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Tank Cleaning

Do your vessels need to pass Riboflavin testing?

By Jacqui Kennedy | June 17 2025

All that glitters is not always clean. Carrying out a Riboflavin coverage test is a process that enables you to confirm that the spray pattern created by the cleaning head has achieved 100% coverage across all internal surfaces of the vessel. If there is any Riboflavin remaining after the rinses sequences it means that there is a big risk of poor or no cleaning in that area.

Riboflavin solution is made up of vitamin B2 found in foods and forms of a yellow powder which is mixed with water and when wet, exposed to a UV-A-light will be fluorescent. The solution is normally concentrated in the top of the vessel ensuring coverage of the manway and up into the internal nozzles but is also dispersed on the internal walls of the vessel.

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In a world where we are all trying to reduce water and chemical usage, it may not be the answer to just add additional thirsty Rotary Cleaning heads. Targeted Fixed Spray Ball can offer the answer to ensuring a 100% repeatable clean which will not only allow vessels to pass Riboflavin testing but can be designed to pass the specific flows and pressures that customers have available. 

You may be lucky using a standard Fixed Spray ball with either a general 360° or 180° spray pattern to pass Riboflavin testing but luck doesn’t offer much of a guarantee.

Standard Spray Ball      

  • Off the shelf
  • General 360°or 180° pattern
  • Flow/Pressure standard
  • Wetted surfaces

Targeted Spray Ball

  • General 360°or 180° pattern
  • Drilled to target areas in the vessel
  • Flow/Pressure to suit customer requirement
  • Guaranteed to pass Riboflavin

There can be several reasons why vessels fail Riboflavin testing and this is not always because the spray balls are not correctly targeting the area.

  • If fingerprints are left on the internal surfaces of the vessel, it will be harder to remove the Riboflavin from this area. Even with the driest of hands, an oily print allows the Riboflavin to ‘stick’ to the surface.
  • When applying the Riboflavin, it’s important that the solutions does not become trapped in the manway seal as this will cause it to slowly leak out.
  • It’s important to apply the Riboflavin up into the nozzles but during the clean, the spray pattern targeted at the nozzles can keep the solution pushed up into the nozzle and not allow the Riboflavin to run down and out. Therefore, during the testing, it maybe necessary to pulse the balls for a few seconds, allowing the release of the solution that is being kept up in suspension up into nozzles.

Targeting Fixed Spray balls to clean under Agitators blades can also have its challenges when you are looking for the vessel to pass Riboflavin testing. For this solution the PlusClean is key for a 100% repeatable guaranteed clean.

The PlusClean can be mounted on the side or bottom of the vessel. When activated during CIP (Cleaning in Place) the PlusClean is the first in the market to guarantee a 100% impact cleaning coverage with a high impact fan of cleaning media.

Find out more about PlusClean

Riboflavin testing is becoming a standard requirement for many of our customers. Initially this was a requirement for the Pharmaceutical Industry but now this is a requirement in other sanitary industries.

For more information on solutions to guarantee your vessels pass Riboflavin testing, contact enquiries@tctech.co.uk

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