For a single-line industrial bakery, air demand is usually between 600 and 1,000 L/min including a margin: a 7.5 kW 4-in-1 screw compressor, with dryer and filtration built in, covers it. With two lines or heavy use of vacuum-cup depanning, you move to 15 kW. The calculation is done station by station, from the flour silo to the bagging machine.
The general rules for compressed air in food production are on our page on compressors for the food industry. Here we follow a bakery line.
Where the air goes in an industrial bakery
- The flour silo: pulse cleaning of the dust filter, dosing valves. Our article on bag filter pulse cleaning covers that calculation.
- The dough line: cylinders on the divider, moulder, guides and diverters.
- Depanning: venturi vacuum cups or blow-off that releases loaves from their tins.
- Tin greasing by spraying release agent.
- Packaging: slicer, bagger, clipper, labeller.
Flour transfer from the silo to the mixer is often done by a blower, not by the compressor: check this on your installation before counting it.
The calculation for one line, step by step
Indicative values, to be replaced with those on your machines' data sheets:
| Station | Average consumption |
|---|---|
| Silo filter pulse cleaning | 100 L/min |
| Dough line cylinders | 120 L/min |
| Vacuum-cup depanning | 200 L/min |
| Release agent spraying | 60 L/min |
| Slicer, bagger and clipper | 150 L/min |
| One maintenance blow gun | 75 L/min |
| Total | 705 L/min |
With a 25 % margin: 705 × 1.25 = about 880 L/min, at 8 bar.
The K 75 delivers 1.1 m³/min at 8 bar, or 1,100 L/min: it covers this line, with its 420 L receiver, refrigerated dryer and filtration.
Which compressor for which size of site?
| Site | Demand incl. margin | Model |
|---|---|---|
| One line | up to 1,100 L/min | K 75, 4-in-1 |
| Two lines | up to 2,200 L/min | K 150, 4-in-1, 2.2 m³/min at 8 bar |
| Site with an existing dryer and network | up to 2,200 L/min | S 150, standalone screw compressor |
| Several lines on shifts | industrial project on quotation |
Bakery production often runs at night and at weekends. A screw compressor handles this continuous duty, and the variable speed of our S and K series follows line stops instead of idling.
Pitfalls specific to bakeries
Flour in the compressor. A compressor installed near the mixer draws in flour. Its air filter clogs quickly and the machine runs hot. Install it in a separate, clean, ventilated room.
Oven heat. A room next to the oven soon exceeds the temperatures a compressor can handle. Our article on compressors in hot workshops explains what to check.
Blowing flour off. Blowing flour off machines with a blow gun puts it into suspension in the air. Use vacuum cleaning instead. Flour dust zones are a matter for your safety manager, as in a silo: our article on ATEX zones in silos sets out the principle.
Air that touches dough or bread. Blow-off depanning and release agent spraying put the air in contact with the product. Our compressors are lubricated: the ISO 8573-1 class for these stations is defined with our technicians, with fine filters fitted as close as possible to the nozzles. Our guide to ISO 8573-1 air quality explains how to read these classes.
Condensate. It contains oil: collect it and have it treated.
List your lines and their machines, then send us that list with a quote request: we will size the compressor and the air treatment with you.
For your trade: Compressor for the food industry.