Clean In Place (CIP)

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Tony1964
Swill Maker
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Clean In Place (CIP)

Post by Tony1964 »

Hi there

I'm building my first still column, viewtopic.php?f=50&t=69982 and whilst I'm nearly done, I'm considering how to clean the still in one go and building in CIP to the still, I've used the search function but, nothing, has anyone or does any one do this, pictures would be great, I think I've got it sorted in my head, but, always happy to see what others have done for this.

Cheers

Tony
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still_stirrin
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Re: Clean In Place (CIP)

Post by still_stirrin »

CIP, clean-in-place, is a utility more often used in commercial operations, not so much in hobby stills...mostly due to the implementation cost. If you look at commercial stills (try Googling the interwebs rather than HD) and you'll get a few hits.

I have seen hobby distillers who have plumbed a backflush line in the top of the column to rinse the column and packing after a run. But that's about it.

So, it (CIP) is more popular with commercial industry; breweries and distillaries. Even some home brewers may have a simplified CIP plumbing (and spray ball) installed in their automated breweries depending on the investment and scale of the system. Otherwise, they're more rare to us hobby distillers.
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raketemensch
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Re: Clean In Place (CIP)

Post by raketemensch »

I just disconnect my PC and stuff a hose into the top of the column and start filling. If I seal up the boiler, the back pressure will allow the column to fill up so that everything gets rinsed, then I pop the fill port on the keg and it all drains down into the boiler.

Very quick, very simple, pretty clean.
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DAD300
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Re: Clean In Place (CIP)

Post by DAD300 »

As raketemensch says...Use a hose clamp to attach a garden hose to the end of the pc and force water all the way back to boiler. Don't over think it.
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Tony1964
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Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:21 am
Location: England

Re: Clean In Place (CIP)

Post by Tony1964 »

Thank you for your replies, very much appreciated.

Cheers

Tony
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