Processors serving food or hygienic industries have varying degrees of compliance requirements for custom vessels solutions. The designation of "sanitary" has a wide range of definitions depending on the customer, the industry or the standard.
Since Apache provides custom engineering and manufacturing, we reference these levels to guide conversations so the precise specifications for compliance and function are met. This video is a brief overview how Apache defines base, mid, and high level sanitary vessels.
BASE LEVEL
Apache refers to a base level design as an entry-level, food grade, chemical and general use vessel. Base vessel sanitary construction is typically defined as continuous, crack and crevice-free welds. Fixtures are threaded, such as couplings and dip tubes, an may include ANSI flanges and Thermowells probes. Base level tanks and vessels are pickle passivated and are manually cleaned after use.
MID-LEVEL
In custom sanitary vessel discussions, Apache defines mid-level vessels as COP (clean-out-of-place) capable. There is a higher level of finishing on the inside dimension for mid-level criteria, and the construction fixtures are all sanitary specified, like tri-clamp ferrules, tube connection, NA connects, and sight glasses for example. Processes and applications for mid-level sanitary tanks include columns, solvent tanks, collection, extraction, mixing and dispensing.
HIGH LEVEL
The highest level of sanitary design vessels are designed with CIP (clean-in-place) processes. The finishing on high-level vessels are smoothly polished to less than 32RA (roughness average) on the inside of the vessel. The chemical finish is both nitric passivated and electropolished on high-level vessel designs. Customized high-level sanitary tanks have electropolished sanitary fittings from tri-clamp ferrules, tube connects, to orbitally welded j-tubes, and polished internal coils. Highly compliant and sanitary vessels are used for processing, WFI, R&D lab equipment, heat and cooling, and nutsche filtering.
For more information into the criteria of sanitary vessels, please read "Guide to Sanitary Design for Custom Vessels", a quick-read guide to sanitary standards, construction and the effects on delivery and cost.
Apache Stainless Equipment Corporation is a manufacturer of stainless equipment for a range of hygienic industries, including, food, beverage, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, cannabinoid, and life sciences.
A dedicated quality control and compliance team directs all tests, certificates and documents for all sanitary, ASME, and global standards.
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.