Atlas Copco said its ZD high pressure compressors have become world's first to offer PET packaging production the security of 100 per cent certified oil-free air with 'Class 0' certification.

Risk of any contamination by oil is effectively eliminated during PET bottle blowing for the bottled water, soft drink, fruit juice and beverage industry, a statement from Atlas Copco said.

Testing for the ISO 8573-1 Class 0 certification was carried out using the most stringent test methods available, simulating realistic industrial environments.

At all test conditions, no traces of oil could be detected and the compressed air was certified to be in the category 'Class 0' in terms of oil content.

Atlas Copco is now the only compressor manufacturer to have all of its oil-free air technologies certified ‘Class 0’, the statement added.

The Atlas Copco ZD remains the most energy-efficient and silent 40 bar compressor available, whilst maintaining the flexibility and reliability required by the high-volume PET blowing market.

'Oil contamination is an invisible enemy in all bottling installations and aseptic environments. Many bottlers take extra steps toward purity with decontamination after blow molding of the preforms.'

Even the slightest traces of oil can result in altered or toxic product batches and health hazards for the consumers, recalls and reputation damage, as well as costly production downtime and cleanup, it added.

Atlas Copco's 40-bar ZD compressor eliminates the risks of oil contamination by virtue of the design itself.

Testing of the Atlas Copco ZD compressor was carried out by the renowned independent Technische Überwachungs-Verein (German Technical Monitoring Association, or ‘TÜV’), using the most stringent test methods available.

The ZD reflects what Atlas Copco calls ’Reliability by design,’” explains Ronnie Leten, Atlas Copco business area president, Compressor Technique.

'The ZD's unique combination of oil-free rotary screw technology for the first two stages and piston technology for the last two stages has resulted in the best-in-class product in terms of safety, energy efficiency, reliability and flexibility,' he remarked.

All possible forms of oil contamination as liquids, aerosols and vapors, were measured at three different temperatures (20°C, 40°C and 50°C) and at different pressures (25, 30 and 40 bar(e)) at the measurement point. Even so, no traces of oil were found in the output air stream, Leten noted.

The ZD 40-bar compressor is the latest of Atlas Copco's oil-free technologies to obtain the ISO 8573-1 Class 0 certification with regard to oil content, he added.-TradeArabia News Service