Advertising feature Pelleting’s role in producing effective feeds


How to ensure your feed contains all the right ingredients? Some of the ingredients in animal feed contain food already suitable for human consumption. This challenges feed millers to make sure the final feed contains all the right ingredients to become an effective feed for the benefit of the animals and the food on the table. Pelleting is a well-known process in the compound feed industry.


The transformation of feed meal into pellets has benefits regarding nutritional properties and handling of the end product. Because the meal is formed into pellets after mixing of the ingredients, each pellet contains the nutrients as specified by the nutritionist. This prevents selective eating by the animals, ensuring each animal will consume a balanced diet. Pelleting of the feed also improves the logistical properties of the


compounded feed. The pellets have a higher density than mash, enabling more feed to be transported in the same shipment. Furthermore, the dust formation in the product handling is significantly reduced, resulting in reduced cross-contamination through the entire process.


Determining factors while pelleting The key to an efficient pelleting process is to determine the optimal compromise between energy consumption and pellet quality, while producing at the desired capacity. Many factors are of influence on the pelleting process, from the recipe, to conditioning parameters, roller gap distance and pellet mill die specifications: - By adding more steam, gelatinization is improved and the meal can be pelleted better. This results in a higher capacity, improved quality and less energy consumption. - By increasing the roller gap distance to the die, a higher quality can be achieved because more pressure (mechanical energy) is applied. This will, however, have a negative effect on capacity and energy consumption, as more power is needed to force the meal through the die. - The same effect can be achieved by changing to a die with a larger die thickness.


There is a limit to the quantity of steam that can be added as too


much steam addition can cause roller slip. The consequences of a roller slip are severe. Operators are always very cautious about this because - in the worst case scenario - it will not be possible to get the die to pellet again. When the die needs to be replaced, it takes at least one hour. This is why many feed millers tend to load the pellet mill on the safe side. In addition, frequent adjustment of the rollers is often skipped.


Changing the roller continuously by hand would negatively influence the required capacity.


A new generation of pellet mills Van Aarsen has launched a new generation of pellet mills with motor- operated roller adjustment and active roller slip control. This means that compound feed manufacturers can always produce exactly the correct pellet quality with one push of a button. Moreover, with the new CU Dynamic pellet mill, producers can prevent downtime caused by the mill becoming blocked. This can result in a 15% increase in production capacity.


Above: The new CU Dynamic pellet mill from Van Aarsen


Recipe controlled roller gap distance Van Aarsen developed the new CU Dynamic pellet mill with motor- operated roller adjustment especially for compound feed manufacturers who have to make regular recipe changes. With this new pellet mill, feed producers can set optimum roller distance to the die with one push of a button. Thanks to a link to the factory automation system, it is possible to select the correct roller setting automatically for established recipe settings. This means the recipe can be changed quickly and easily. As the mechanical energy factor can also be determined by setting the roller distance, the die (thickness) does not have to be changed as often. This also helps reduce downtime.


Reducing downtime due to roller slip The new CU Dynamic pellet mill is equipped with an active roller slip control system. When the rollers slip and the mill threatens to become full, the system detects the slip and takes immediate action. The active roller slip control presses the rollers immediately against the die,


PAGE 54 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 FEED COMPOUNDER


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