SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS
THE SPICE IS RIGHT A
t Santa Maria’s Milton Keynes facility, best known for producing fajita kits, seasonings, salsas and tortillas, nitrogen is an essential part of the production process. It is used in the final product as a 30 per cent filler gas within modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) as well as to blanket bulk silos, protecting ingredients from oxidation and helping maintain shelf life and product quality. Until recently, that nitrogen was supplied in liquid form and delivered to site throughout the year. As part of a targeted capital investment project, aimed at reducing environmental impact while strengthening operational control, Santa Maria UK – part of the Paulig Group - began exploring whether generating its own nitrogen on site could provide both sustainability and financial benefits. Working in partnership with Atlas Copco and compressor installation and servicing specialist T&G Compressors, the company has now transitioned to an on-site nitrogen generation system supported by new compressed air and air treatment equipment. The result is an estimated carbon reduction of 12 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
RETHINKING PURITY AND SUPPLY Santa Maria’s previous model relied on bulk liquid nitrogen produced off site and transported via lorry to Milton Keynes on a regular basis. While dependable, it carried both a logistical and environmental cost associated with energy- intensive production and recurring deliveries. It also raised an important technical question about what purity of nitrogen was required.
Bulk liquid nitrogen is typically supplied at 99.999 per cent purity. For food packaging applications,
however, regulatory requirements focus on oxygen content rather than ultra-high purity. To qualify as food grade, nitrogen must contain less than one per cent oxygen, meaning any gas above 99 per cent purity meets the required standard for modified atmosphere packaging and silo blanketing. Atlas Copco therefore sized the on-site NGP+ system to deliver 99.5 per cent purity. This provides a clear compliance margin above the food grade threshold, while avoiding the additional compressed air demand and energy consumption associated with producing ultra-high purity nitrogen that the process does not require.
Higher nitrogen purity requires greater compressed air input and longer adsorption cycles in PSA systems, increasing power consumption. By generating nitrogen to the required specification rather than the maximum possible purity, Santa Maria UK benefits from improved operating efficiency and lower
lifecycle energy demand. The configuration also enabled the use of smaller equipment, reducing the overall capital investment and delivering a more compact footprint within the factory.
From an environmental perspective, the impact of removing bulk supply is measurable. Based on the site’s requirement of 17 Nm³/h over 8,000 operating hours per year, emissions linked to liquid nitrogen production and delivery totalled 25,079 kg of CO₂ annually. By contrast, the new on-site nitrogen generator, operating over the same period, is set to produce annual emissions of 12,747 kg of CO₂. The transition therefore represents an overall carbon reduction of approximately 49 per cent. “We were looking at ways to make a genuine environmental improvement,” says Paul Godfrey, project engineer at Paulig Group. “When you consider the emissions linked to producing and transporting liquid nitrogen, moving to on-site generation made clear sense. Just as importantly, the system delivers the purity we require for food production, comfortably above the 99 per cent threshold, without producing gas to a higher specification than the process demands.”
SPECIFYING A RESILIENT SOLUTION Following an initial site assessment – conducted by T&G Compressors - and a review of gas usage data, Atlas Copco specified an NGP12+ PSA nitrogen generator, capable of delivering up to 17 Nm³/h at 99.5 per cent purity. The installation was configured in a duty-standby arrangement, with a second nitrogen generator in place to ensure continuity of supply. In the event of a production stoppage or maintenance intervention, the standby unit can automatically take over; maintaining nitrogen
26 Spring 2026 UKManufacturing
Fajita kit maker Santa Maria has reduced carbon emissions by 12 tonnes a year with Atlas Copco on-site nitrogen technology...
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