Sterile Air

DONALDSON STERILE AIR

Daily, pollutants such as dust, oil, hydrocarbons and more can damage processed food and beverages or cause other harm. In the food industry, to ensure hygiene and safety, the air must be completely free of these contaminants.

With over 35 years of experience, Donaldson provides sterile air products with innovative designs, focusing on energy efficiency and high flow capacity.

About Sterile Air

Polluted surrounding air can damage even the cleanest production processes if it comes into contact with the final product without being cleaned. Therefore, high-quality sterile air products must meet the following standards:

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)/Nitrogen: Certain food and beverage industries require filtration under sterile conditions. For example, carbon dioxide is used for beverages and nitrogen is used to cover packaged products.

Tank Ventilation: Tanks that contain products must be protected from bacterial contamination. When tanks are filled and emptied, air from the atmosphere may enter or exit the space above the tank. Since atmospheric air contains bacteria, this ventilation air must be filtered when entering the tank. Sterile tank vent filters allow air to enter the tank free from bacteria and particulate matter.

How to make sterile air?

The primary purpose of the sterile filter element is to filter out bacteria. So it should be adequately protected with upstream prefiltration to assure its long-term efficiency and effectiveness. A typical point-of-use sterile air filter train consists of:

• • A P highly porous sintered polyethylene particulate filter element (25 µm).
  • A S polyester microfiber fleece fine coalescing filter element (99.99998% efficiency at 0.01 µm).
  • An A activated carbon hydrocarbon vapor filter element (<0.003 PPM residual oil content).
  • A P-SRF V sterile air final filter element (99.9999998% efficiency at 0.02 µm).

Products

Here are some products from the Donaldson sterile air line:

• • P-SRF V – MICROFIBER: Specially designed to reduce low pressure, improve storage capacity, minimize machine downtime and lower ownership costs.
  • LIFETECT™ PTN – TETRATEX EPTFE Membrane: Used in harsh filtration environments such as solutions with high acidity or alkalinity.
  • P-EG Air and Vapor Filter Housing: An economical solution for filtering air, gasses or steam.
  • PG-EG Sanitary Air and Vapor Filtration Equipment: Designed for filtering compressed air in sanitary and safety applications.
  • P-BE Filter Housing: Used for venting fixed or mobile tanks to the atmosphere.
  • PG-IL Sanitary Online Air and Liquid Filter: Designed for filtering liquids and gasses in sanitary and safety applications.

Applications in Various Stages

Compressor Intake Air: Intake filters remove large particles to protect the compressor. However, smaller particles such as oil, dirt and hydrocarbons still enter the equipment with the air stream.

Before Drying: Compressors often have a dew point of 82.2°C / 180°F or higher. Cooling this air down to 37.8°C / 100°F will condense over 80% of the liquid water. To remove all liquid gasses, a centrifugal air filter will easily remove most of this liquid, followed by a filter that condenses the remaining water into droplets.

Conclusion

Donaldson’s air filters are highly versatile, meeting most filtration requirements in the F&B production line and other industrial processes, with a wide range of filter types and air filtration applications.

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