Fast, safe and efficient cleaning cycles with Galdi filling machines

Analysis, research, development and testing: this is how Galdi is able to guarantee packaging machines with shorter cleaning cycles that offer top-of-the-class hygienic performance.

This approach has led to the introduction of innovative technical and automation solutions that deliver consistent performance under all conditions, while also reducing human error.

Right from the design stage, internal areas and several components are designed to facilitate manual or automatic cleaning operations.

Implementations result from the analysis of the entire cleaning cycle, focusing R&D efforts on the most hygienic solutions for:

• Parts in direct contact with the product
• Parts in indirect contact with the product
• Parts not in contact with the product

During the cleaning process too, the main goal is to minimise the risk of contamination.

Another objective is to optimize cleaning times. We achieved this by introducing automations that run concurrently with manual cleaning or thanks to technological innovations that allow cleaning cycles to run in parallel.

To ensure consistent and increasingly better performance over time, the entire cleaning process is continuously improved with more effective solutions for each phase:

CIP (Cleaning In place) and SIP (Sanitation In Place)

• We no longer need to take apart mechanical parts manually
• We have automated the dosing cover's opening and closing to prevent contamination and enable easier cleaning and sanitisation.
• New packaging machines, like the RG280, use pressurised steam for sanitisation (121°C for 30 minutes), ensuring better results in terms of sterilisation effectiveness, performance consistency over time, consumption and environmental impact.
• We also developed a Self CIP unit: a new, fully automatic auxiliary device developed for Galdi packaging machines. Compared to centralized cleaning, it guarantees superior and consistent performance, time optimisation and consumption efficiency, while also meeting Galdi standards in terms of user experience, monitoring and advanced diagnostics.

COP (Cleaning Out of Place) and SOP (Sanitation Out of Place)

• The position of the 90 spray balls in the RG280 was designed to allow for fully automatic cleaning of both the hygienic chamber and air ducts.
• The foaming phase is optimised to eliminate foam residue at the end of the cycle, which is essential to decrease the risk of contamination.
• Larger windows have been installed to provide better accessibility and visibility inside the machine during both cleaning cycles and production.

True to our principles, a number of resource-saving technical solutions were implemented for the development of our next-generation RG280 packaging machine:

Pressurised steam SIP process. Compared to cold peracetic acid systems, it offers the following advantages:

• Lower energy consumption
• Saves 400 cubic litres of water a year
• Saves approximately 1,000 kg of chemicals a year

External cleaning with recirculating soda and acid with temperature control. Compared to traditional foam-based systems, it offers the following advantages:

• Water consumption is reduced by 25%
• Chemical consumption is drastically reduced, by approximately 9,000 kg a year.
• Process costs can be reduced by up to 10 times.

The RG280 packaging machine can run both the CIP and COP processes simultaneously, for shorter and more efficient cleaning cycles.

Because we all know that time is money!