For a craft bakery, the air demand is usually between 250 and 600 l/min, including the safety and expansion margins. A 7.5 kW 4-in-1 screw compressor such as the K 75, which delivers 1.1 m³/min at 8 bar with a 420 L air receiver, dryer and filtration built in, covers that demand and leaves room for one more machine. If you already have a dryer and a receiver, the S 55, a standalone 5.5 kW screw compressor delivering 0.6 m³/min at 8 bar, is enough for a bakehouse without a pastry section.
The needs of the whole trade, from the bakehouse to the pastry kitchen, are covered on our page on the compressor for bakeries and patisseries. Here we focus on the independent high-street bakery.
Where does compressed air go in a bakehouse?
Many bakers only discover they need air when they buy a new machine. The most common stations are:
- the dough divider or divider-rounder: depending on the model, dividing and clamping are driven by pneumatic cylinders;
- the moulder and its guides, when they are pneumatic;
- the automatic sheeter: cutting or depositing stations, on some models;
- the egg wash or release agent sprayer for trays and tins;
- the bagging machine or bag clipper for sliced bread and packed viennoiserie;
- the blow gun, for cleaning where there is no flour.
Before counting a station, check in the manual that it really is pneumatic: many dividers and sheeters are entirely mechanical or hydraulic and use no air at all.
The step-by-step calculation for a craft bakery
Step 1, the manuals. For each machine, note its consumption, in l/min or litres per cycle, and its working pressure. To convert litres per cycle to l/min, multiply by the number of cycles per hour and divide by 60. Example: a divider-rounder using 3 litres per cycle at 20 cycles per hour needs 3 × 20 / 60 = 1 l/min on average. That is very little: it is the peak of each cycle that the air receiver has to supply.
Step 2, what runs at the same time. In the morning, you mould and egg-wash while the bagging machine is running. In the afternoon, the patisserie takes over. Use the busiest period.
Step 3, tools used in bursts. A blow gun only blows part of the time, so count it at half, as our configurator does.
Step 4, the two margins. Add 25% for safety, then 20% for expansion.
Example of a craft bakehouse on a production morning (typical values, for guidance only, to be replaced with those in your manuals):
| Station | Consumption | Counted |
|---|---|---|
| Pneumatic divider-rounder | 60 l/min | 60 l/min |
| Egg wash sprayer | 80 l/min | 80 l/min |
| Bagging machine or bag clipper | 60 l/min | 60 l/min |
| Blow gun, in bursts | 150 l/min | 75 l/min |
| Total | 275 l/min |
With the margins: 275 × 1.25 = 344 l/min, then 344 × 1.2 = about 413 l/min.
The S 55 delivers 600 l/min at 8 bar. It covers this bakehouse, provided you add an air receiver, a dryer and filters. The K 75 delivers 1,100 l/min with all the equipment built in, and it can also take on a new pastry kitchen.
S 55 or K 75, which one should you choose?
| Criterion | S 55 | K 75 |
|---|---|---|
| Flow at 8 bar | 0.6 m³/min | 1.1 m³/min |
| Power | 5.5 kW | 7.5 kW |
| Air receiver | to be added | 420 L built in |
| Dryer and filtration | to be added | built in |
| Noise level | 65 to 68 dB(A) | 66 ± 2 dB(A) |
| Best for | bakehouse only, existing installation | bakehouse and patisserie, new installation |
In a bakery the K 75 is often the simplest option: one machine to set down, one 380 V three-phase connection, and air that is already dry and filtered. The large 420 L receiver absorbs the peaks from the cylinders and the sprayer, so the compressor does not start up at every cycle. Our article 4-in-1 or standalone compressor compares the two approaches in detail.
Both models are variable speed. Between two bakes, when no machine is running, the compressor slows down and then stops instead of running idle.
What about a piston compressor?
A piston compressor may be enough for a blow gun and a sprayer used a few minutes a day. As soon as production machines depend on it every morning, a screw compressor is the better fit: it handles long working periods, it is quieter and it heats the air less. Our E series piston compressors are available on quotation, and our guide screw or piston compressor helps you decide.
Noise below flats
A craft bakery is often on the ground floor of a residential building, and work starts at night. At 66 ± 2 dB(A), the K 75 is quiet, but it can still be heard through a partition wall at night. To keep it from disturbing the neighbours:
- stand it on anti-vibration mounts, never directly against a party wall;
- connect it to the network with a flexible hose so that vibration is not passed into the pipework;
- keep the door of the room closed and take care with ventilation, which should exhaust towards the yard rather than below windows.
Our article on compressor noise and neighbours sets out these rules in detail.
The most common installation mistakes
- The compressor in the bakehouse. It sucks in flour, its filter clogs and it overheats. Install it in a separate room or in the cellar.
- The compressor next to the oven. The heat raises the oil temperature and trips the compressor in summer.
- The blow gun on flour. Never blow flour around: it forms a cloud of combustible dust and settles everywhere. Vacuum it up.
- Unfiltered air on the sprayer. The egg wash air touches the dough, so add fine filters as close to the spray gun as possible.
- Condensate down the sink. It contains oil: collect it and have it treated.
For maintenance, the first service on a screw compressor is at 500 hours, then every 1,500 hours. The service kits group the parts for each model, and our compressors carry a 2-year warranty.
Enter your machines in the configurator, or send us their manuals with a quote request: we check the flow, the air receiver and the filtration with you.
For your trade: Air compressor for bakeries, patisseries and viennoiserie.