Why Gas Treatment Is Important For Food-Processing Plants

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Many food-processing plants use a wide range of gases and compressed air during the different stages of processing the food products. Care must be taken to clean the gases or compressed air that is used so that the food products are not contaminated. This article discusses some of the most common contaminants that you should remove from the gases or compressed air that you use at your new food processing plant.

Moisture

One of the biggest contaminants of gases or compressed air is moisture. This moisture can enter the processing equipment through breather valves and the gaps in the seals or valves regulating the flow of the gas or compressed air. Moisture must be removed from industrial gases and compressed air so that it does not have an adverse effect, such as shortening the shelf life of the processed food.

Oil

The gases and compressed air used in industrial establishments may also contain varying amounts of oil in the form of oil vapour and liquid oil. These oils can enter the gas or compressed air from a variety of sources. For instance, the air sucked into a compressor can contain oil mist that is present in atmospheric air. Similarly, many compressors use oil to lubricate their components. That oil can find its way into the gas delivery system if steps are not taken to remove it.

Oil can taint the quality of the food products that you process by combining with moisture in the gas or compressed air. That mixture can form an acidic compound that can make the food products to spoil quickly.

Atmospheric Dirt

Particulates, such as dust particles, may also be present in the gases or compressed air that you use in your food processing plant. Some of those particulate contaminants may be so tiny that they will elude the intake filter that was designed to capture particulate contaminants.

Microbial Matter

Industrial gases and compressed air may also contain a large amount of microbes, such as bacteria, viruses and algae spores. These microbes can multiply rapidly within your food processing equipment due to the rich food source availed by the products that you are processing.

As you can see, several contaminants can affect the quality of your food products if you do not take deliberate steps to clean the gas or compressed air that you use in the food processing plant. It is therefore very important for you to consult gas treatment professionals for help in selecting treatment systems that will extract all the contaminants above at the different points where you use gas or compressed air. Contact a company like MTA Australasia for more information.


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