Free Stainless Mixing Tank One Barrel 31 Gallon How to Clean?

[Build]

Last week I got a used heavy duty stainless open top mixing tank on wheeled stainless cart.

It's an industrial unit and was originally used to mix liquids, but unknown what those liquids were. It looks like it was never used, very clean.

It has a large 1/4 hp electric fluid pump that recirculates fluids inside the vessel or pump them out through a hose.

Since I'm not sure what liquid it was used for and the owner couldn't remember, how would I go about cleaning it? Thanks!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

a picture says a thousand words

 

[jackyl]

Could you rig something like a clean in place ball?

https://www.brewershardware.com/CIP-Spray-Balls/

Those are just examples, you probably don't want to use one since you don't have a top. But you could rig some CPVC pipe or something, fed from the pump, with an end cap on it and cut slits at verious heights to spray and coat all the sides, then just recirculate hot PBW or cleaner of choice for a long time.

 

[sleepspeaking]

It's an industrial unit and was originally used to mix liquids, but unknown what those liquids were. It looks like it was never used, very clean.

Unknown liquids

What type of industry did it come from?

Cause working in a refinery has taught me that unknown liquids, that keep things looking super clean, belong nowhere near your mouth.

It has a large 1/4 hp electric fluid pump that recirculates fluids inside the vessel or pump them out through a hose.

This is the part that worries me most. There could be some really nasty stuff lingering in the pump/hose.

 

[Build]

Ozarks, I'll take a pic and post, thanks.

Jackyl, I filled with 31 gallons of hot water and dawn detergent and put it on recirculate, also turned on the exit hose pump placed in the open top. I ran it for several hours, and was surprised at how much volume it could flow.

I've read that there are different processes to cleaning stainless, to open the pores and flush them with acid. Would starsan recirculating for a few days be enough?

 

[Build]

Sleepspeaking, I could get rid of the pump and hose and get new ones if they're too difficult to clean.

 

[sleepspeaking]

My main concern is that depending on the industry it could have been mixing Kool-aid, pesticide, or worse.

Some chemicals permeate the materials they come in contact with and don't just wash out. But they will slowly leach into whatever they come in contact with.

If it was mixing Red Dye number 5 that's not an issue, rinse it good and Cheers.
But I wouldn't cook in it until I knew what type of liquid it mixed....

 

[Build]

I understand and was reading about different processes to clean stainless up to medical or food grade. I'm not sure which process is easiest or best.

My thinking that since it's a completely open top tank with no way to put a lid on it, it couldn't be too toxic if toxic at all. Would a company mix toxic liquids in a completely open tank? Seems like a hazard since they could easily slosh or spritz out the top while mixing. Please tell me more and keep the ideas coming. Thanks.

 

[BeardedBrews]

I wouldn't worry as much about the stainless as anything soft. Plastic gaskets in the valves, the liquid contact surfaces inside the pump, the tubing.

Surely the guy you bought it from knows where it was used.

Don't assume that an open top container didn't once hold harmful things. My printing company has large open-top recirculating drums that we use for ink. They look nice and clean once they've been washed with ethyl acetate, but I would never get a beverage near them.


To your question about renewing the stainless, I imagine you're thinking about passivating:
http://howtobrew.com/book/appendices/appendix-b/passivating-stainless-steel
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/how-to-passivate-stainless-steel-parts

 

[Build]

Bearded, the pump is amazingly quiet and high volume, but I can get a new one and use this in a splash pad or something. I was going to replace its current pvc pipe and valves with stainless tubing and valves. The guy wasn't sure what had been mixed in it, so I'll assume it needs a full passivization cleaning to make it new again. I've known people in the dairy industry in the past who clean and use all sorts of stainless containers.

 

[sleepspeaking]

how's this one going Build?