Industrial Utility Efficiency

Food

Maple Leaf Foods Saves with Compressed Air and Heat Recovery Upgrade

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

One existing air compressor was a rental and not fully integrated into our compressed air system. We upgraded the desiccant compressed air dryer to improve operational efficiency, reduce energy consumption and save on the combined cfm. We save close to 900,000 kWh of electricity, and about 704 cfm every weekday.

Read Full Story

20 Years of Case Studies: Plants Sharing Best Practices

Edited by Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® 

For 20 years, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine has published articles focused on helping manufacturers reduce power demand, lower water consumption, and improve the performance of compressed air, cooling, blower and industrial vacuum systems. In this article, we highlight a sampling of those stories across the following industries: Plastics and Packaging Food and Beverage Automotive and Transportation Cement, Building Materials, and Mining Metals, Pulp, and Paper Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, and Research Wastewater Treatment 
[ Read Full Story ]

Leland Brewing Adopts Modular Nitrogen Generation

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine 

A modular nitrogen generation system integrated with compressed air infrastructure enabled on-site nitrogen production, reducing reliance on delivered CO₂ and improving process efficiency. Adjustable nitrogen purity levels (e.g., 99.99%) optimized flow rate and demand matching while maintaining product quality in brewing applications. The implementation demonstrates how scalable nitrogen generation technology can lower operating costs and support growth in small to mid-sized industrial operations.
[ Read Full Story ]

Dishaka Strengthens Operational Efficiency with Onsite Nitrogen Generation

By Joshua Blair, Sales Engineer, Liberty Systems

A snack manufacturer, strengthened operational efficiency and product freshness by implementing onsite nitrogen generation at its Houston facility. By replacing delivered nitrogen with PSA-based systems from Liberty Systems, the company gained 24/7 supply reliability, reduced operating costs and improved sustainability performance. The investment supports scalable Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), enhances business continuity and positions Dishaka for long-term growth in the competitive food manufacturing industry.
[ Read Full Story ]

Variable-Speed Rotary Screw Air Compressors, Food-Grade Oil Selection and System Audits for Food Processing Facilities

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine 

Through detailed plant audits, load profiling and system standardization, a regional distributor helped a multi-plant food processor optimize its compressed air infrastructure using 200 hp lubricated VSD rotary screw compressors, 10,000 gallons of storage and properly specified food-grade lubricants. By focusing on correct sizing, temperature monitoring, contamination prevention and lifecycle maintenance practices in dusty environments, the installations delivered stable operating pressures, improved energy performance and scalable capacity for continued expansion.
[ Read Full Story ]

Compressed Air and Vacuum System Purity for Food Packaging

By John Schmitt, Marketing Product Manager; Weston Benton, Product Channel Manager – Vacuum & Low Pressure, and Rob Grizzle, Midwest Sales Manager, Kaishan USA

This article examines strategies for achieving high-purity compressed air and vacuum systems in food processing and packaging facilities, emphasizing ISO 8573.1 quality classes, moisture control, particulate filtration, and food-grade lubricants. It also details best practices for system layout, centralized vacuum implementation, pressure dew point management, and preventive maintenance to reduce contamination risk, maintain equipment reliability, and ensure food safety compliance.
[ Read Full Story ]

ADG Concepts Solves Years of Piping Problems for Frozen Foods Plant

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

They got to a point where every time they added a new piece of equipment, it did not eliminate their rental, nor did it eliminate the water problems, the leaks and everything else they were experiencing. The system had issues that adding more equipment simply could not fix.
[ Read Full Story ]

The Importance of Compressed Air Quality in Nitrogen Generation Systems for Food Packaging

By Mirko Krebs, President, KSI Technologies

Modified Atmosphere Packaging alters the gas environment inside food and beverage packaging to maintain product freshness and slow degradation and fouling processes. The exact gas mixture used needs to be tailored to the product and can vary significantly. For many products, nitrogen gas is part of the packaging mixture due to its inert nature. 
[ Read Full Story ]

Meeting ISO 8573-1 Compressed Air Quality Specifications

By Ron Marshall, Chief Auditor, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

The ISO 8573-1 was developed to provide standardized classes for compressed air purity in terms of particles, water and oil to drive the planning and design of compressed air systems in order to deliver the quality desired or required. This article explores why testing compressed air quality is as essential as choosing the right filtration, discusses real-world experiences, illustrates the risks of assuming things are right and explains the value of compressed air measurement. 
[ Read Full Story ]

How Breweries Save By Switching to Nitrogen Gas

By Brett Maiorano, Business Development Manager, PEAK Scientific

The brewing industry has long used carbon dioxide (CO2) in various brewing processes. Carbon dioxide has been the workhorse gas for the industry. It’s not only used to carbonate beer and give it fizz, but also to purge oxygen from tanks and lines to prevent spoilage and preserve freshness and flavor throughout the entire brewing process. 
[ Read Full Story ]