Food and Beverage industry

Air motors engineered for hygienic, washdown environments

The problem with the wrong motor

"Most contamination incidents don't start at the product level. They start at the equipment level - with motors that weren't designed to be cleaned."

Food and beverage processing demands more from drive technology than almost any other industrial environment. You're running aggressive washdown cycles, often several times per shift. You're cleaning with high-pressure water, caustic chemicals, or steam. You need equipment that won't trap bacteria, won't corrode, and won't give your quality team a reason to stop the line.

Electric motors - even those marketed as washdown-rated - introduce complexity: sealed enclosures that retain moisture, epoxy coatings that eventually degrade, and electrical components that have no place in a certified hygiene zone. Pneumatic air motors eliminate most of that risk by design. No windings to protect. No electronics near the product. No ignition source in a zone where cleaning solvents are present.

Globe Airmotors are specified by engineering teams who've already worked through the alternatives. This page covers what matters: construction, compliance, and performance under real processing conditions.

Applications

Where Globe air motors are specified in food & beverage

From mixing tanks to high-speed filling lines, pneumatic air motors power critical process stages where hygiene and reliability cannot be traded off against each other.

Filling & metering: Precision torque output at low speeds makes air motors the preferred drive for volumetric filling heads on liquid, semi-liquid, and paste products. Consistent output regardless of back-pressure variation on the product side.
Mixing & blending: Continuous duty operation on agitators and in-tank mixers. Adjustable speed via air flow regulation -no drive electronics in the process zone. Suitable for dairy, beverage concentrate, sauces, and viscous products.
Conveying & transfer: Belt and roller conveyor drives on wet processing lines, including meat, fish, and dairy. Stainless steel construction and IP69K rating support the daily high-pressure washdown cycles standard in these environments.
Capping & closing: Torque-controlled capping on bottling and jarring lines. Air motor torque output is adjustable and repeatable - critical where over-torquing causes product rejection and under-torquing causes leakage failures downstream.
Slicing & portioning: High-cycle, consistent-speed drives for slicing equipment on cooked meats, cheese, and bakery products. Overload protection by design - blade contact or product jam does not result in motor damage or unplanned downtime.
CIP / cleaning systems: Clean-in-place pump drives and agitator systems. Corrosion-resistant materials and non-sparking operation make air motors compatible with the chemical cleaning agents used in CIP circuits without special enclosure requirements.

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Pneumatic vs electric

Why food processing engineers choose air motors over electric drives

This isn't a binary question - both technologies have their place. But on wet processing lines, high-washdown zones, and hygienic areas where electronics create problems, the case for pneumatic is clear.

GLOBE Airmotors - Pneumatic	Standard electric motor
No electrical components in the hygiene zone	Requires protected enclosure near product zone
Stainless steel to IP69K as standard	Epoxy coatings degrade in high-pressure washdown
Overload-safe stalls without damage	Thermal overload risk under stall conditions
Speed controlled without an inverter drive	Inverter drive adds complexity and cost
Non-sparking No ignition source	Ignition risk with flammable cleaning agents
Rated for continuous duty	May require derating for thermal management
No moisture ingress into windings	Moisture in windings causes insulation failure
Compact, lightweight design	Heavier frame at equivalent output

GLOBE Airmotors food-grade range at a glance

Continuous output range	Ingress protection rating	Stainless steel grade	Operating temperature range
0.1 - 3,5 KW	IP69K	316L	-20 to +80 °C

The Results

Why pneumatic

Built for the demands of food-grade environments

Six reasons plant engineers and process equipment designers specify air motors on food and beverage lines.

Hygienic construction	Globe air motors for food service are available in 316L stainless steel with electropolished surfaces. No crevices, no coating degradation risk, no harborage points for bacteria. The external profile is designed to shed water freely during washdown - consistent with EHEDG hygienic design criteria.
Washdown-rated to IP69K	High-pressure, high-temperature washdown with caustic chemicals is standard practice on wet processing lines. Globe food-grade motors are rated to IP69K - the highest ingress protection classification - meaning they withstand direct high-pressure jets at close range without seal failure or internal contamination.
Spark-free operation	Compressed air generates no electrical arc. In processing zones where flammable cleaning agents, alcohol-based sanitisers, or combustible dusts may be present, that matters. Globe air motors eliminate the ignition risk that comes with any electrical drive solution - no ATEX classification required for the motor itself.
Overload-proof by nature	Stall an air motor and it simply stops drawing compressed air. No thermal overload. No burnt windings. No trip-out and reset cycle. On filling lines and conveyors where product jams are a daily operational reality, this characteristic alone reduces maintenance interventions significantly.
Speed control without electronics	Output speed and torque on a pneumatic motor are controlled by regulating air supply pressure and flow - no inverter drive, no control cabinet near the product zone, no electronics to protect during washdown. Simpler installation. Fewer failure modes. Lower total cost of maintenance over the machine's service life.
Continuous duty, consistent output	Globe air motors are rated for continuous duty operation. On high-throughput filling, blending, and mixing applications where the line runs 18 or 20 hours per day, consistent torque output across the full shift - without derating for heat build-up - is a practical requirement, not a specification luxury.

Compliance & standards

Engineered to meet food industry requirements

Regulatory compliance is not optional on food processing lines. Globe Airmotors food-grade units are designed and specified to align with the standards your facility auditors will ask about.

EHEDG: Hygienic equipment design aligned with European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group criteria - smooth surfaces, self-draining geometry, no crevice-forming joints.
IP69K: Rated for high-pressure, high-temperature washdown. Tested to withstand direct spray at 80°C and 80–100 bar - the standard for wet processing zones in meat, dairy, and beverage lines.
316L Stainless: Motor housings and contact surfaces available in 316L stainless steel - the preferred alloy for food processing where chloride-based cleaning agents are in regular use.
FDA-compatible materials: Seals and lubricants available in food-grade, FDA-compliant specifications for applications where incidental product contact cannot be ruled out.
Oil-free operation: Air motors can be run on unlubricated compressed air supply - eliminating oil contamination risk from the drive system entirely. Important where air exhaust proximity to open product is a concern.
FSMA-aligned: Equipment design supports compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act framework - specifically the requirement for equipment that can be thoroughly cleaned and sanitised to prevent contamination.