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CLEANING
Commonly, material is cleared from a press by stopping the inbound flow, setting
the discharge cone in the withdrawn position, and running the press for a few
minutes until no further material is discharged. This will leave some material inside
the press, which can be handy for forming a plug at the cake discharge when the
press is restarted.
Material will leave a Vincent interrupted flight press only if there is additional
inbound material forcing it out. This makes it difficult to clear material from inside a
press without removing the screen. One technique used successfully is to feed
crushed ice into the press. Water must be fed along with the ice to prevent
jamming. When the ice melts, the press will be relatively clean inside.
There are applications in which the press must be cleaned frequently, such as
once a shift, in order to meet sanitary regulations. In these cases, the screen can
be removed from the press in order to remove residual material. A spare screen
assembly may be kept, submerged in cleaning solution, in order to minimize the
downtime required.
Once the screen is removed, the screw and screen are scrubbed with caustic
solution.
In one case with a KP-16 press, the liquid discharge drain is blocked shut so that
caustic solution can be allowed to fill the collection pan. This cleaning is performed
without removing the screen from the press.
Cleaning the inside of the screen can be achieved, at least to some extent, by
injecting water through the resistor teeth. Holes must be drilled in the resistor teeth
to make this possible.
In laboratory applications, the press may be disassembled for cleaning. The
various components can be dipped in an appropriate solution or placed in an
autoclave.
It is unusual that the outside of the screen ever needs to be cleaned. Spray
systems for this can be built into the press at the Vincent factory. Alternatively, a
pressure washer or swabbing with acid solution can be used.
SCREEN REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT
Wedgewire screens in Vincent presses can be reversed in order to achieve double
life. That is, wear starts at the cake discharge end of the press. When this occurs,
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