Alfa Laval highlights total-solution safe and hygienic equipment

SAFETY, hygiene, energy and cost efficiency form the backbone of hygienic equipment development at Alfa Laval, a leading global company in heat transfer, separation and fluid handling.  

Established in 1883 and initially focused on the separation of solutions, the Swedish company offers a wide range of products designed for heating, cooling, separating and fluid handling for food, beverages and pharmaceuticals.

Particularly in equipment targeted at the food and beverage sector, Alfa Laval emphasizes food because the machines and equipment handle products for human consumption. Its tank-cleaning machines and hygienic Alfa Laval LKH centrifugal pumps, for instance, meet strict hygienic standards. Downplaying hygiene and safety or being remiss in these areas could cause contamination, which can then result in a batch of food items spoiling or having a shorter shelf life. Either can have grave consequences, cost-wise.

Best-in-class hygienic design 

This high value given to hygiene and safety influenced the design and development of one of the company’s newest releases, the Alfa Laval TJ40G.

This new-generation of tank-cleaning equipment, which the company showcased at ProPak Asia held last June 13 to 18 at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand, is increasingly gaining traction for its high cleanability features.

The Alfa Laval TJ40G provides 3D indexed impact cleaning over a defined period. It is automatic and represents a guaranteed means of achieving quality assurance in tank cleaning. As it is highly suitable for processing, storage tanks and vessels up to 500 cubic meters, it can be applied in breweries, food and dairy processes, and industries requiring a high degree of hygienic design.

The flow of the cleaning fluid makes the nozzles perform a geared rotation around the vertical and horizontal axes. In the first cycle, the nozzles lay out a coarse pattern on the tank surface while the subsequent cycles continually bisects the coarser pattern into a denser pattern, until a full pattern is reached after 8 cycles. The uniqueness of the Alfa Laval TJ40G is on its self-cleaning feature that ensures self-cleaning of the machine, such as directional flow from small jet in the hub that cleans the exterior of the machine.

With its indexed rotation, the Alfa Laval TJ40G delivers strong mechanical impact onto the tank surfaces, which translates to efficient cleaning, shorter cleaning time, reduced water consumption and water wastage.

In addition to these, the Alfa Laval TJ40G eliminates the need for manual cleaning, thereby improving safety in the plant or workplace. 

Compared with other tank-cleaning machines running with the same inlet pressure, the Alfa Laval TJ40G features low pressure loss for greater cleaning efficiency. With the unit running at lower pressure and flow, overall cleaning costs also decrease. Depending on the tank structures, normally 1 unit of TJ40G is optimal to effectively clean most tank surfaces efficiently.

Alfa Laval points to three key advantages in using the Alfa Laval TJ40G. First, the unit reduces cleaning consumption. It also shortens cleaning time. Lastly, it ensures a more hygienic cleaning process compared with the traditional manual way that involves a human entering the tank.

On average, savings achieved in using the tank-cleaning machine exceeds 50%. The value varies depending on customer usage and frequency, but overall the short ROI period indicates the high usefulness of the product.

This growing emphasis on safety is reshaping production practices among a rising number of companies. More manufacturers are aware that regulators can intervene if safety protocols are not met or, worse, not put in place.

Multinational operations are generally able to comply with industry safety standards. Tier-2 small and medium companies are upgrading their cleaning processes so as to reduce risks and boost competitiveness.

It is this segment where Alfa Laval sees automated tank-cleaning machines such as the Alfa Laval TJ40G can play an important role in serving customers’ needs, particularly in terms of hygiene and safety requirements.

Total solution

In addition to its new-generation tank-cleaning machines, Alfa Laval showcased its other innovative hygienic equipment during the six-day ProPak Asia exhibition. The largest event of its kind in Asia, Propak covers processing equipment, machineries, parts and tools, technologies and solutions, materials, products and services. It also showcases filing equipment and accessories, packaging and filling solutions and allied technologies.

Although the company’s participation at the show emphasised the launch of the Alfa Laval TJ40G, Alfa Laval’s booth reflected its integrated view of providing customers with the solutions they need to improve their productivity.

“We have various products that are integrated together with the tank-cleaning machines. So what we are giving the customers is a one-stop solution. Instead of working with different suppliers and managing different processes and delivery times, we serve as a one-stop supplier that can provide all system components in just a single place. One supplier. One partner. Everything in the same place. That’s peace of mind for the client,” shares Chow Tuck Sing, Sales Director, Hygienic Fluid Handling Alfa Laval South East Asia.

Alfa Laval tailors its machines and equipment to the target applications and industries. For the food and pharmaceuticals sector, for example, the company uses more fluid-handling equipment. Industrial applications, meanwhile, will require separation technologies.

“We started with very basic components such as tubes and fittings. But in our more than 130 years in the industry, we never stopped adding equipment to meet our customers’ needs,” says Daniel Ng, Vice President, Food & Water Division, Alfa Laval South East Asia.

Boosting South East Asia reach

South East Asia remains a key market for Alfa Laval, which aims to continue bolstering its presence in the region, according to Mr Ng.

The company maintains key operations in South East Asia through its sales offices and service centres in several countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

The huge population in South East Asia – 650 million people at present and still expanding – reflects a huge growth potential for the food and beverage industry. Rising living standards and purchasing power, particularly of the broadening middle class, are expected to boost the market, auguring well for companies looking to broaden their footprint in the region.

Alfa Laval is gearing up to broaden its reach in the food, pharma and water industries in South East Asia. In Thailand, for instance, the company supplies hygienic valves, pumps and tank equipment to various clients in the food industry, including both multinational and local manufacturers. Besides being able to cater to the varying requirements of different company types, Alfa Laval’s equipment is used not just in upstream processes but also in the midstream, enabling the company to contribute to manufacturers’ sustainability and energy efficiency initiatives as the products are used in more aspects of the production cycle.

The firm agrees the huge growth potential in the food and beverage sector. It sees strong interest, in particular, in more prepackaged and convenient yet hygienic food, as was also reflected by the trends at the recently held ProPak event.

Alfa Laval likewise notes the robust brewery industry, noting rising demand in whole of South East Asia.

Tech-driven product development

Leveraging quick access to technology, Alfa Laval emphasises innovations in its development initiatives. Guided by the importance of customer focus principles, the company underscores advanced or pioneering solutions whilst at the same time anticipating clients’ needs for safe, hygienic, and cost- and energy-efficient products. 

The firm complements this with improving customer service. “It’s also about being close to the customer,” adds Mr Ng.

Alfa Laval continues to boost its sales force, its distributors and channels. This includes improving its aftersales service.

“When we talk about quality, we’re not limiting it to equipment quality. For us, it also means raising our competency. Our customers do not just buy our equipment, they should enjoy the values delivered by Alfa Laval,” says Mr Chow. 

“In terms of assessing safety and quality, our hygienic equipment is widely accepted and recognised by many customers. This validates our commitment to providing safe, high-quality equipment and solutions. We also have sufficient documentation to meet clients’ requirements,” adds Mr Ng.

Besides food safety, the other major consideration in the food industry is consistency. To achieve this target, Alfa Laval designs its products with the customers’ requirements in mind.

“That is the need we aim to fill: to help our customers. We want to make sure our hygienic equipment can enable our customers to run their production cycles continuously. We do not want them to have any downtime. We want to increase their uptime,” says Mr Chow.