Deepesh Upadhyay, Asst. Vice President, Delair India Pvt. Ltd.
The Indian food & beverage (F&B) industry is experiencing an unprecedented boost on account of urbanization, fast-paced lifestyles, and changing consumption behaviour. It is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country, which makes it mandatory to preserve the quality and palatability of the food. As a result, it becomes essential to address the moisture woes plaguing the F&B industry to maintain the safety and hygiene standard of the food for a long time.
Moisture is a major deterrent for the F&B industry that creates an ideal environment for the proliferation of microorganisms such as fungi, mould, pathogens, etc., raising a lot of hygiene issues. This, in turn, is responsible for triggering physical, enzymatic, microbiological, and biochemical deterioration of food. Leaving the food unsuitable for consumption, it has a destructive effect on it and can significantly impede the growth of the industry.
There is a high probability of food being exposed to moisture through compressed air, which is required for a wide array of applications ranging from manufacturing, transportation, and packaging of food products. Compressed air is mandatory for driving processes at various stages of freezing, canning, and dehydration of food products. It goes a long way in facilitating dairy processing or agitation, vacuum sealing, packaging of food, processing of meat, etc., to name a few operations involved in the F&B industry. In addition to this, compressed air is a prerequisite for powering pneumatic machines, crucial for driving conveyors, sorters, mixers, and bottling lines. Along with this, pressurized air is also sought for operating other equipment that monitors the filling of cakes, pies, liquid products, etc.
Compressed air is also essential for the manufacturing of PET bottles, which plays a crucial role in giving the desired size and shape to the bottle. It is much required for monitoring forming, mold press powering, clamping, and conveying plastic pellets at the time of bottle manufacturing. The presence of moisture in the compressed air leads to clouding of PET bottles, jeopardizing the clarity and compromising the PET bottle strength at the same time. The side effect transcends to contamination of PET resin, which causes internal bubbles and pockmarks in bottles or containers.
The destructive nature of moisture is not just limited to sabotaging the quality of food but is also responsible for the malfunctioning of pneumatic machines. Accounting for sluggish and inconsistent functioning of valves and cylinders, it meddles with the smooth operation of various processes. Stimulating corrosion in the pipelines, cylinders, and other components, moisture causes freezing in machines during cold weather.
Looking at the menace moisture can cause to food & beverage products, it is crucial to deploy high pressure Delpet refrigeration dryers for supplying quality compressed air free from any sort of contaminants. It is proficient at providing quality air solutions for eliminating moisture from the compressed air while purging it of dust particles, oil, and solid contaminants at the same time. The dryers comply with Quality Standard of ISO 8573-1:2010 Class 1 and achieve Best Pressure dew point of 2 °C to 3 °C.
Employing High pressure Delpet refrigeration dryers facilitate mitigation of moisture by cooling down the air to nearly freezing point. This is followed by reheating the cold air at nominal conditions to approximately 10°C below the temperature of incoming compressed air. The dryers consist of refrigeration circuit, compressed air circuit and air drying units that embody centrifugal cum demister pad condensate separator. At the same time, the refrigeration circuit encompasses a compressor, a condenser, a receiver, a volume liquid accumulator that includes liquid refrigerant, and an evaporator.
The heat exchangers form the core of the system that is well equipped with air-to-air heat exchanger and the refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger. It contributes to the outperformance of the dryers, where, harnessing the benefit of air-to-air heat exchanger, it reduces the load on the refrigerant system. Simultaneously, air-to-air heat exchanger warms the outgoing cold air pipelines to the desired temperature. On the other hand, the refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger conducts the cooling of air to the required temperature, where it initiates condensation of water vapour in the air, which otherwise is drained out easily.
Furthermore, deployment of High Pressure Delpet dryers should also be prioritized, especially for PET bottle manufacturing. It is adept at performing the cooling of air to nearly freezing point with the purpose of removing moisture at a high pressure of 40 barg and a maximum of up to 45 barg in some special PET applications. Consequently, cold, dry air is further reheated to approximately 10°C lower than the incoming compressed air temperature at nominal conditions.
Thereby, with the F&B industry thriving at a rapid pace, addressing moisture woes becomes a necessity to preserve the taste and quality of food. Employing compressed dry air serves the purpose of prolonging the shelf life of food & beverage products and preventing any spoilage by eliminating the moisture from the pressurized air. Therefore, quality air solutions come with a lot of potential to give the desired impetus to the F&B industry.
