EVALUATION OF A NEW SILICATE- BASED FEED PELLET-BINDER
Published: July 20, 2009
By: Montajat Veterinary Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.
Objectives:
I. To evaluate the efficiency of Pelcon on physical qualities of pelleted feed pertaining to:
I. To evaluate the efficiency of Pelcon on physical qualities of pelleted feed pertaining to:
- Appearance
- Strength as hardness & Durability
- Surface cracks
- Density & Solubility
II. To assess the Performance Enhancing Ability of the feed manufacturing unit for:
- Rate of Production
- Power Consumption
INTRODUCTION
Since its origin, palletizing has provided the following advantages:
- It increases the gelatinization of starches by allowing less palatable ingredients to be used.
- It helps prevent separation of micro-ingredients and ensures uniform distribution throughout the feed mixture.
- Gives the nutritionist greater flexibility in formulating feeds based on palatability, ingredient variation and acceptability.
- Increases bulk density of the feed. It facilitates bulk transport, storage and feeding.
- Enhances flowability of feeds for easier handling out of holding bins and automatic feeding systems.
- It reduces on-farm feed wastage.
- It kills certain harmful microbes at high temperature.
Types of pelleted feeds
There are two types of pelleting done in our country:
- Pellets
- Crumbles – made from pellets which are subsequently run through a crumble roller into a coarse, granular size.
Factors that influence pelleting
The following are important factors that may affect pellet quality:
- Moisture
- Ingredient quality and abrasiveness
- Ingredient source and supply
- Die condition
- Pellet mill operator; the man behind the machine!
Objectives of Palletizing
- Improved pellet quality
- Increased production rate
- Improved handling and flowability ´
- Minimized use of fats and oils as lubricants.
- Economizes feed formulation
- Optimizes feed ingredient utilization
- Better press capacity
- Increased production rate/ lesser electricity consumption i.e. better pelleting efficiency
- Increases Die life
- Feed manufacturer’s ability to add steam and fat
- Improved handling and flowability
Almost all types of pellet binders are not nutrients. However, in the presence of these substances in the diet, the value of ration increases resulting in higher rate of production as well as increases efficiency of feed utilization.
Materials and Methods
Feed Specifications
- Pelleted Feed Batch Size- 7MT
- 700 kg X 10 Batches (both for control and experimental batches)
- Pellet mill Die Size- 12mm
- Feed used in the study- Conventional Poultry Feed
Place
For running the trial, a known poultry feed mill in Saudi Arabia, was selected with production capacity of 2.5MT/hour. The die size used in the trial was of 12 mm.
1. Production runs of 7000 kg each were made of control and experimental batches.
2. Pelcon at the rate of 0.25% was added in the experimental feed batch while control batch was without Pelcon.
3. Machine type and machine run were maintained during the study inclusive of steam pressure and amperage at the pellet plant.
4. All the conditions for control and experimental batches were identical.
Calculations
Pelleting efficiency was considered as the amount of energy (kWh) used to produce one ton of pellets (kWh/ T).
The calculation of pelleting efficiency of the pellet mill was calculated as under:
- Determination of pelleting production rate (T/h)
- Determination of average pellet mill motor amperage
- Determination of pellet mill voltage.
The pellet mill power in kW and the pelleting efficiency were calculated as:
The trial consisted of palletizing two consecutive batches while keeping constant as many factors as possible, so as to assess the benefit of the product without interference by other variable. Under trial conditions full benefits were explored beyond that of improvements to physical qualities that can be achieved by the incorporation of pellet binders. These were considered as reduction in process time, improvements in palletizing efficiency and power consumption.
The number of production runs of the trial formulation to be produced sequentially on the same day – minimum two, was determined.
Production Run 1:
The trial consisted of palletizing two consecutive batches while keeping constant as many factors as possible, so as to assess the benefit of the product without interference by other variable. Under trial conditions full benefits were explored beyond that of improvements to physical qualities that can be achieved by the incorporation of pellet binders. These were considered as reduction in process time, improvements in palletizing efficiency and power consumption.
The number of production runs of the trial formulation to be produced sequentially on the same day – minimum two, was determined.
Production Run 1:
- The control- consisting of 7000 kg. Palletized feed production of the standard formulation.
Production Run 2:
- Consisting of the same volume and standard formulation as Production Run 1, with the addition of Pelcon.
During each production run recording instruments were used to monitor and record the production run duration, the pellet motor voltage (measured between two phases), the press motor load (single phase only) and the conditioned compound feed (mash).
The collected information provided a comparison of the following:
The collected information provided a comparison of the following:
- Pelleting efficiency (kWh/T)
- Productivity (T/hr)
- Conditioned feed temperature (oC)
- Quality coefficient (durability/ efficiency)
In order to clearly distinguish the effect on Pellet Quality, the following Quality co-efficient factor was used:
- Throughout each production run, the feeder speed of the palletizing mill was monitored at ten minute intervals to ensure that they remained constant for the duration of trial.
- Pellet samples were taken at ten minutes intervals and related back to the process conditions at that time. These samples were used to determine the mean and standard deviation of pellet durability, using the Holmen Pellet Tester (one test per sample) and the mean and standard deviation of pellet hardness (five tests per sample). Both the hardness tests and the durability tests were completed in the same time frame for each batch.
- A composite of the samples taken from each production run was analyzed for chemical analysis to check the similarity of the ingredients and their proportions to the formulations used in the Production run.
- The average pellet weight was taken by randomly weighing and counting them for computing the average pellet weight.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Effects of Incorporating Pelcon on Pelleted Feed Quality & Palletizing Efficiency
Contribution of Pelcon to each parameter
Parameter | Benefits |
Gelatinisation of starch and denaturation of proteins | Entire feed ingredients get equal quantity of moisture and heat resulting in better denaturation of proteins for proper cooking and digestibility of nutrients |
Lower powder production during transportation (Increase in PDI) |
|
Increased production |
|
Lower amp |
|
Lower die friction |
|
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30 de diciembre de 2010
the article is useful for all those people who are associated with compound feed manufacturing as new silicate based pellet binder, pelcon not only increases durability of pellets but also saves power consumptions. thank you for such a practical knowledge.
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