Dairy processing is a high-hygiene environment where compressed air frequently contacts product, packaging and surfaces. Filling, capping, carton forming, conveying and valve actuation all use air, and any oil or moisture contamination compromises food safety.
Air quality requirement
Dairy plants specify ISO 8573-1 Class 0 oil-free air for contact applications, with dryers and filtration to control moisture and particles. Air that only powers actuators can use a slightly lower specification, but it is often simpler to treat the whole network to a single hygienic standard.
Applications
- Aseptic and ESL filling machines
- Cap and carton handling
- Pneumatic conveying of powders
- Clean-in-place valve actuation
- Packaging and palletising
System design
Use oil-free compression with adsorption drying for low dew point, and stainless pipework that can be cleaned. Route pipes to avoid dead legs, manage condensate carefully, and add point-of-use sterile filtration at filling stations. Reliability is critical, because a dairy line cannot wait for air.