Keg Cleaning Machine Times

[ScottV]

I am always intrigued by the claims I see from some keg cleaning machine manufacturers that their single head cleaners can clean 20-30 kegs an hour.

I have a semi-automatic single head Lang Minimat 3000 that cleans about 10 kegs per hour. (manufacturer claims 12/hr) The cycle includes...

purging the kegs with air
rinsing with water
recirc with caustic
rinse with water
sanitize with steam
purge and pressurize with CO2

As far as i can tell this is a normal keg cleaning cycle, with the only optional step being the sanitization step.

So I have two questions...

1. Can i shorten the water rinse and casutic re-circulation steps to speed up the cleaning process with out compromising the cleanliness of my kegs? Curently it takes about 6 minutes for the complete cycle.

2. Is it possible for a cleaning machine to clean and sanitize a keg in 2 minutes like it is suggested by some manufacturers?

Scott

[oppigards]

I built my own keg cleaner a few years ago and I use caustic / clorine as a single cleaning step. When using caustic it is important to vent out all resiudal co2 before cleaning. My first try resulted in a too fast drop of ph in the cleaning solution so I doubled the air rinse and water rinse. then I have a cleaning seq. of 2,5 minutes and then water rinse with co2 and at last co2 purging. Yes I also have a 6 minute cycle. Depending on flow rate it might be able to shorten the prerinse and post rinse. But not on my set up. I do not want to shorten the cleaning contact time.

Cheers
Bjorn F

[Joe Brewer]

Here's the IDD Mini King (1994 model) wash sequence for 1/2 bbls straight from their manual:
1st water rinse- 10 seconds
Steam purge - event
Detergent wash - 15 seconds
detergent recovery - event
2nd water rinse - 10 seconds
steam sterilize - 30 seconds
CO2 purge - event
CO2 counter pressure - 1 second

They claim up to 30 kegs/hr washed and filled but I don't think we ever do that many. We pull the spears and visually inspect on a semi-regular basis and they're almost always spotless inside.

[BAugust]

Hey Scott,

You really aren’t too far off if it is taking 6 minutes for 6 cycles. You would really have to take a look inside the kegs and see what you are getting now in terms of cleanliness before you alter the cycle times. My experience is that 45 seconds is about the minimum effective wash time. On a single head machine, you can alter the times of individual cycles to be at their most effective. On an inline unit with several heads, you are held at bay by the head that requires the longest cycle time, so often it is worthwhile to wash a little longer if you have a cycle that requires more time.

Inline units can pump out a keg every minute (or less) but single head units require several minutes per keg because of the multiple cycles.

There has been mention in this thread (and others) of using chlorinated caustic. This is a very bad idea. Unless you have thoroughly purged all of the CO2 and or beer (anything causing an acidic environment) you will end up with chlorine gas being liberated and pitting your kegs. Additionally, this cannot be a substitute for sterilization steps as some have suggested in other threads.

Proper sterilization of a keg requires 120 C for roughly 60 seconds of contact time. The steam should be wet or “saturated”. While I am at it, I will throw in the “Never cold sterilize” mantra. First, it doesn’t really work and second I have seen a lot of ruined beers because of residual sanitizer left in the keg.

Finally, the cycle times for that IDD machine sound way too short in my opinion. You might want to have a look inside the kegs soon.

Cheers to all!

Bob August
Majestic Packaging Solutions
www.majesticpackaging.com