Case studies: Production of cosmetic creams
Customer
SARBEC Laboratories is a family business specialising in the manufacture of perfumes and cosmetics.
The company, founded 40 years ago, is situated in the north of France and also has factories in Normandy and Poland.
As well as marketing its own brands, such as the well-known "Corine de FARME", sponsor of the Miss France Beauty show, the company manufactures shampoos, bath gel, perfumes and sunscreens for suppliers like Auchan, Carrefour, Leclerc, and also licensed products for major companies such as Disney, Marvel and Evian.
Project
SARBEC Laboratories planned to expand their cream production plant and required facilities capable of manufacturing different products and volumes.
Moreover, they were looking for a complete and automated solution that would offer great versatility in different production lines; for loading, unloading and the cleaning of multiple tanks simultaneously and independently, whilst avoiding cross processes and contamination.
INOXPA included in the project a functional analysis of the installation, for the programming and automation of the equipment
INOXPA included in the project a functional analysis of the installation, for the programming and automation of the equipment
Why INOXPA?
SARBEC and INOXPA have built over the last 20 years a professional working relationship, based on the purchase of pumps, valves and other components. However, after attending a training session on cosmetics organised by INOXPA, Sarbec Laboratories discovered our experience in the solutions arena. Thereafter discussions developed on the project development.
INOXPA solution
Following a detailed study and analysis of Serbec’s requirements, INOXPA proposed an installation consisting of 3 production reactors designed to produce under pressure and vacuum, 14 storage tanks for raw materials and final product, one 50L pilot reactor and another 250L mixing reactor, 11 manifolds with 471 valves, as well as an integrated CIP system for cleaning the whole plant.
This project also included 40 pumps, and 100 further valves of different types.
INOXPA included in the project a functional analysis of the installation, for the programming and automation of the equipment. Presenting a solution that complied with the project requirements and meeting the customer’s needs.
Installation characteristics
- Production reactors MCR 16T, MCR 8T and MCR 4T designed to operate at -1/+2 bar in accordance with pressure equipment directive PED 2014/68/EU and enable solids and liquids loading by suction and discharge by pressure. The mixture is performed by a counter-rotating agitator and a high-shear tank bottom rotor-stator mixer.
- 14 storage tanks with capacities from 10 to 32 tonned for raw material, final product and CIP. Each final product group of tanks included mixproof valve manifolds to fill, drain and clean simultaneously as required.
- Pilot reactor MCR-50 with 50L melting unit installed on the same frame with electrical lid opening system, vacuum loading system, CIP unit, totally automated with recipes.
- Viscomis 250L reactor with anchor type agitator and vertical agitator with saw-tooth propeller for fast agitation.
- 11 manifolds with 471 valves, which were mainly INNOVA S-type valves with leakage detection.
- CIP system for the cleaning of the reactors and storage tanks, including two manifolds of INNOVA N-type single seat valves at the outlet and return of the CIP line.
Special features
With this installation, INOXPA demonstrated versatility in the production of different products, including multiple batch sizes that was important to the client. As well as the important requirement to be able to clean the whole system in a fully independent way.
An installation was designed with three main preparation units instead of one, with capacities of 16, 8 and 4 tonnes, providing great versatility to the production process.
For production INOXPA designed both pressure and vacuum reactors, in accordance with pressure equipment directive PED 2014/68/EU.
The different manifolds in the production lines provided a perfect solution that enables different units to be independently filled, drained and cleaned simultaneously, avoiding cross processes and contamination.
Our Engineering Department also designed a unique CIP system that cleaned the whole plant, storage tanks and the reactors. Full efficient cleaning achieved thanks to the utilization of the two valve manifolds, giving full flexibility and multi-line versatility.
Finally, INOXPA included the functional analysis of the installation to enable the automation of the whole system as well as equipment qualification.
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Production of cosmetic creams
