Alfa Laval’s Free Rotating Retractor is a wall mounted cleaning device for ducts, tanks and other hard-to-clean vessels. The Alfa Laval Free Rotating Retractor has the ability to safeguard product quality, prevent contamination, and meet hygienic processing standards. The cleaning-in-place device is highly efficient and retractable making it easier to prepare vessels for production quickly and economically. The device has the ability to remove residues from the interior surfaces of ducts, tanks, and other hard-to-clean confined spaces. It highlights the cleaning-in-place device’s ability to boost process uptime as a dynamic, resource-efficient retractable cleaning device.
Applications
Alfa Laval’s Free Rotating Retractor is a retractable spray device designed for dairy, food, beverage, home and personal care, and other industries where hygiene is the top priority in production. It provides 100% cleaning coverage of ducts, tanks, and processing vessels with hard-to-reach shadow areas. The device, combined with other Free Rotating Retractors, can be used as a stand-alone wall-mounted cleaning device, or paired with an Alfa Laval ThinkTop sensing and control unit to monitor or regulate the opening and closing of the device. The interior surfaces of processing vessels are spotless after every CIP cycle.
Standard Design
Through Alfa Laval’s SSV Valve and the SaniMidget SB Series as some of the proven solutions being versatile and modular, the Free Rotating Retractor consists of all AISI 316 stainless steel for wetted metal parts. All wetted parts have a surface finish of Ra 0.8 Wetted elastomers and polymers are food-compliant (FDA and EU regulations). Upon request, the Free Rotating Retractor can be supplied with the Alfa Laval Q-doc documentation package, ensuring full traceability of the entire supply chain. The Q-doc includes 3.1 certificates for metal parts.
Working Principles
The Alfa Laval Free Rotating Retractor functions as a pneumatically open and spring-close seat valve to clean the interior surfaces of vessels that manufacture hygienic products. In the closed position, the installation forms a flush design with the vessels wall, and the spray head is not exposed to the product zone. Prior to cleaning, the spray head extends into the product area. It rotates between the two hydro bearings due to the reaction forces of the cleaning media expelled from the orifices in a swirling 310°-up spray pattern. In doing so, the device provides complete coverage of the vessel surfaces through vibrating impact and cascading flow of the cleaning media.
The actuator can remain extended during a draining or purging phase. The device is completely self-cleaning except for the product-facing part of the plug. This surface is typically cleaned by pairing it with another tank cleaning device. When properly installed, the device is self-draining.
Benefits
- Secure product quality with 100% cleaning coverage of ducts, tanks and other hygienic processing vessels.
- Up to 35% savings in time, water and cleaning media compared to static spray ball systems.
- Reduce the total cost of ownership due to minimal cost and effort to install, operate and maintain the retractor.
- Boost uptime and increase productivity with faster and resource-efficient CIP cycles.
- Get fully automated operation when paired with Alfa Laval ThinkTop sensing and control units.
The Alfa Laval’s Free Rotating Retractor is a dynamic and resource-efficient clean-in-place device that removes residues from the interior surfaces of hard-to-clean vessels. It keeps hygienic ducts and tanks spotless, boosting uptime and productivity. Easy to install, operate and maintain, it reduces the total cost of ownership.
The retractable spray device is designed for the dairy, food, beverage, home and personal care, and other industries where hygiene is critical.
