Tag: oil free

Compressed Air Purity Classes & ISO 8573-1. What Does it Mean for You?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

The compressed air coming directly from your air compressor will usually require further treatment & preparation before it can be used. It’ll contain particulate matter, moisture, and hydrocarbons that the intake filter won’t remove…remember, it’s there to protect the compressor itself against damage from larger particulate. Smaller particulate and other contaminants that can affect air operated products & tools will still need to be addressed, after compression. The degree to which this additional treatment is necessary is dictated by what you’re using your compressed air for.

ISO 8573-1:2010 – Compressed air – Part 1: Contaminants and Purity Classes quantifies the quality of the air according to three properties, into different classes:

Per the descriptions above, here are the criteria by which compressed air purity is classified in these three categories. Certain applications can call for different classes for these three categories (more on that in a minute).
  • Maximum particle size & concentration of solid contaminants. These can come from rust on the inside of the distribution piping, particulate generated by wear of air system components, and atmospheric contamination that the compressor’s intake filter doesn’t catch.
  • Maximum pressure dew point. No matter where your compressor is located, the air it pulls in contains some amount of water vapor. Dew point is the temperature at which it will condense at a given pressure. As long as the compressed air temperature is above that dew point, there won’t be any water (in liquid form) in it.
  • Maximum oil content. This most often is due to carryover from oil lubricated compressors, but can come from atmospheric oil (or other hydrocarbon) vapor drawn into the compressor’s intake.

So…what does this mean to you, relating to your use of compressed air? Well, it largely comes down to the nature of your application. Whatever is in your compressed air supply will be in contact with whatever the air comes in contact with. If a machinist is using a Safety Air Gun to blow chips & coolant from machined parts, they’re not going to be particularly concerned with this specification from a regulatory standpoint. If those parts are going straight from the machine shop to a paint booth, they’re certainly going to want to use air that’s free of particulate, moisture, and oil. All of those things will, quite noticeably, affect the quality of the painted finish. Filter Separators and Oil Removal Filters installed at the point of use will take care of that. A case could be made for a purity specification and regular testing of their compressed air, but this really just falls under the confines of good engineering practice.

Compressed air use in applications where it can come in contact with food or beverages intended for consumption (by people AND animals, according to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) is considered a critical factor for cleanliness. They reference guidelines from the British Compressed Air Society (BCAS) to specify purity classes for both direct and indirect contact with food and beverage products:

Direct contact requires testing and compliance to Class 2:2:1 per the above table means:

  • Particulate Class 2 – particle concentration, by particle size, in concentrations no greater than:
    • 400,000 particles sized 0.1-0.5 microns, per cubic meter
    • 6,000 particles sized 0.5-1.0 microns, per cubic meter
    • 100 particles sizes 1.0-5.0 microns, per cubic meter
  • Maximum pressure dew point Class 2 – vapor pressure dew point must be less than 40°F (40°C) at the maximum pressure of the compressed air system.
  • Oil content Class 1 – concentration must be less that 0.001 milligrams per cubic meter

Examples of direct contact applicable to the use of EXAIR Engineered Compressed Air Products include blowing air for cooling, moisture removal, coating layer distribution, etc., of unpackaged food product.

EXAIR Stainless Steel Super Air Knives are popular in food processing applications (left to right): removing excess moisture prior to flash freezing of fish filets, preventing clumping while packaging shredded cheese, and (my personal favorite) ensuring a consistent and even glazing of fresh, delicious doughnuts.

Line Vac Air Operated Conveyors and Vortex Tubes are also used in direct contact applications in the food industry:

316SS Threaded Line Vac conveys bulk grain in a distillery (left). Vortex Tube rapidly sets melted chocolate in a mold (right).

Indirect contact is slightly (but JUST slightly) less restrictive: those are Class 2.4.2. Particulate and oil content classes remain the same, but dew point can be as high as 37°F (3°C). This is where the air the air is coming into contact not with the consumable product itself, but, for example, the packaging or container:

Atomizing Spray Nozzles rinse bottles prior to labeling (left), 1″ Flat Super Air Nozzle blows off label to ensure proper scanning by sensor (center), Line Vac conveys canned goods (right).

EXAIR Corporation is committed to helping you get the most out of our products – and your compressed air system. If you have questions, I can talk about compressed air all day – and oftentimes I do! Let’s talk.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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ISO 8573-1 Chart by Compressed Air Best Practice.

The Importance of Compressed Air Filtration

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

In this blog, I would like to turn your attention to our accessories that support our Intelligent Compressed Air® Products; the Filter Separator and the Oil Removing Filter.  EXAIR products use compressed air to coat, conserve, cool, convey and clean.  So, to keep our products running properly and efficiently, we need to supply them with clean, pressurized air.  If we look at the two types of filters that we offer, we can see how they can play an important part in your compressed air system.

Filter Separators

Filter separators are used to remove bulk liquid and contamination from the compressed air stream.  They have a 5-micron filter and work very well if you get a slug of liquid in your compressed air system.  They use mechanical separation to remove the large particles of dirt and water from the air stream.

Most facilities use some type of compressed air dryer in their system to dry and condition the compressed air.  But, if a system failure occurs, then water, oil, and dirt can be pushed into the compressed air lines and perhaps into your EXAIR products.

Even if you have good quality air, it is still important to keep your products protected.  I would consider the Filter Separator as a minimum level of protection that should be used.

Oil Removal Filters

The Oil Removal Filters are used to keep the compressed air even cleaner yet.  They work great at removing very small particles of dirt and oil.  The 0.03-micron media of the Oil Removal Filter is designed to “coalesce” the fine liquid particles into large droplets.

Thus, allowing gravity to remove it from the compressed air stream.  Some common issues allow for dirt and oil particles to collect in “dead” zones within the air lines.  As it piles up and grows, portions can break off and get into the air stream affecting pneumatic devices.

The Oil Removal Filter will be able to help eliminate this long-term problem in your compressed air system.  As a note, Oil Removal Filters are not great for bulk separation.  If you have a system with lots of water, you should use a Filter Separator in front of the Oil Removal Filter to optimize the filtration.

Now that we went through each type, how do we use them together to get the best supply of compressed air?  We always want them to be installed upstream of a Regulator.  This is because the velocity is lower at higher pressures.

Lower velocities mean lower pressure drops which is great for supplying the proper amount of compressed air to EXAIR products.  If you are using a combination of both filters, the Filter Separator will be upstream of the Oil Removal Filter.  The Filter Separator will knock down the large particles and liquid slugs allowing the Oil Removal Filter to remove the smaller droplets and particles.

EXAIR offers a range of sizes to help support our products.  They range from ¼” NPT ports up to 1 ½” NPT ports.  The size of the ports determines the flow rating for each unit.  EXAIR also has Mounting Brackets to mount the filters to walls or frames.

To support each type of filter, we have replacement elements and bowl kits.  Since the function of the filter is to remove debris, we recommend to change the filter element once a year or when it reaches 10 PSID pressure drop; whichever comes first.

If we can analyze the compressed air systems, I would like to categorize it into a good and premium quality.  For the good quality of compressed air, you can have the compressed air run through the Filter Separator.  For the premium quality of compressed air, you can have your compressed air run through the Filter Separator and then through the Oil Removal Filter.

With clean quality air, your EXAIR products will provide you with effective, long-lasting performance without maintenance downtime.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb