Food & Beverage

Water is used in many areas of the food and beverage manufacturing process. Generally incoming water must be treated before use so the water quality meets regulatory and operational requirements.

Water can be used at various stages of the process directly in contact with food, from pre-washing of product, as a transfer medium such as flume water, makeup and dilution of product batches, washing down and transport of waste from the process.

In the utilities section, water is used for the cooling of processes and machinery and for heat removal from the refrigeration process. Steam is generated to facilitate numerous processes including direct and indirect contact for sterilizing, blanching, pasteurizing, washing and other temperature process managements.

Some of the critical areas relating to water quality that must be focused on in order to ensure the reliable and efficient operation of the plant include:

• Production of water quality that is fit for purpose, either process or utilities
• Managing process water disinfection to comply with regulatory requirements
• Slime control in heat exchangers and cooling towers of cooling systems
• Corrosion protection of cooling systems to maximize plant life & performance
• Suspended solids control in low velocity heat exchangers
• Scale deposit control to maximize capacity and efficiency of critical cooling heat exchangers
• Management of boiler and steam to comply with regulatory requirements
• Monitoring steam condensate quality and responding to process contamination

The water management programs developed by ZI-CHEM are based on global technologies that have been applied in the field for many years and refined to optimize and enhance results. These are delivered by dedicated and experienced field service teams that are based close to or inside the plant site to ensure attentive support and rapid responses are provided, so that the objectives of the programs are achieved.