Judgment of oil-free or oil-free air compressor in food factory

In food factories, oil-free air compressor is recommended the basis for its judgment and comparative analysis with the oil air compressor are as follows:

the core advantage of 1. oil-free air compressor

1. zero Oil Pollution Risk
   • oil-free air compressor through special design (such as water lubrication, self-lubricating materials) or technology (such as magnetic bearings) to achieve the compression process without oil participation, to ensure that the compressed air oil content is very low (usually ≤ 0.01 mg/m & sup3;), in line with ISO 8573-1 CLASS 0 standard.
2. Meet the demand for high cleanliness
   • in food production, when compressed air is in direct contact with raw materials (such as stirring, fermentation) or indirect contact (such as packaging, purging), it is necessary to avoid oil pollution. Oil-free air compressor can ensure air purity, prevent microbial growth, product deterioration or odor.
   • Application Scenarios:
     • direct contact: Raw material stirring, fermentation oxygen supply, nitrogen preservation (PSA nitrogen making device is sensitive to oil pollutants).
     • indirect contact bottle body and mold blowing, pneumatic conveying (such as milk powder, cocoa powder), baking food cooling.
3. Reduce maintenance costs and risks
   • the oil-free air compressor does not need to replace the lubricating oil and oil filter, the maintenance is simpler, and the equipment failure caused by oil pollution (such as filter element blockage and carbon spontaneous combustion) is avoided.

Limitations of 2. oil air compressor

1. oil pollution risk
   • oil air compressor in operation will produce oil mist or oil vapor, even through the oil and gas separator, the air may still contain trace oil (usually ≤ 3ppm). Without an efficient filtration system, oil may seep into the food production line, leading to product contamination.
   • Regulatory Risk: The EU Food Sanitation Law (EC 852/2004) clearly requires that food processing gas sources must meet the CLASS 0 standard, and domestic leading enterprises have made CLASS 0 certification a supplier access condition.
2. Maintenance complexity and cost
   • the lubricating oil, oil filter and air filter need to be replaced regularly, and the leakage or volatilization of lubricating oil may affect the environment.

Recommendations for the selection of 3. food factories

1. preferential selection of oil-free air compressor
   • direct contact scene: Oil-free air compressor must be used, and post-processing equipment (such as sterilization filter, precision filter) must be equipped to ensure air quality.
   • indirect contact scenario oil-free air compressors are recommended to reduce the risk of pollution and improve product hygiene standards.
   • Not touching the scene: Oil-free water lubrication screw air compressor can be selected to further reduce potential risks.
2. If you must use oil air compressor
   • need to be equipped with high efficiency filtration and purification system (such as activated carbon adsorption, post filter) to ensure that the output air meets food grade requirements.
   • Regularly check the quality of compressed air, and establish a strict maintenance system (such as filter element replacement cycle, oil detection).

4. industry trends and regulatory requirements

• technology upgrade oil-free air compressor performance continues to improve, through the optimization of design and the use of new materials, reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of compressed air. Combined with intelligent control technology, real-time monitoring is realized to ensure production safety.
• Tighter regulations with the improvement of the "National Food Safety Standards" on the quality of compressed air, oil-free air compression technology has become the "basic option" of modern food and beverage factories ".