Air compressing may seem like a fairly straightforward function, but in fact, air compressor systems can provide a number of uses and functions. The compressor can add pressure, spraying power, or airflow anywhere you need it. And these systems can also be used to stir, transport, and even clean.
Here are some of the types of food and beverage businesses and facilities that have use air compressors.
1. Vineyards
Wine can be a finicky product, and reliable equipment is necessary if you want to produce reliable, high-quality wines. Air compressors can offer many different applications for a vineyard, such as oxygenating the wine, packaging the wine into bottles, and even powering your grape-crushing equipment.
2. Drinking Water Treatment Plants
Air compressors can be useful for many types of water treatment, from wastewater processing to drinking water treatments. Some of the ways you can use an air compressor for drinking water treatments include:
- Removing iron and manganese
- Disinfecting with ozone
- Using pressure to move water through a treatment system
As you can imagine, the type of air compressor suitable for these applications is an oil-free compressor, since this type doesn’t run the risk of contaminating drinking water with oil.
3. Farming Operations
Whether your farm produces milk, meat, or vegetables and grain, an air compressor can be a huge help. For example, air compressors are used to run many milking robots and clean out dairy parlors to keep the entire process more sanitary.
And for growing produce, an air compressor can help with weeding or pesticide treatments. A powerful air compressor can be a great boon when you’re spraying crops or fruit trees, for instance. Since a more powerful spray can travel farther and increase coverage per minute, you can save a lot of labor time by using a powerful air compressor.
4. Food Manufacturers
In a food production plant, air compressors can help in a variety of ways. Many different types of food manufacturing facilities can use air compressors. One such example is a bakery. In a bakery, air compressors can perform functions such as moving flour around to the correct areas.
As with other applications where the compressor works with food directly, you’ll want to use an oil-free model. In addition, in bakery conditions, you may need to look for a specialized air compressor that’s prepared to work well in dusty conditions day in and day out. If not protected from airborne dust, the compressor could suffer clogging and failures due to flour particles.
5. Dairy Processing Plants
Compressed air is so important in processing and packaging dairy products that some dairies and processing plants consider it a utility on par with water and electricity. In addition to mechanical functions like operating valves throughout your processing machinery, compressed air can be used in applications that put it in direct contact with the food product here as well.
Stirring vats of milk and packaging the items are two of these applications that put the air in contact with food. As you can imagine, these applications require an extremely dependable source of compressed air that won’t introduce contaminants such as moisture or oil into the product.
These examples demonstrate how air compressors, when combined with the differing needs of various food and beverage related industries, can have dozens of different uses. All you need is a high-quality air compressor and a little creativity.
If you work in a food-and-beverage-related industry or area, you’ll more than likely want a food-grade, oil-free compressor. And in some cases (such as when working with flour) you may need to choose a specialized compressor as well.
Kruman Equipment Company can help you choose the exact air compression systems you need for the work that you’re trying to accomplish. To discuss which system is right for you or to learn more about the other air compressor services we provide (such as repairs and replacement parts), give us a call today.
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