Our client needed additional production capacity for food grade products. Three I Engineering was challenged to upgrade a process center to provide larger batches at higher rates and to design a facility to increase the storage capacity of finished liquid products waiting to be packaged.

The process center needed larger tanks in existing spaces, equipment to more rapidly incorporate powders into liquids, and higher pumping rates. The CIP (clean in place) systems had to be modified to adequately clean the larger tanks and revised piping. One tank had to be field-fabricated in place due to space constraints. One operation adds low volume ingredients through 1” stainless steel tubing to tanks that are 500 ft. away. The pumping system had to be designed to handle the product flow as well as the CIP flow requirements.

The storage capacity was increased by adding 4 – 40,000 gallon, vertical silo, agitated and cooled stainless steel tanks. These tanks had to receive product from 2 different process centers and distribute product to 4 different fillers. The stainless steel piping supplying product to and removing product from the tanks had to be uniquely designed tube-in-tube headers to eliminate “dead legs” where product could sit undisturbed for any period of time. Hook-up panels with jumpers from port-to-port were designed to allow flexibility in directing flow from any of the headers to any of the fillers.

The tanks are supported by a 3 ft. thick reinforced concrete pad sitting on seismically designed, 48 inch diameter steel-reinforced concrete caissons that extend to bedrock. The tanks are accessed via alcoves that extend into a long narrow building that contains the piping, pumps, controllers, etc. That building has a concrete floor with a special chemical resistant topping, concrete block interior walls and pre-cast concrete deck with epoxy coatings. The exterior walls are insulated metal panels.

A new CIP system was installed to clean the new tanks and the approximately 9,000 ft. of new piping. The CIP system introduces low concentrations of acid, caustic and chlorine solutions into the equipment to be cleaned and recirculates it for a pre-determined time for thorough cleaning. The supply pump had to be designed to handle multiple circuits containing just tanks or just piping or a combination of the two with varying gpm and pressure loss requirements.

While the facility already contained bulk systems for the acid and caustic, a new bulk system was needed for the chlorine solution. A 1,000 gallon, fiberglass bulk tank with pump and distribution piping, as well as a receiving station at the bulk unloading dock, was included in the design.

High volumes of ventilation air are required to remove acid, caustic and chlorine fumes from the CIP area, as well as provide adequate air changes for human comfort. These requirements were handled with roof-mounted upblast exhaust fans and intake louvers at opposite ends of the rooms.