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ENCLOSURES...

Suitable enclosures for

different food hygiene zones

Emma Ryde, Rittal’s product manager for industrial and outdoor enclosures, reviews
the considerations for enclosure specification inside the food factory

aintaining high standards of hygiene process. Not surprisingly, water ingress across
is a priority in all food and beverage electrical components will cause considerable
factories, which means keeping damage, leading to unnecessary maintenance and
Mmachines, enclosures and systems repair costs as well as production downtime.
spotlessly clean while maintaining production Hygienic Design enclosures have become the
efficiency. However, within food and beverage standard housing for electrical controls in this
production and processing plants there are three environment because they allow rapid cleaning,
categories of hygiene ‘zones’ – high, medium and they create a sealed environment for electrical
low hygiene spaces. Your choice of a suitable systems, and they prevent the formation of pockets
enclosure solution depends on the zone where it will of dirt. As a powerful and multifaceted CAE system,
be installed. the EPLAN Platform offers comprehensive
Rittal and Eplan can help you identify the ideal functional support in the creation and use of device
solution for each area to keep processes moving and master data, enabling you to apply and comply
forward, while reducing downtime. So let’s look in with international codes and standards for
more detail at the different hygiene zones. documentation and manufacturing.

Zone 1 – Food zone: high hygiene Zone 2 – Spray zone: medium hygiene
Of all the zones, the food preparation zone is the The risk of contamination in this zone is lower than
most critical. Due to the high risk of contamination, in the high hygiene zone. Here, the food is already
it is essential that the enclosures within this space packaged or undergoing further sterilization
are designed according to very strict hygiene rules. treatment; so for example, products such as milk
Solution – Hygienic Design cabinets: Hygienic are enclosed in pipe systems and are therefore
Design guidelines state that materials must, among protected from the outside environment.
other things, be corrosion resistant and easy to However, floors are cleaned with cleaning agents
clean, while all joints must be sealed, seamlessly so any enclosures in this area should be resistant to
welded or glued. Unfortunately, many electrical both corrosion and airborne chemical particles from
enclosure systems fail to meet these requirements, the cleaning products.
and this can lead to water entering inside the control Solution – Stainless steel enclosures: Stainless
enclosures during the wash down and sanitation steel enclosures are ideal for use in medium hygiene

July 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA! • p16