Clean machines

There are many pump repairers, fewer hygienic pump repairers and fewer still good hygienic pump repairers.

This because it takes more than a clean bench and a box of antiseptic wipes to make a good hygienic pump repairer.

To become a member of this select band requires a combination of three key attributes: experience, knowledge and commitment.

Few things come easy in life and making a success of hygienic pump repair is no different. To do it well and avoid costly mistakes and multiple attempts at a repair you need experience of a wide variety of pump types, a good working knowledge of food and beverage manufacturing and the commitment to invest in both facilities and procedures.

Taking a closer look at these areas we should first start with facilities.

Facilities

As a bare minimum, you need a proper clean room curtained off from the rest of the workshop, dedicated hygienic tools stored correctly and a range of hygienic fittings for testing.

Your test rig needs to be devoted to hygienic repairs, located in a hygienic area and have the ability to gas test pumps used, rather than water, whenever possible.

You also need areas and equipment outside of the hygienic area, such as hygienic cleaning equipment, secure and sealed storage for the hygienic pump components and clean working areas for the non-hygienic parts such as motors, bearing housings etc.

However, all the equipment in the world will do you little good without a well managed process and well set out written procedures to ensure consistency of the process and that no rogue pumps slip through the net and back to the customer.

The importance of knowledge

Of course it’s not all about equipment and facilities; you also need a good working knowledge of a much wider range of pump types than many typical repairers will have.

This is because food production involves a very broad number of pump types due to the diversity of physical properties displayed by the products being transferred.

Food production can involve very high temperatures, light liquids such as oils, highly viscous products including starches and glucose, non-lubricating liquids, non-Newtonian liquids such as mayonnaise, shear sensitive products that can separate and finished products containing delicate solids.

Positive displacement pumps are very often the answer to these challenging liquids and consequently, a long list of these pumps are encountered within food processing plants.

These include rotary lobe, circumferential piston, AOD, hose, progressive cavity, vane and eccentric rotating disc. And on top of these are the hygienically-designed centrifugal pumps that are generally more sophisticated.

Positive displacement pumps are by their very nature much more challenging due to their tighter tolerances, less robust components and susceptibility to break.

They can have very exacting performances particularly in the food industry, so the pump must be returned not just in working order, but demonstrating exactly the same performance as when it originally left the customer.

To achieve this you require exactly the right components, work to high levels of precision and truly understand the pump.

It also helps to know why the pump broke down in the first place, which is only possible by having a good practical knowledge of the pump and an understanding of the process in which it operated.

The food and beverage industry is extremely diverse when it comes to applications.

It is not just about getting a product from A to B, but ensuring that its consistency is not altered or that solids are not damaged.