Industrial Ventilation Systems for Food Processing Plants

When it comes to food processing facilities, these systems are even more significant. Industrial ventilation systems in food processing plants are responsible for making sure your products are safe for the general public and meet guidelines regarding contamination and spoilage. Therefore, ventilation is key for food processing.

Industrial Ventilation Systems Keep Contaminants Away from Food Products

Industrial ventilation systems help remove contaminants from the air that might affect products in food processing plants. Airborne contaminants are a serious concern for food processing. In fact, unfiltered outdoor air can contain 200 to 1,500 bacteria for every cubic meter of air. This doesn’t even address other contamination concerns like molds, viruses, as well as contaminants like dust. Even treated air inside the facility can pick up contaminants like germs, odors, and vapors that may lead to quality issues or even spoilage. Additionally, industrial ventilation systems can help prevent contamination with common allergens that may become airborne, like wheat flour or cheese powder.

Therefore, contaminated air is a serious concern for food processing. Food processing ventilation systems help improve air quality by removing contaminants from incoming air and also getting rid of contaminated air already in the building through exhaust systems. With a well-designed industrial ventilation system, your plant can avoid many safety and quality concerns associated with contamination.

Industrial Ventilation Systems Create Comfortable, Food-Safe Temperatures and Humidity Levels

In addition to removing contaminants, industrial ventilation systems also help control temperature and humidity inside your plant. Comfortable temperatures and humidity levels are essential for workers in your facility. Keeping the work environment comfortable can improve productivity and worker satisfaction.

Additionally, often food products in your facility require certain temperature and humidity conditions to prevent spoilage and quality issues. One example is that excessive humidity and warm temperatures may encourage mold growth on food products you process. The right ventilation solutions can help keep temperatures and humidity within certain ranges based on the unique needs of your facility.

Regulations for Ventilation in Food Processing Plants

Another reason you need good industrial ventilation systems in your food processing facility is for compliance. There are many strict regulations at the federal, state, and local levels for food processing facilities. These regulations are designed to help keep people safe by preventing food safety concerns that begin at the processing level.

Ventilation systems are required by law for food processing facilities. The regulations generally involve controlling contaminants and odors that might infiltrate food products that later make it to unsuspecting consumers’ tables. Non-compliance with these regulations can lead to fines and shutdowns, so it’s important to make sure your industrial ventilation systems are in peak operating condition to keep food in your facility safe.

Important Considerations for Industrial Ventilation Systems for Food Processing

Working with ventilation specialists like our team at Eldridge can help you get the right industrial ventilation solutions for your food processing facility. We design systems that perfectly suit your needs and are tailored to your building. There are many different things to consider when designing food processing ventilation systems. Here are just some of the things we take into account for your facility:

Air Changes Per Hour

Air changes per hour is a calculation of how many times the air in a room is removed and replaced, either with completely fresh air or with a mix of fresh and recirculated air. The air change rate for an office building is six to eight times per hour, but in a food processing facility, this number can be incredibly high. Some even recommend air change rates of 20 to 25 times per hour for food processing plants.

This is helpful for keeping conditions sanitary and removing potential contaminants from the air. Therefore, your industrial ventilation systems not only need to be able to handle this volume of air, but also use the right control systems to ensure you maintain a good air change rate for your facility.

Using Industrial Exhaust Systems to Remove Contaminated Air

In order to remove contaminated air from your facility, you need industrial exhaust systems. These systems draw in contaminated air and send it outside of your building. They do this using powerful fans and often a system of ducting leading to the exterior of your building. Usually, food processing facilities will have exhaust systems for the whole building and may also have local exhaust systems placed near common contamination sources as well.

Maintaining Positive Pressure

One problem that comes with powerful industrial exhaust systems and frequent air change rates is negative pressure in your facility. This is a problem, as negative pressure can encourage more contaminated air to make it into your building. You can think of your facility like a pair of lungs. Negative pressure is when the lungs have exhaled and opening a door or a window is like taking in a breath. Negative pressure often brings air in from untreated sources through doors, windows, and unsealed cracks in the building.

Positive pressure is like if a pair of lungs have inhaled the maximum amount of air. If you were to try to breathe in more, you simply couldn’t, you would need to exhale first. Therefore, positive pressure pushes air out of a building through openings to prevent contaminated air from coming inside.

Maintaining positive pressure generally means using makeup air units to ensure you replace air at an equal or higher rate than you exhaust air. This involves using sophisticated calculations and software to ensure you get the right air volume at the right time.

Preventing Air Flow Contamination in Industrial Ventilation Systems

There may be many sources of contamination inside your food processing plant. That’s why there are usually different areas with certain rooms that require clean environment ventilation. It’s important for ventilation systems not to have airflow directing from a potential contamination source to a clean area.

For example, you might have a storage area of food products waiting to be cleaned before processing and then you probably have a processing and packaging area. In this example, your ventilation system doesn’t have air streams that direct air from those unwashed products toward the packaging area.

Dust Collection for Food Processing

In some food processing facilities, you may also need dust control for industrial ventilation systems. This is common if your facility uses dust creating products like flour, sugar, and spices. These can quickly get into the air and be a source of contamination for other parts of your processing plant. It can also create other hazards, like respiratory issues and dangerous levels of combustible dust in your facility. In these cases, our team often recommends dust collectors stationed near the source of the dust. This helps prevent it from getting into the air and infiltrating other areas in your facility.

Eldridge – Top Quality Solutions for Clean Environment Ventilation

Our team at Eldridge is here to help you create the ideal ventilation systems for your needs. We create successful environments for people, processes, and products for a wide range of industries, including the food and beverage industry. Since 1946, we have been an innovative ventilation company offering design, installation, and maintenance for your needs. Contact us now to request a quote for your facility!