ABB is claiming many years of operation from its food safe motors following wash-down testing.

ABB washdown food motor

“Our food safe motors are already in use at a number of customer plants,” said ABB product manger Tero Helpio. “In order to prove their long-term performance under realistic washdown conditions, we worked with a hygiene laboratory in Västerås, Sweden to devise a set of tests replicating industrial-type sanitising procedures.”

The test regime reproduced typical cleaning practices in the food and beverage industry with a seven-stage cycle representing a full week of daily wash-down procedures.

Detergent and sanitiser were applied during every stage, with acid applied once per cycle – reflecting common industrial practice of washing down with acid once each week, according to ABB.

Temperatures up to 55°C and pressures up to 25 bar were used. A total of 158 cycles were performed, corresponding to 1,106 daily wash-downs or 418 total hours of testing.

ABB washdown food motorTwo IEC stainless steel motors were tested and were “largely unaffected and still in full working order at the end of the test program”, said ABB. “In particular, no water, condensation or indication of corrosion was found inside the motors. All the three main O-rings and drain plugs remained tight.”

Inherently food safe motors eliminate the need for motor shrouds. The ones tested are corrosion resistant and IP69 ingress protected. External surfaces are self-draining to prevent pooling or gathering of material.