Can humidity improve productivity?

Condair has produced a free guide about improving productivity in food manufacturing with better humidity management.

The water content of food can effect its appearance, taste, weight and quality. Managing the water content allows food manufacturers to maximise their yield and maintain product quality.

Benefits from controlling air humidity include reduced evaporative losses, extended shelf life, improved coating and drying processes, and reduced issues from static and condensation.

Managing Director at Condair Pty Ltd, Ian Eitzen, says controlling humidity can be a complicated task in a regular commercial premises – but in a food production facility, it is especially complex.

“Many food manufacturers suffer financial losses due to incorrect humidity levels, but simply think of them as an unavoidable part of the production process,” he says.

“Processing activities like refrigeration, cooking, boiling, steaming and drying all create extreme environmental conditions that have implications for humidity control.

“Keeping an atmosphere at the optimal moisture content is nearly always possible, even under extreme conditions, but often needs expert knowledge along with specialist strategies and equipment.”

The document outlines how indoor humidity is affected by the seasons, what the optimum level is for different processes, the impact of product temperature on managing air humidity and how to hygienically humidify or dehumidify an environment.

Eitzen believes the guide is a good practical introduction which tackles the main issues surrounding both dehumidification and humidification for the food sector.

It is available to download here.

The Condair Group is a global specialist in humidity control and evaporative cooling.