Food Production Humidity Control

Condensation on cold surfaces and the formation of bacteria can be prevented this is achieved by maintaining the moisture in the surrounding air at a dewpoint below that of cold surfaces such as tanks and exposed pipework.

In many cases the capacity of fluidized bed dryers can be increased with the use of a desiccant dehumidifier. The use of a desiccant dehumidification system will enable producers to control the condition of the supply air being fed into a fluidized bed dryer. By maintaining this air at a constant optimal moisture level, it ensures maximum production output can be achieved regardless of outdoor weather and seasons.

• Maintaining the ideal humidity in storage areas will help to prevent finished and packed food products from soaking up moisture and losing quality.
• To eliminate the risk of cardboard cartons being destroyed by condensation and moisture storage rooms should be controlled at below 55% relative humidity.

Frost on the ice cream and its packaging can be prevented by controlling the humidity from the freezer to the packaging area. If possible, the use of enclosed, dehumidified conveyor lines is recommended as this minimizes the size of the humidity control equipment and associated running costs.

• Dairy factories often suffer with high humidity and condensation issues. One common issue is labels falling off cartons due to the fact the glue will not stick in the high humidity environment or on wet surfaces.
• Cheese packaging that utilizes waxed envelopes can also experience issues with mold growth on the outside of the waxed surface this in many cases can also lead to the cheese inside being ruined.

Maintaining flavors of food products during drying and curing processes are often temperature sensitive. Desiccant dehumidifiers can enable you to consistently dry products at lower temperatures ensuring optimal drying times are achieved without loss of product quality.

Frost inside spiral-freezers or other types of freezers can be minimized with desiccant dehumidification systems this can be achieved by controlling the moisture content of the air at both the inlet and outlet of the freezer. As a result, periods between defrost cycles can be maximized with the final frozen product looking much fresher with less damage resulting once the product is thawed for use.

In meat processing, large amounts of water is used for cleaning which can create undesirable moisture in premises that may result into condensation. Dehumidifying the room with a desiccant dehumidifier will improve hygiene and safety and prevent the formation of mold and bacteria.