UV Air Treatment for a Sauce Bottling Line

Air is often treated as a background utility in food production. It moves bottles, supports equipment, and helps keep the line running.

But in some processes, air also becomes part of the hygiene chain.

That was the situation at a sauce bottling plant in Donskoy, Tula Region. During filling, air was used in the production process, including for moving bottles with finished product. Because of that, the customer needed better microbiological control of the air in the filling area.

The key requirement was to improve air hygiene without rebuilding the existing ventilation system.

The challenge

The main concern was the section where air could come into contact with open containers.

In food production, that creates a risk of secondary contamination even when the main process is already well controlled.

The customer wanted a solution that would:

improve microbiological safety of the supplied air;
fit into the existing duct layout;
avoid major changes to the ventilation channels;
work reliably in a production environment;
cover additional sections of the facility with lower airflow requirements.

There was also a second task: three compact UV sections were needed for other parts of the production area, where the required airflow was around 1,200 m³/h.

So the project involved both a larger central solution and several smaller local ones.

The proposed configuration

After reviewing the request, two types of UV duct sections were selected.

1. Compact UV sections for local airflows

For the smaller air-treatment points, three compact UV sections were used.

These were configured for installation into existing 200 × 200 mm air ducts and designed for airflow of up to 1,300 m³/h.

Because the duct geometry was already fixed, the housing and flange arrangement had to match the customer’s drawings.

This part of the project shows a common issue in retrofit installations: the UV module often has to adapt to the duct, not the other way around.

1. A larger section for the main airflow

For the central air-treatment task, a larger UV duct section was chosen.

This unit was designed for installation into a main ventilation channel and used twelve amalgam UV lamps.

Its reported airflow capacity was:

33,200 m³/h at 90% efficiency;
25,800 m³/h at 95% efficiency.

The housing was made of stainless steel and intended for industrial ventilation use.

Additional components

The delivery also included supporting equipment needed for operation and maintenance:

spare UV lamps;
electronic ballasts;
control cabinets;
technical documentation for operation in food-production conditions.

In projects like this, the UV section itself is only part of the system.

The electrical side matters as well, especially when the customer needs centralized control, maintenance access, and predictable replacement of components.

Why the duct geometry mattered

The technical task was not just about selecting a UV lamp or determining airflow.

Several details had to be coordinated with the customer:

flange positions;
service access hatch placement;
duct cross-section;
electrical connection points;
cabinet arrangement.

These details were clarified through calls and working correspondence with the plant’s chief mechanic.

This kind of coordination is important because even a correctly sized UV section can become difficult to maintain if access for lamp replacement or inspection is poorly planned.

Large and small sections served different purposes

Although both parts of the project dealt with air treatment, the functions were slightly different.

The larger section was intended for a central airflow, where the goal was to treat a high air volume within the main ventilation path.

The smaller sections were better suited for local zones where lower airflow was required and installation space was limited.

Using both formats in one project made it possible to address different production areas without trying to force one universal design everywhere.

What this project shows

This case is a good example of how UV air treatment is often integrated into an existing process rather than designed from scratch.

In food plants, the engineering task is rarely limited to “install a UV section.” More often, it involves a combination of constraints:

existing ducts;
fixed airflow;
hygiene requirements;
limited installation space;
maintenance access;
electrical control.

When air interacts with packaging or filling operations, these details become especially important.

A practical solution has to fit the real production layout and work alongside the current ventilation scheme, not independently from it.