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Steam is the most energy efficient, reliable and flexible way to transfer heat for many food and drink processes. It is routinely used in direct contact with end products intended for consumption and sterilisation, but this can raise quality or even food safety issues if the correct standard of steam is not used. Clean steam is providing the answer where standards are increasingly demanding and public concerns on the safety of food consumption has made steam quality and purity of paramount importance. To help manufacturers take a quality-first approach to the type of steam used, Spirax Sarco has developed a clean steam generator, designed specifically for direct injection processes and sterilise in place (SIP).

Delivering quality

Steam is often seen as an ideal sterile and contaminant-free source of energy. However, as is the case with any medium that is in contact with the process, precautions should be taken to minimise the potential risk of contamination occurring which could be a hazard to human consumption, or potentially affect the taint, taste and quality of the product. Clean Steam generation eliminates any possible contaminants present in the steam to provide consistency in steam quality and purity throughout the manufacturing process.

Adopting good manufacturing practice

To generate clean steam, controlled chemical free feedwater namely reversed osmosis (RO) is fed through a secondary 316L stainless steel generator to ensure steam quality is kept at the appropriate levels. Certified and compliant with the Food Contact Materials regulation EC1935/2004, the generator keeps the appropriate steam quality and purity required at a consistent level. By controlling the feedwater quality at source, the generator removes the reliance on filtered steam, which only partially eliminates the risk of contaminates from the steam finding their way into the final product.

With increasing hygiene and safety concerns amongst major retailers and consumers around the use of plant and filtered steam in direct contact with food or drink or for sterilisation purposes, food and drink manufacturers can look to alleviate those concerns by adopting good manufacturing practice and switching to clean steam generation.

“Clean steam has the potential to make a real impact on what matters most to the consumer – the safety and taste of the end product. Through using steam engineering best practice and working closely with the food and drink industry, Spirax Sarco have successfully developed a new compact clean steam generator specific to the food and drink sector. Extensive testing and in depth market research has enabled us to develop this solution that delivers safe and consistent food quality steam at all times”- Michael Hyde, food and drink business development manager.

Want to know more about clean steam?
Download the definitive guide to using a clean steam process in your plant now.