Is my Waukesha Universal Sanitary PD Pump Clean? Part 1

At Triplex Sales, one of the challenges we most often see our partners face is how to best clean their SPXFlow/Waukesha Cherry Burrell Universal pump. Almost every day, a client will come to us with an issue cleaning their pump. In this post, we will address that pain point and review the Waukesha Universal 1 and Universal 2 Pumps. Part 2 of this series will focus on the Universal 3 and Universal Twin Screw Pumps. Both posts will focus on providing you with our best practices to clean your Waukesha Positive Displacement Pump.

Waukesha Cherry Burrell Universal 1 ECP Pump

To begin, let us start with the OG, the Waukesha Universal 1 Pump. A mainstay of many food processing plants, the Universal 1 was the original “Can Do” pump. In terms of cleaning, the Universal 1 was originally designed and developed for Clean Out of Place (COP) applications. Basically, any application where the pump must be disassembled and cleaned daily. Think meat processing, chocolate, or other applications where you have a fibrous product. The U1 is the ultimate easy to use and maintain sanitary pump. Featuring a simple and easy to operate design, the Universal 1 only needs 3 or 4 tools to disassemble and clean.

Unfortunately, this simple design also makes the pump less than ideal for CIP applications. The shafts and rotors are splined and cleaning in between each of those splines is difficult. The jam nuts, a maintenance technicians dream, also leaves exposed threads in the product zone- a big no-no for CIP. The cover of the Universal 1 also features a “stepped” recessed cover with non-radiused corners that will not clean up easily.  And because of it’s “hour glass” body shape, the Universal 1 will not fully drain, even with the ports mounted in the vertical. So take it apart and wipe it down. Don’t clean the Universal 1 in place.

Universal 1 Cleaning Best Practice: Clean out of Place (COP)

Waukesha Cherry Burrell Universal 2 ECP Pump

Next, let’s take a look at Waukesha’s Universal 2 ECP pump. The Universal 2 was introduced in the early 1990’s specifically for the increasing number of Clean in Place (CIP) applications in the food and beverage space.

Identical in footprint, the Universal 2 features many improvements on the Universal 1 to make it easier to clean in place. As opposed to the splined shafts and rotors on the Universal 1, the Universal 2 features keyed rotors and shafts with hub o ring and rotor nut that must be set with a torque wrench, sealing any exposed threads from product contact. So, unlike the easy to disassemble Universal 1, once you get a Universal 2 together, you don’t want to take it apart.

The cover of the Universal 2 is also strikingly different from the Universal 1. Not only from the outside, but more importantly for cleaning purposes, on the inside too. Instead of the non-radiused recessed cover, the Universal 2 cover is still recessed, but the full, rounded radii eliminate hard to clean edges.

This recessed cover brings us to the next important cleaning distinction with the Universal 2- available options. On both the Universal 1 and Universal 2, the hardest part of the pump to clean is between the sealing area, rotor, and cover. To assist with cleaning this area in place, the Universal 2 is available with special CIP rotors. These rotors are drilled in both the hub and body to allow CIP fluid to flow through the rotor and into the cover to clean, provided there is sufficient differential pressure between the inlet and outlet of the pump.

Other options that enhance cleanability of the Universal 2 include the out of the box mechanical seal and flat body profile option that allows full drain-ability when the pump is mounted in the vertical.

Universal 2 Cleaning Best Practice: Clean in Place (CIP)

Conclusion

Half way home through 2 part series on how you should clean your positive displacement pump, hopefully it is more clear to you how to best clean your Waukesha Cherry Burrell Universal 1 or Universal 2 PD pump. In part 2 of this series, we will do a deeper dive on the Universal 2 and Universal Twin Screw pump. Please stay tuned or contact a Triplex Sales Engineer today with any of your sanitary positive displacement pump questions!