Pulp Juice Line Has Settling, Blockages and Uneven Packs
Treat pulp as a line-wide solids-handling problem. Verify particle specification, tank agitation, pipe velocity, pump selection, thermal effect, valve passage, recirculation and stop-time behavior.
Use the line-wide stop, lockout/tagout and product-hold procedures. A safe diagnosis must include adjacent machines, stored pneumatic and hydraulic energy, hot process circuits, robots and the possibility that equipment can restart from an upstream or downstream command.
Locate the fault
- Early bottles contain less pulp than late bottles
- Pipes and filler valves block after stops
- Pump pressure and fill time increase through the batch
- CIP removes heavy solids only at the beginning
Inspection sequence
- Measure representative particle size and solids distribution
- Sample tank and package at defined batch times
- Trend flow, pressure and temperature through process and filler
- Review agitation, recirculation and stop sequence
- Inspect recovered blockage material and exact geometry
- Verify CIP flow through solids-sensitive branches
Corrective work
- Align product particle specification and equipment passage
- Restore suitable low-shear suspension and recirculation
- Correct pump and valve condition
- Develop validated stop and cleaning sequences for the actual product
Operating records and follow-up
- Review new formulations with equipment teams
- Trend fill time and pressure
- Control maximum stop time
- Inspect low points
- Retain distribution samples

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