One or more hygienic air conditioned islands in an ocean of uncontrolled airborne pollution cannot provide the required health qualities for food products at the end of the production line. This is why Air Quality Process generally has to get the environment up to a level coherent with a healthy aeraulic situation. To do this, Air Quality Process implements methods similar to HACCP ( Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), characteristic of the company, for the total airflow control of a zone or of a whole production unit.

Identifying contamination

The contamination factors are very divers:

• Damp air which transports and favours the development of biochemical contaminant particles.
• Materials to be transformed which can contain large quantities of pathogenic microorganisms.
• Machines operating in the rooms with their inherent pollution and caused by their cleaning and maintenance, as well as by the persons carrying out these operations.
• Rooms whose architectural layout and construction materials can create problems: sealing, humidity retention, dead zones...
• Personnel who do not know or do not respect all the personal and clothing hygiene rules.

In addition to identifying these factors, Air Quality Process determines their combinations and interactions as well as the multiple pollutions they generate.

Classification of zones

The successive changes in the state of the manufactured products and the paths they follow allow Air Quality Process to establish their different degrees of exposure and sensitivity to the contamination. These determine the classification of zones and rooms by decreasing order of danger level.

Dim lights

"Forward flow" organisation

The main requirement is that contaminants from a polluted zone be prevented from reaching a less polluted zone, by respecting the direction of products circulation.
To achieve these aims, Air Quality Process organises the air transfers from the most sensitive points to those which are less sensitive, by providing :

• Air at positive pressure in the most fragile rooms
• Decompression towards less fragile rooms
• Extraction of contaminated air at the most polluted points (e.g.: washing room)
• Centralised control of all airflow components

Master plan and recommendations

From the results of the investigations and the definition of principles, Air Quality Process recommends :

• A specific master plan for total hygienic airflow control.
• Structural improvements to the rooms: protection airlock, automatic doors, use of water repellent materials, information and warning signs...

Fresh and treated air

In addition to its air conditioners, Air Quality Process determines and supplies the following equipments:

• Ultra clean fresh air equipment designed to create a permanent overpressure in the rooms and to provide the air renewal necessary for the products and personnel. The AHU installed above the most sensitive rooms provide triple filtration : gravimetric, opacimetric, absolute terminal (HEPA). They are operated and maintained individually.
• Additional equipments: extractors, decompression grilles...
• Control equipments: sensors, probes, regulators, programmable controllers.