readings alongside food process validation. The CIP system audit checklist can help you gather the details before we talk.
We’ll check chemical concentration, contact time, temperature, flow speed and how well the tank drains. We’ll also compare the valve sequence and instrument accuracy with your written cleaning requirements, so the measurements describe the cycle you’re trying to run.
Yes. We sell new equipment packages, used and refurbished equipment, and engineered systems. We’ll also build and program the automation and control panels if you want them.
We’ll set up tests to find where recipe settings differ from what the system delivers. Your team gets a written report recommending instrument or mechanical changes for the gaps between the recipe and measured performance.
Let’s talk about your CIP cleaning system
Ready to talk to a consultant? Tell us what you’re cleaning and where you are, whether that’s a planned system or one already running. We’ll agree what the design or review covers and which variables to test.
Read about CIP and SIP design and calculate your chemical dose
- CIP system design and SIP systems for food and beverage makers: read the guide.
Use the CIP chemical dosing calculator to work through the chemical dosing calculations for your cleaning cycle before you compare them with measured wash concentration.