FOOD
& INGREDIENTS
In food processing operations, Clean-in-Place (CIP) systems are essential for ensuring equipment hygiene and food safety.
At a French production facility specialising in egg-based products, Boccard supported its customer in a problem-solving initiative following the detection, through Track Advance®, of a CIP deviation related to caustic solution sorting thresholds.
Discover in this case study how Track Advance® made a consumption drift visible, measurable and actionable, and how Boccard leveraged its process and automation expertise to interpret the data, identify the root cause of the deviation and quantify the avoided overconsumption to deliver a comprehensive deviation analysis service.
PROJECT CONTEXT
The site is involved in the production of cooked egg products and egg shelling operations, namely the industrial breaking of eggs to separately obtain whole liquid egg, egg white, egg yolk and eggshells.
The CIP station is responsible for cleaning 9 production assets associated with these activities. The installation was initially performing as expected, with its operating data historised within Track Advance®, Boccard’s digital decision-support solution.
An unusual increase in caustic solution consumption was identified, although the origin remained unknown. The customer therefore asked Boccard to determine the cause of this overconsumption and evaluate its impact.
WHY ARE CAUSTIC SOLUTION SORTING THRESHOLDS ESSENTIAL FOR THE PROPER OPERATION OF A CIP STATION?
During a CIP cycle, the caustic solution removes organic waste, fats and production residues. These sodium hydroxide-based cleaning solutions circulate through the equipment before returning to the CIP station at the end of the cleaning process.
Depending on their return condition, they may either be recycled for future cleaning cycles or discharged to effluent treatment. This decision is based on sorting thresholds configured within the installation. Their purpose is to maximise reuse of cleaning solutions that are still usable while maintaining CIP system readiness for subsequent cleaning operations. A recovered solution whose temperature or concentration no longer meets operating requirements would need reconditioning before reuse, potentially delaying cleaning operations and impacting production schedules.
When these thresholds become too restrictive, part of the still-usable cleaning solution may be unnecessarily discharged to waste. This results in excess consumption of water, chemicals and heating energy.
FROM DETECTION TO DIAGNOSIS: HOW CAN THE ROOT CAUSE OF EXCESS consumption of WATER, CHEMICAL AND HEATING ENERGY DURING CIP BE IDENTIFIED?
Track Advance®, Boccard’s digital decision-support solution, structures CIP analysis by transforming raw CIP data into actionable reports and dashboards. These cleaning reports and historised trends enabled detailed analysis of CIP station behaviour, particularly on caustic solution recovery and reuse.
To achieve this, Boccard’s process experts compared the current operating parameters with those defined during commissioning of the installation. This analysis revealed that the sorting thresholds used to authorise caustic solution recycling had been modified: the return temperature threshold allowing recycling had been significantly increased compared with the original configuration.
This adjustment made recycling conditions considerably more restrictive. As a result, 75% of the caustic solution volumes that remained suitable for recycling were instead directed to effluent treatment, despite being reusable in future cleaning cycles.
The deviation was therefore not caused by equipment failure or a process issue, but by a modification of the installation settings.
HOW CAN DATA BE USED TO QUANTIFY THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF AVOIDED RESOURCE OVERCONSUMPTION DURING CIP?
Once the root cause had been identified, Boccard’s experts used the historised data available in Track Advance® to simulate the potential annual impact of the deviation if it had not been detected and corrected.
Among nearly two million data points available over a representative year, 720 relevant data points were selected for the analysis. The simulation estimated that, without corrective action:
- 255 m³/year of additional caustic solution consumption (water and sodium hydroxide mixture) would have occurred.
- €6,400/year of additional costs for chemical consumption and heating would have been incurred.
The entire diagnosis was performed remotely using the data collected and historised by Track Advance®.
WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN DATA AND PROCESS EXPERTISE IN IDENTIFYING THE ROOT CAUSE OF CIP OVERCONSUMPTION?
This study illustrates the complementarity between industrial data and Boccard’s process and automation expertise. Track Advance® enables continuous monitoring of installation performance and highlights consumption deviations from expected operating conditions.
Boccard’s expertise then makes it possible to interpret these data, identify root causes and translate anomalies into concrete corrective actions.
In this case, the combination of Track Advance® and Boccard’s expertise enabled rapid identification of a setting-related deviation, assessment of its potential impact and avoidance of several thousand euros in annual overconsumption costs.
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Key points
Sector and application: Egg products industry, detection and analysis of a CIP consumption deviation
Scope: One CIP station serving nine production assets
Data analysed: 720 selected data points extracted from nearly two million available data points over a representative year
Results: Unintentional modification of caustic solution sorting thresholds, estimated avoided overconsumption of 255 m³/year, estimated economic impact of €6,400/year
Scope of Work: Data, Diagnosis and Correction
- Data Collection and Selection: Boccard used one year of historical data, representing approximately two million available data points. Using Track Advance®, 720 targeted data points were selected to investigate the deviation related to caustic solution sorting thresholds.
- Analysis of Caustic Solution Consumption: The analysis focused on the observed increase in caustic soda consumption. The objective was to determine whether this increase resulted from normal process operation, a configuration change or an operational deviation.
- Sorting Threshold Diagnosis: The investigation revealed an unintended and unexpected modification of the caustic solution sorting criteria, making recycling conditions more restrictive.
- Quantification of Avoided Overconsumption: Boccard’s process experts quantified the volume of caustic solution that would have been overconsumed as well as the associated additional costs. This quantification directly links deviation detection to measurable operational and economic value.
- Remote Optimisation: Quick wins and optimisation actions were implemented remotely. This approach further demonstrates the value of Track Advance® as a diagnostic and monitoring tool when historical data are already available.
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