Methods for cleaning industrial equipment with pre-treatment

Abstract

A method of cleaning equipment such as heat exchangers, evaporators, tanks and other industrial equipment using clean-in-place procedures and a pre-treatment solution prior to the conventional CIP cleaning process. The pre-treatment step improves the degree of softening of the soil, and thus facilitates its removal. The pre-treatment solution can be a strong acidic solution, a strong alkaline solution, or comprise a penetrant. A preferred strong acidic solution is an acid peroxide solution. In some embodiments, the pre-treatment may include no strong alkali or acid ingredient; rather, the penetrant provides acceptable levels of pre-treatment.

1 . A method of cleaning soils from industrial equipment using a CIP process, the method comprising: 
 (a) applying a pre-treatment solution to the soil, the solution comprising at least 0.10 wt-% active ingredients, the active ingredients including a surfactant penetrant and an oxidizer selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, peroxygen compounds and mixtures thereof;    (b) recirculating a second solution through the equipment after the pre-treatment solution, the second solution comprising a dilute detergent; and then    (c) rinsing the equipment.    
   
   
       2 .- 12 . (canceled)