FEED PROCESSING ▶▶▶
Thermal treatment eliminates pathogens in poultry meal
ForFarmers has a new production line. At the production site in Heijen (Netherlands), the company built a 40-meter-high tower containing a heating line for the production of poultry feed.
BY MARIEKE PLOEGMAKERS T
The hyginiser ensures that the feed is exposed to the heat treatment for the required time.
he feed on this line is subjected to controlled heat treatment to kill unwanted microorganisms. The new production line will initially be used to produce poultry meal feeds and pellets for grandparent and
parent stock of laying hens and broilers. This feed must meet very strict food safety and hygiene requirements. Since the ban on the use of formaldehyde, poultry feed has mostly been acidified to kill bacteria. For producers of grandparent and parent animals, however, feed must undergo thermal treatment to eliminate pathogens such as salmonella.
The construction of the new line ForFarmers has been producing this special type of feed for 25 years, but the existing heating line was due for
replacement. To absolutely guarantee hygiene the new line was built in a seperate tower. The construction of the tower and the new line was completed within six months. The con- struction of the production line required tight planning and preparation, according to project manager Roy Ottenschot. “Due to extensive preparation we were able to build the heat- ing line like a kind of Ikea kit; the tower was installed floor by floor and machines were put in place.” The production line mainly consists of new machines; only the pellet mill has been overhauled and placed in the line. Sustainability was also an important consideration in the design . The lighting in the tower is therefore energy-efficient and at the end of the line a filter box purifies all outgoing air.
The line is also equipped with a modern software system, which ensures that the temperature and residence time of the feed in the heater can be set very precisely, according to the wishes of the customer. “The buyers of this feed have very specific wishes for the minimum temperature and the time that the product is in the heater,” says Joost Sparla, Technical & Marketing Director for poultry at ForFarmers. “Those re- quirements are very strict, but they differ per customer, which makes our operations extra complex.”
Heat treatment The feed is heated with steam, which has several advantag- es, according to Ottenschot: “Steam-based heating is uni- form and quick. This makes it easy to regulate the tempera- ture, which can vary between 82 and 87°C. However, the target temperature is 85°C.” The heating process starts by fill- ing two bunkers with 32 tons of feed. The next bunker is equipped with an outlet screw with a frequency regulator that ensures that the conditioner contains the correct amount of feed. In the conditioner, 85°C is achieved with the help of steam. When the feed meal has reached the target temperature, the hygienist makes sure that the feed is ex- posed to the heat treatment for the required time. This can vary between 2.5 and 6 minutes. The temperature and the duration of the treatment can have an impact on the feed
18 ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 28, No. 9, 2020
PHOTOS: FORFARMERS
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