Oil-Free Air Blowers & Compressors for the Food & Beverage Industry (Oil-Free F&B)

In F&B plants, air purity is a critical factor for product safety. Any trace of oil, oil vapor, or particulate matter entering the airstream can contaminate raw materials, spoil a production batch, or violate hygiene standards. Therefore, air used in product-contact processes must be oil-free.

The reference standard is ISO 8573-1 Class 0 — a stringent level in the compressed air oil-contamination classification scale. Aerzen’s oil-free DS series compressors are certified to ISO 8573-1 Class 0, meaning the airstream contains no oil in liquid, aerosol, or vapor form. Aerzen also benchmarks air purity against ISO 8573-1:2010, ISO 8573-2:2007, and ISO 8573-5:2001 for compressed air conveying processes. This provides the technical basis for plants to demonstrate compliance to customers and inspection authorities.

A clear distinction must be made: an air blower generates low pressure (typically ≤1 bar) with high flow rates, used for aeration and material conveying; while an air compressor generates higher pressure for process air, filling, and control air. A single F&B plant typically needs both. Three commonly used technology groups:

For high-pressure process air in the oil-free compressor category, Aerzen also offers the DS series (two-stage oil-free screw compression) and the 2C series (multi-stage screw compression for air, neutral gases, and special gases).

Blown and compressed air is present at many stages in the F&B production line. Each process has different flow rate and pressure requirements, but the common requirement is that the airstream must be clean, stable, and continuous to avoid interrupting production:

• Aeration: supplying air to aerobic wastewater treatment tanks at the plant, or providing air for fermentation processes — this is the domain of low-pressure, high-flow-rate air blowers.
• Pneumatic conveying: transferring flour, sugar, starch, grains, and powdered products through pipes instead of conveyor belts, reducing losses and contamination. Oil-free air with no sound-absorbing material ensures 100% product purity during conveying.
• Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP): pumping inert gas into packaging to extend shelf life — requiring completely clean air.
• Process air & filling: air for valve control, product transfer, and bottle/jar cleaning — using high-pressure oil-free compressors.
• Vacuum: suction, forming, and vacuum packaging using a Roots vacuum system.

One noteworthy technical detail: Aerzen equips its units with reactive silencers that reduce noise by redirecting the airflow rather than using sound-absorbing material. This eliminates the risk of fibers or particles from sound-absorbing material breaking off and entering the airstream — an important advantage for the food and chemical industries.

Air blowers and compressors typically run continuously, so energy consumption accounts for a large portion of the equipment lifecycle cost. According to Aerzen documentation, new-generation compressor packages are designed to deliver energy savings of more than 10% compared to older configurations. Delta Hybrid screw technology also provides higher efficiency than conventional Roots blowers at many operating points, helping to reduce electricity costs over time.

When selecting equipment, total cost of ownership should be calculated (actual flow rate and pressure per process stage, efficiency at the operating point, maintenance costs), rather than comparing initial investment price alone. The technical team should measure actual operating conditions with instruments rather than estimating, to select the right product line and size.