Sanitiser piping solution

When Fonterra took over Bonlac Foods Limited in Australia, it immediately looked to upgrade many of the Bonlac plants. At the Spreyton plant, near Launceston in Tasmania, stainless steel tubing in the sanitiser supply line had become pitted, was leaking and needed immediate replacement.

Fonterra sought advice from CalAir Piping Systems, which recommended that the stainless tubing be replaced with hygienic, maintenance-free Pro-Pipe II co-polymer lines.

CalAir was not surprised that the stainless lines had eventually failed. Bonlac, like other dairy products processors, uses a phosphoric acid solution in its sanitiser lines that it later neutralises by flushing with sodium hydroxide. The process is very corrosive and eventually will pit metal lines. The caustic neturalising solution is also used for cleaning milk processing equipment and the supply line for this needed renewal as well.

CalAir installed 300 m of 25 mm OD Pro-Pipe II CH2 co-polymer for the new sanitiser line using both welded and compression joints with nitrile sealing rings. The company later ran 50 m of the same tubing for the sodium hydroxide system but using viton O-rings in the compression joints. Three or four years later, both lines are still operating flawlessly.

Apart from being chemically inert, highly resistant to acid or alkaline corrosion and virtually maintenance free, CalAir's Pro-Pipe II tubing is easily and quickly installed in even complex situations. It weighs far less than stainless steel tubing and can be reconfigured as required without trouble.

Pro-Pipe II also offers high and low temperature tolerances and is unaffected by fluctuations in ambient temperatures. CalAir offers a range of compression joint seals for various chemical and gas applications enabling the polymer tubing to meet the most demanding production applications.

Pro-Pipe II systems can be colour coded to fully comply with AS1345-1995. It ranges from blue Air-Pro, violet Chem-Pro, beige Gas-Pro, green Water-Pro, brown Oil-Pro, black Waste-Pro and red Fire-Pro piping and is available for applications ranging from compressed air, chemicals, welding gas, fire services and water service systems.