• Air knives use compressed air to cut, peel, and blow off products in the production process
• Fluid pumps use compressed air to move liquid products in the production and packaging process
• Food filling machines use compressed air to fill containers with product during the packaging process
• Process vacuums use compressed air to generate vacuum used during the packaging process
• Compressed air is used to move products as they travel through the production process

Although not every business in the food & beverage industry is prone to seasonality, many are. It can be seasonality of demand for the product or, more often, seasonality of supply. With companies that deal with large swings in compressed air capacity requirements, they often choose to rent equipment to meet their demand. A great example of this is how grape harvest season takes place in late Summer through early Fall, so many vineyards choose to rent compressors to meet that year’s capacity needs.

Renting a compressor eliminates the need for capital expense while increasing air capacity. A rental compressor can also provide emergency capacity for any breakdowns that occur. By renting a compressor, the supplier covers typical factory service, ad 15%-20% of your rental fees can go toward a future purchase. Many food & beverage operations benefit from this rented seasonal increase in air.

With compressed air being applied throughout the food & beverage industry, companies are requiring clean, dry air. They can’t risk product or process contamination because it could end in illness of customers, spoilage of products, and product recalls, thus compressed air standards for the food industry are imperative. Although the FDA has taken a proactive approach and wants to catch problems before they occur, there are not specific laws about compressed air quality standards.

The responsibility for risk assessment and determining acceptable levels of contamination has been put onto businesses. When making an action plan, company leadership should use the following HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) principles

1. Conduct a hazard analysis
2. Determine the critical control points (CCPs)
3. Establish critical limits
4. Establish monitoring procedures
5. Establish corrective actions
6. Establish verification procedures
7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures

ISO 8573.1 Air Quality

ISO requirements dictate how much particulate, water, and oil can safely enter the end-use. These strict ISO-requiring applications (i.e. high tech, food, pharmaceutical, etc.) typically require oil-free air compressors as opposed to oil-lubricated units to remove oil contamination of the gas stream. For moisture content, the standards are:

For industries like food and beverage that require compressed air to make their products, the higher the quality of the compressed air, the better the product and the lower the cost to produce it.

Most companies who have moved to oil-free air compressors started out using oil-lubricated air. System contamination was not detected and accumulated gradually. In some cases, this occurred within a year.

Clean compressed air systems and vacuum systems are key to any food & beverage processing and packaging application.The risk of oil contamination is unacceptable, particularly where air comes in direct contact with product or packaging.

Oil free air prevents contamination of food & beverage products due to air compressor lubricant carryover. Additional filtration and drying systems can help ensure air is free from both moisture and particulate.

7 Ways Oil-Free Air Compressors Reduce Operating Costs:

1. Eliminate the cost to collect and dispose of oil laden condensate.
2. Avoid compressor oil separator element and downstream filter replacement cost.
3. Avoid the extra energy cost to overcome the pressure drop in the compressor oil separator and downstream filtration (oil-free compressors use approximately 6% less energy because of lower discharge pressure).
4. Eliminate contamination of desiccant in regenerative-type air dryers.
5. Eliminate the cost of make-up oil that must be added to oil-flooded compressors.
6. Reduce oil change intervals - oil free compressors require the oil to be changed annually. Oil-lubricated compressors generally require two more oil changes because ambient air is mixed with the oil, causing contamination and reduced oil life during high ambient conditions.
7. Low unloaded horsepower - oil-free compressors unload within 2 seconds of command to unload and consume approximately 18% of full load horsepower when unloaded. This results in significant energy savings compared to oil-lubricated compressors. 

The above costs associated with oil-lubricated compressors may not be apparent at the time of purchase but are contributors to the total cost of ownership. The best oil-free benefit of all is the elimination of risk of ruined end product, lost production and damaged reputation.

RELATED: WHY OIL FREE COMPRESSED AIR?

Success Story: Laird & Company

Laird & Company has been pioneering and perfecting Applejack brandy for 325 years. They rely on quality oil-free air to produce some of the nation's finest spirits. The compressor that ran their operation, a 40+ year-old oil-free compressor had been limping along due to the technical know-how of the distillery's maintenance team. It was recently retired and replaced with a brand-new Rogers KNW Series water-cooled, two-stage oil-free rotary screw air compressor.

RELATED: READ THE FULL CASE STUDY

Food and beverage operations typically require some of the most stringent air quality requirements available. Contamination is not an option in the industry. Facilities must stay diligent and remove as much risk as they can.

Work with a Rogers Machinery expert to address your compressed air needs.

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