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The role of Nitrogen in the food industry

Learn about the application of nitrogen in the food industry and how nitrogen generators assist in providing good-quality food products

Original Publishing Date

16 January, 2023

Last Modification Date: 16 January 2023

Have you ever noticed and wondered why there is extra space inside a packet of chips during your visit to the grocery store?  Did you know what else is inside that packet of chips?

Steam F&B Food processing and preparation of sauces

The answer is Nitrogen which comprises 78% of our atmospheric air. This Nitrogen inside the packet of chips keeps chips safe and fresh. These inherent benefits and its inert nature ensures that there are many applications for nitrogen in the food industry, primarily:

  1. For the processing of food products: To blanket holding tanks, keep bulk products dry and slow down the fermentation process.
  2. For packaging for food products: Nitrogen is an inert gas, it is used to exclude air and, in particular, oxygen(reducing oxidation)

The main benefits of using nitrogen in the food industry are

  • To extend the shelf-life of the food products
  • Preserving the taste and quality of the food products

Other applications of Nitrogen in the Food Industry

Replacing oxygen in the packaging atmosphere with nitrogen helps prevent oxidation. Nitrogen preserves freshness, protects nutrients, and prevents the growth of aerobic microbes. Packaged foods that benefit from the use of nitrogen include fish, nuts, coffee, vegetables and ready-to-eat products.

Other applications of nitrogen in food processing include fluffing, head space replacement, blanketing of process operations to prevent unwanted combustion, and pest control and fumigation.

In addition to nitrogen in food processing, another industry that benefits from the use of nitrogen gas is beverage production. In the wine-making industry, nitrogen allows a longer storage time while conserving the acidity, colour, aromas and natural flavour of the wine.  Other nitrogen applications in the beverages industry include controlled sparging of liquids, beer dispensing, beer bottling and canning, and purging of tanks and vessels.

 

The benefit of on-site Nitrogen for food processing

Nitrogen gas in sufficient volumes for food and beverage manufacturing can be obtained from a vendor in cylinders or generated on-site at the manufacturing facility. While both methods of obtaining gas will give the required volumes, on-site nitrogen generation has several important advantages, including never stopping production due to a shortage of nitrogen for food processing. Hence, it's beneficial to have an in-house manufacturing unit due to the importance of nitrogen gas used in the food industry.

 

Technical requirements of N2 Generators

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Did you know that generating your own nitrogen is commercially viable and an easy Do-it-yourself option for the food and beverage industry? The broad technical requirements for varying gas flow rates are:

  • Nitrogen Pressure: 4-5 bar
  • Nitrogen purity: 99.5-99%

The current market trend in Nitrogen is moving from traditional liquid and cylinder to becoming your own independent supplier of nitrogen gas. The two predominant technologies include nitrogen separation using membrane technology (for low to medium purities) and pressure swing adsorption technology ( for medium to high purities). The choice of technology depends on flow requirements and the need for right purity for the lowest economic cost of generation. The opportunity these technologies present to customers include:

  • Reducing gas costs (lowest cost of generation per m3)
  • Become independent of the gas supplier (no dependency of third party suppliers)
  • Non-stop availability: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • No safety hazard when handling high-pressure cylinders

Nitrogen in the food industry is thus widely used for the processing and bottling/packaging of food products.  Ask an air system professional about the best solution for generating nitrogen in-house.

Nitrogen plays a big role in various industrial applications. This e-book on nitrogen generation will help you understand the growing trend of on-site nitrogen generation and how this will benefit your business. 

 

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Nitrogen generators Food & Beverage

The role of Nitrogen in the food industry

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