Coffee is a living and fragile product. Once roasted, it begins to lose its aromas due to oxidation. Nitrogen, an inert, odorless, and flavorless gas, has become an essential ally for preserving the freshness and quality of whole bean, ground, or ready-to-drink coffees.
At NOVAIR, we support industry players with tailor-made on-site nitrogen generation solutions that are reliable, economical and adapted to each key stage of the value chain.
Immediately after roasting, coffee is extremely sensitive to ambient air. Injecting nitrogen into bags, capsules, or boxes replaces oxygen and:
Techniques used:
Industrial roasters can store their beans in nitrogen-inerted silos:
Nitrogen doesn't just protect: it also reinvents the tasting experience. Injected into cold brew coffee, it creates a beverage:
In plantations, nitrogen is also present in the form of fertilizers (nitrates, ammonium) to feed coffee trees. This is not the same use, but it shows how essential nitrogen is from field to cup.
Today, many roasters still use traditional nitrogen supply solutions, such as pressurized gas cylinders. However, these methods have several limitations: supplier dependency, high logistics costs, restrictive inventory management, and significant environmental impact.
However, coffee production requires continuous availability, controlled purity, and maximum flexibility. On-site nitrogen generators fully meet these requirements, offering a more reliable, economical, and sustainable solution.
Novair designs and manufactures nitrogen generators capable of meeting the nitrogen needs of coffee industry professionals reliably, efficiently, and autonomously. Whether for small artisanal units or large-capacity industrial sites, our solutions integrate easily into existing production lines and guarantee controlled purity, total autonomy, and continuity of supply.
The nitrogen produced by NOVAIR generators is certified “food nitrogen” based on rigorous analyses carried out by an external laboratory.
Food-grade nitrogen (E941) used in the coffee industry is typically very pure, but the exact purity depends on the degree of oxygen sensitivity of the stage concerned (packaging in a modified atmosphere, nitrogen flushing, storage, etc.). Most roasters or capsule manufacturers require nitrogen with a purity ranging from 99.5% to 99.999%. PSA nitrogen generators fully meet this need.
PSA technology is based on a system for separating gases from ambient air through alternating pressurization. The air is compressed and directed into a tank containing molecular sieves that retain unwanted gases while allowing nitrogen to pass through. The system uses two tanks that alternate their adsorption and regeneration phases, thus allowing continuous production of pure nitrogen. This automated process guarantees a reliable, uninterrupted supply and allows the highest levels of purity (up to 99.999% nitrogen) to be achieved.
NOVAIR offers various ranges of PSA nitrogen generators to meet the gas needs of industrial companies of all sizes. Among these ranges, the NITROSWING® models with patented modular PSA technology offer unique scalability.
Contact our experts to discover our nitrogen generators and integrated solutions for the coffee industry.
