World Grain - December 2007 - 42

FEEDOPERATIONS

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Buhler's HYSYS System, a hygienising and compacting system with conditioner and retentioner.
Photo courtesy of Buhler.

er arrangement often in tandem with a
similar device at the turbulator outlet
that enables maximum retention times
to be achieved.
The use of automated pellet mill control systems as well as better valve actuation for steam and liquids injection means
that modern-day installations can be operated remotely without the presence of a
dedicated pellet mill operative. This does
not mean that the pellet mill should be
ignored and left without any attention -
far from it. The pellet mill is probably the
key machine within the feed mill when it
comes to influencing pellet quality, and
many a long day has been spent dealing
with complaints caused by inattention to
pellet mill performance.
As for the care and maintenance of
turbulator conditioners, these need to
be examined regularly as blades and
screws will wear and effective barrel
diameters will decrease. As paddles
wear, power consumption will increase
and dwell times will decrease quite significantly.
Good quality steam is an essential part
of good conditioning, whether turbulators or kettles are used. The correct steam
pressure is required according to the type
of meal being blended and conditioned.

Most poultry feeds made as three-millimeter pellets from a high cereal base will
require relatively high pressure steam
being injected at the conditioner. Pressures of around 35 to 40 psi are common,
whereas high cellulose feeds with relatively high levels of added liquids, such
as ruminant feeds with high molasses
levels, will require low steam pressures
of around 10 to 15 psi.
Good quality steam comes from
a correctly sized boiler that is large
enough to provide all the steam that
is required without water droplets being scavenged from the boiler water
surface, as is the case when the boiler
is undersized for the amount of steam
required. Pellet quality suffers in many
mills simply due to additional pellet
mills being added without proper care
being paid to the boiler size. The positioning of valve trains, traps and strainers is also very important when it comes
to influencing steam quality. Correctly
positioned valve trains are in a direct
line to the pellet mill conditioner, with
no sharp bends and no rapid reduction
of pipe diameters. A long straight run
of adequate size enables an even supply
of steam at the correct and regular pressure to be injected at the conditioner.
December 2007 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.d-grain.co http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - December 2007

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