Compressed Air and Point of Use

Hi everyone, couple of questions around compressed air, the BRC standard and minimum requirements. When going for the BRC I see in the standard that it states compressed air needs to be filtered at point of use. Can you clarify point of use for me. Is it enough to filter it after the compressor or at each individual flow plate or where? We use compressed air to flush product lines to agitate product and to clean surfaces. Do all these lines need individual filters or is having one designated filter after the compressor or filters at each flow plate from where air is taken by operators enough. Also the standard does not appear to state what size the filter / filters should be any guidance would be helpful. Kind regards, Mark

0.01 micron filter capability would be an acceptable grade in reference to SQF guideline. 

And I believe this filter size will be sufficient to wipe out the surface.

But I am not very sure about this, any subject matter expert guidance will be highly appreciated

Hi everyone, couple of questions around compressed air, the BRC standard and minimum requirements. When going for the BRC I see in the standard that it states compressed air needs to be filtered at point of use. Can you clarify point of use for me. Is it enough to filter it after the compressor or at each individual flow plate or where? We use compressed air to flush product lines to agitate product and to clean surfaces. Do all these lines need individual filters or is having one designated filter after the compressor or filters at each flow plate from where air is taken by operators enough. Also the standard does not appear to state what size the filter / filters should be any guidence would be helpful. Kind regards, Mark

Hi Mark

I think BRC expect you to carry out a "risk assessment" on compressed air package regarding things like choice of filter size, filter checking. The obvious hazard is contamination which presumably also related to POU.

More details are available on BRC Participate/Interp.Guidelines.

Re Post2, this dimension is typically utilised in packages providing so-called "sterile air filters" which effectively "guarantee" microbially satisfactory output but may represent an overkill for some applications. Some ideas in attached file -

compressed air in food plants,white paper.pdf   522.19KB   52 downloads

Hi Mark, BRC 8.4.5.3 only requires filtration at point of use when the compressed air is in DIRECT CONTACT with the product. This is to ensure that any contamination (particulate, water, oil, micro) that may come from the compressed air distribution system do not pose as a risk when it comes in contact with the product.

Hi Mark, BRC 8.4.5.3 only requires filtration at point of use when the compressed air is in DIRECT CONTACT with the product. This is to ensure that any contamination (particulate, water, oil, micro) that may come from the compressed air distribution system do not pose as a risk when it comes in contact with the product.

Hi Arnel,

Yes but - ?

We use compressed air to flush product lines to agitate product

 

Hi Mark, BRC 8.4.5.3 only requires filtration at point of use when the compressed air is in DIRECT CONTACT with the product. This is to ensure that any contamination (particulate, water, oil, micro) that may come from the compressed air distribution system do not pose as a risk when it comes in contact with the product. If you use compressed air to flush product lines to agitate product and to clean surfaces, a suitable filter to meet the required ISO8573 standard for the point of use application may be installed at the manifold providing that all hoses after the manifold do not add significant contamination risk.

Thanks Charles, my reply was incomplete.

Hello,

We have an optical grader which uses compressed air to blow product into the correct channels. As this was the first bit of machinery that had compressed air as direct contact we had to make sure everything was compliant. We already had a very good compressed air system but had to make some changes to get the compressed air to a food safe grade (1:2:1). As well as the filters on the compressors, active carbon absorber, refrigeration dryer our optical grader has coalescence filters and particulate filters just before the blowers so is classed as point of use.

I have attached some useful guidance I used while researching into this to make sure we was compliant which hopefully helps someone else.

Hi Mark, BRC 8.4.5.3 only requires filtration at point of use when the compressed air is in DIRECT CONTACT with the product. This is to ensure that any contamination (particulate, water, oil, micro) that may come from the compressed air distribution system do not pose as a risk when it comes in contact with the product. If you use compressed air to flush product lines to agitate product and to clean surfaces, a suitable filter to meet the required ISO8573 standard for the point of use application may be installed at the manifold providing that all hoses after the manifold do not add significant contamination risk.

 

Thanks Charles, my reply was incomplete.

Hi Arnel,

I don't disagree yr final sentence in Principle but I note that the BRC clause has a "shall" which can sometimes be auditorially decisive. Also yr caveat may be practically difficult to satisfy eg long/non-straight pathways. No personal experience with compressed air  but "POU" seems to be a rather common "Standard" for direct contact.

Hello,

We have an optical grader which uses compressed air to blow product into the correct channels. As this was the first bit of machinery that had compressed air as direct contact we had to make sure everything was compliant. We already had a very good compressed air system but had to make some changes to get the compressed air to a food safe grade (1:2:1). As well as the filters on the compressors, active carbon absorber, refrigeration dryer our optical grader has coalescence filters and particulate filters just before the blowers so is classed as point of use.

I have attached some useful guidance I used while researching into this to make sure we was compliant which hopefully helps someone else.

Informative useful information on compressed air.