We’ve heard the term “ISO standards” quite frequently. But what exactly are they, and why are they so important? Let’s take a look at the concept. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) is a non-governmental body made up of a network of institutes from 159 different countries. ISO is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards and is accepted universally.
Compressed air is an indispensable utility that is used widely across different industries. But, compressed air is not all of uniform quality. Some uses, such as pharmaceutical production and food handling, call for impeccable quality and cleanliness of the air. In other cases, the primary objective may be to ensure the lifetime and reliability of industrial tools that are powered by air. The ISO standards play a key role in determining the level of air purity required for your particular application. Meeting ISO standards is also important in maintaining and protecting the quality of your production. In some cases, not complying with them can lead to heavy penalties or even your production facility being shut down!
The ISO 8573 air quality standards and ISO 12500 compressed air filter standards help lay a sound foundation for selecting the right air treatment products. ISO8573 is the compressed air quality standard and comprises nine separate parts — part 1 for quality requirements of the compressed air, and parts 2 to 9 for the methods of testing for a range of contaminants.
Compressed air contains contaminants like moisture and pollutants, and must be filtered according to the application’s requirements. Usually, the purer the air must be, the more costly it is to produce. This is why it is crucial to choose the right levels of air purity in order to reduce costs and benefit the environment.
The ISO 8573-1:2010 is a useful tool that makes the task of choosing the right air purity for your application that much easier. It ranks the acceptable levels of different types of contaminants as classes.
The ISO 8573-1:2010 standard is divided into three groups of contaminants—solid particles, water (including liquid and vapor), and oil. Each of these categories is further classified into ten different purity classes — eight for particulates, ten for water, and five for oil. The lower the assigned number to a category, the higher the air purity requirement for it. For example, class 5 would require far less air purity than class 1.
Now that you know how to match the ISO class to the compressed air quality required, how will you select a filter? The answer is simple — just find the particular ISO class on the filter. Once you identify the ISO class for your particular task, planning the equipment you would need becomes much easier.
VEMC provides a variety of Elgi air compressors. For more help with understanding ISO classes for compressed air quality, contact us on +919819907445 and we would be happy to assist you. VEMC is ISO 9001:2015 certified and is a pioneer in the field of electromechanical engineering products, allied equipment, and services.