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ELGi accrued a long time of expertise within the worldwide market, earlier than increasing into North America a decade in the past. With a product vary spanning greater than 400 compressed air merchandise, the corporate works with most of the world’s largest meals and beverage processors, and is quickly increasing these efforts from its US base in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Anwar Varadaraj, President of ELGI North America, shares insights on how oil-free air compressors are important to bettering air high quality in meals and beverage operations, decreasing the quantity of oil droplets within the meals provide, thereby decreasing the quantity of oil droplets within the meals provide. Enhances the standard of and complies with FDA rules for the meals and beverage business.
Q. How essential is air compressor expertise to the meals and beverage business?
Varadraj: The meals and beverage business within the US is a big and rising business with a worth of $281.14 billion in 2021 and predicted to develop at a charge of 9.5% between 2021 and 2028. Compressed air is also known as the “fourth utility” after water, gasoline and electrical energy. With out compressed air, meals and beverage corporations couldn’t successfully produce remaining merchandise for shoppers. Some examples of this embrace the operate of conveyors in meals processing strains, the cleansing of storage bottles, and the operate of pneumatic cylinders. Compressed air can be utilized in sorting, shifting, freezing, mixing, packaging and transportation.
One of the vital frequent functions for food-grade air compressors is to inject air into canned items or to inject air into vacuum-sealed baggage as a part of the packaging course of. They’re additionally utilized in functions similar to mixing merchandise, dishing out liquids, carbonated drinks and freezing merchandise, amongst different functions. As well as, some wine and beer manufacturing strains additionally use compressed air within the aeration and fermentation course of.
The meals and beverage business is closely regulated within the US. Among the common rules that apply to meals and beverage business gear are the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA), US Division of Agriculture (USDA), Nationwide Sanitation Basis (NSF), 3-A Sanitary Requirements, amongst many others. The meals and beverage business should face more and more demanding regulatory challenges and guarantee meals manufacturing amenities meet necessities.
Q. What’s “air high quality” and the way does it have an effect on meals and beverage manufacturing?
Varadraj: To speak about compressed air high quality, it will be significant that we perceive the three mostly discovered impurities in compressed air: mud mites, moisture, and oil. The purity of compressed air is measured in accordance with ISO8573, a world commonplace that specifies the purity lessons of particulates, water and oil in a compressed air system. For instance, typical air high quality for the meals and beverage business should attain Class 1 purity for particulates, Class 3 purity for water, and Class 0 purity for oil.
Sometimes, functions requiring Class 0 purity for oil have strict high quality necessities for particulates and moisture; Subsequently, Class 0 high quality compressed air is taken into account the very best stage of purity within the business. The one dependable option to constantly present Class 0 high quality compressed air is to decide on an air compressor that doesn’t use oil of their compression chamber – what we name an “oil free compressor”.
Q. Why are oil free air compressors essential for meals and beverage manufacturing?
Varadraj: Whereas mud particles and moisture in compressed air may be managed utilizing downstream mud filters and dryers, respectively, controlling oil in compressed air presents its personal set of challenges for meals and beverage producers. A standard false impression is that oil-free may be achieved through the use of a collection of downstream filters to filter out oil particles. This resolution could theoretically appear to satisfy the requirement, however can result in a variety of penalties, together with oil passing by way of the filter, lowered filter age and effectivity time, filter breakage, and so on. There isn’t any viable resolution for detecting carrying oil. In a dwell compressed air system, due to this fact a producer won’t discover the difficulty till the harm has already been performed. Traces of oil reaching the equipment can harm them past restore.
For food-grade air compressors in direct contact with meals merchandise, oil contamination will utterly harm the merchandise. Fines for having oil within the system or meals product can vary from hefty fines to authorized liabilities and lawsuits. Meals and beverage companies are starting to make adjustments to implement oil-free air compressors to keep away from these dangers.
The one dependable option to constantly present Class 0 high quality compressed air is to decide on an oil free compressor
Q. Are there any examples of how oil-free compressors have helped corporations in these efforts?
Varadraj: Many meals and beverage producers are utilizing oil free air compressors of their each day operations. Take, for instance, an natural winemaker in France. It makes use of the ELGI AB Sequence oil-free air compressor that delivers disruptive advantages by way of effectivity, reliability and air high quality. For a premium winemaker, it is very important make sure that the compressed air used is of the very best high quality to keep away from potential contamination. Oil-free compressors present Class 0 high quality nitrogen that’s used through the blanketing course of and prevents adjustments in style or coloration. For the reason that inception of the ELGi AB collection oil-free compressors, the compressor has delivered flawless efficiency and helped produce the world-renowned French purple wine. We even have a number of different case research upon request.
Q. Do oil-free air compressors supply every other advantages to meals and beverage manufacturing?
Varadraj: Along with offering Class 0 high quality compressed air, oil-free compressors have a number of important benefits over oil-flooded air compressors. First, oil-free compressors will help meals and beverage producers save prices. An oil-free compressed air system doesn’t require a downstream oil filter, which reduces the preliminary set up price and substitute price of the filter, and it removes pointless stress drops within the compressed air system. The system stress may be maintained as per the applying stress requirement, leading to power financial savings.
As well as, condensate from an oil-free air compressor may be safely disposed of with out additional remedy. This protects cash for the set up and upkeep of condensate remedy and disposal gear, making oil-free air compressors each an economical and sustainable resolution.
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