Pure air or a wasteful risk factor? Ensuring the quality of compressed air in the food industry

The food industry lives and breathes by the cleanliness of the processes that guarantee the high quality and safety of their end products. Compressed air is one of the most vital products in the food industry: it is used to power machinery, package products and clean production equipment.

Because compressed air is so readily available, its presence is easy to get used to.

However, special care must be taken with compressed air in facilities that require high levels of cleanliness and hygiene. To exaggerate a little: You would not use dirty dish water to make food, so why would run your machines with dirty air?

In this article, we have listed the key risks and solutions of food-grade compressed air that you should know and understand.

Any compressed air system will run into trouble with excessive humidity that can feed bacteria and other microbes as well as corrode the pipes. Because the network can spread humidity from device to device, it must be managed at the system level.

Microbes can easily take root in humid, poorly cleaned compressed air systems.

The solution is to monitor and control the dew point across the system’s parts according to the microbiological production requirements. In addition, the dew point must be kept steady despite changes in consumption and demand.

How to control the dew point:

• Determine the correct level for the dew point according to your production requirements. According to the British Compressed Air Society, a dew point below -26 °C will stop microbial growth.
• The dew point and dryers must be monitored and measured regularly.
• The Sarlin Balance system is an excellent choice for automating your dew point monitoring.

Sarlin Balance is a control system for compressed air systems that can maintain even pressure levels, control compressors and provide detailed measurements about the compressed air system’s functioning. The Balance system also alerts operators of any values approaching their thresholds. The Sarlin Balance system lowers costs, improves compressed air system reliability and assists with maintenance. In addition to the complete Balance system, we also provide monitoring solutions for small-scale compressed air systems.

Contact us whenever you would like expert assistance with dew point control.

In any application where the purity of compressed air is vital, special attention should be paid to the use and treatment of oil. Practically all oil can be removed from compressed air with the right purification equipment to minimise the risk of contaminating the compressed air network.

Therefore, oil-lubricated compressors can be used in food production, as long as you take the appropriate measures to ensure quality and maintenance. For example, the oil must be food-grade and the filters must be just right. In practice, many customers choose oil-free compressors to make quality control easier.

Oil-free or oil-lubricated compressors?

• Oil-free compressors are worry-free in that there is no oil to contaminate the system.
• Oil-free compressors remain a pricier investment and have higher operating costs.
• Oil-lubricated compressors are more energy-efficient and less noisy in operation.

Are you looking for the perfect compressor? Our experts can help you pick equipment that can talk to your entire compressed air system. Because we are independent of manufacturers, we are free to recommend the best solutions for your needs.

Stopping impurities is part of the basics

Besides removing water and oil, it is important to identify the contamination risks present in any compressed air system.

The production of compressed air is not a dirty operation in itself, but the purity of compressed air must be preserved, just like we treat our drinking water. Contamination may come from the ambient air, compressors, tanks or pipework.

Compressed air quality control is a sum of many parts such as the following:

• Correct equipment and filters.
• Regular equipment maintenance and monitoring to prevent contamination risks.
• Protection from exposure to outside air (humidity, cold and temperature changes). In Finland, temperatures may vary by up to 60 degrees throughout the year, which is highly demanding for air quality control.
• Correct placement of compressed air equipment in relation to external factors. For example, special care must be taken with filtration if intakes are located close to car parks, loading bays or busy roads.

Although compressed air may be available at the snap of your fingers, its reliability is not guaranteed unless you keep an eye on the machines.

First and foremost, effective maintenance means prevention and securing reliability. Maintenance can also improve the quality of compressed air, which is especially important in the food industry. Benefits of preventive maintenance:

• Protects performance. For example, regularly replacing filters helps prevent the accumulation of impurities in the compressed air network.
• Keeps an eye on the life cycle. Preventing premature damage helps extend the service life of compressed air equipment.
• Saves energy. Well-maintained equipment runs smoothly and consumes less energy.
• Saves money. Regular maintenance helps avoid costly repairs and postpones the need to purchase new devices.

Would you like some help with your compressed air system’s functioning, maintenance or equipment choices? You can contact us about anything to do with industrial compressed air. We offer the largest selection of services in Finland for industrial compressed air and experienced expert services tailored to your needs. We are independent of manufacturers and hence free to choose the best solutions for your needs.  Read more about our services:

• Syyni system analysis
• Compressed air leak survey
• Compressed air production optimisation and monitoring
• Maintenance and spare parts
• Outsourced compressed air production and guaranteed production service
• Compressed air control and optimisation. We provide solutions for any size of compressed air system from individual applications to large-scale systems controlled by Sarlin Balance.

Read a reference story: Powerflute (Savon Sellu) – compressed air as a service