TIP 43 | SELECTING THE RIGHT FOOD HOSE

Select the Right Food Hose

Did you know that the lifetime of a food & beverage hose and the return on your investment starts before you purchase and install the hose?
Everyone in the hose industry should be familiar with STAMPED information. The acronym stands for Size, Temperature, Application, Medium, Pressure, End and Delivery. In most of the cases by answering these questions you will have a good understanding on what will be the most suitable hose. This is not necessarily enough for a hose line that will be used in the food industry. There are other things that you need to consider:

• Cleaning conditions: The most common reason for hose failures at the food industry is the hose not being suitable for Cleaning in Place (CIP). CIP is a procedure of cleaning interior contact surfaces of hoses without being disassembled. In plain words it is not enough that you have a hose that can transfer beer, but you need to be aware the temperature, the concentration, the pressure and the contact time of cleaning agents. Industry trend is the elevation of the temperature at a shorter cycle time to optimize production. A proper hose liner and reinforcement is a must to handle such requirement.
• Mechanical protection of the hoses is critical when it comes to life time. By selecting the right hose at the inquiry stage will save money and downtime. Extra flexible hoses will be good when you have tight spaces, while at bigger operation one would choose more robust, more kink resistant hoses.
• The right fitting will play a huge role in the lifetime of a hose line. Easy to assemble hose clamps are a popular and widely used fitting type, despite presenting a particularly high risk to hygienic transfer. This is because the hose nipple can become separated from the fitting; if the line becomes severely bent at the hose end, it can form a «dead space» in which the medium can be collected. This can lead to the creation of dirt cavities, which are difficult to clean even after they have been located. By contrast, crimped fittings do not allow the creation of unhygienic «dead space», especially if the outer sleeve of the fittings is no longer than that of the inner supports. Connections that are made with swagged and clamp fittings are also stronger than the bursting pressure of the hose, which eliminates the risk of a pressurized hose becoming loose, potentially injuring nearby personnel or damaging equipment.

Continental ContiTech offers a wide range of hoses that will give you the solution for the most hygienic transfer in food & beverage industry.

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