World Grain - December 2007 - 44

FEEDOPERATIONS

at sensible power consumption costs.
As mentioned earlier, grist spectrum
is important not only for good compression in the die but also for meal
conditioning. While the bulk of material should be equally distributed on
1,000-, 500- and 250-micron screens,
you should aim for throughs of not less
than 20%. Mixing grinder screen sizes
and ensuring that hammermill beaters
are regularly turned - end for end and
corner for corner - will assist in maintaining a good grist spectrum.
Good boiler maintenance is important
to maintain boiler efficiency. Boilers
should be inspected at least annually, and
regular checks should be made on steam
traps and separators. "Wet" steam will
soon become apparent at the press and
is invariably due to either trap failure or
incorrect steam pressure. Occasionally
in new installations, pipe diameters may
be inadequate, but it is hoped that pipe

diameter and length calculations are
properly checked at the design stage of
any new work or major repairs.
I generally work on the basis that 100
pounds of steam is required for each one
tonne per hour of feed being produced.
By using this as the basis for steam volumes, it is relatively easy to check the
pipe diameter by referring to the lowest steam pressure you will require and
checking velocities and volumes with
your local steam pipe supplier.
One final point is that when you have
a series of pellet mills in a row or fed
from the same boiler, you must always
ensure that steam supplies are separate
to each pellet press in order to avoid
pressure and volume fluctuations when
stopping or starting presses while others
are in operation. While this may seem
very obvious, you would be surprised at
the number of mill installations that have
not allowed for this, particularly when it

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is determined that one press will only
operate for a limited period of time.
There are more items that need to be
looked at when it comes to meal conditioning, but the aforementioned points
are the most significant. A regular walk
around the mill each day will tell you
many things and allow you to follow seasonal trends. The use of a plant diary is
invaluable and often makes very interesting reading once you have a few years'
WG
worth of observations to follow.
Jonathan Bradshaw is a consultant to the
agribusiness and food processing industries,
specializing in project management and bespoke
training programs through his company, J B
Bradshaw Ltd. He has extensive experience in
flour and feed milling in Africa, the Americas,
Europe and the Caribbean. He may be contacted
at: jonathan.bradshaw2@btopenworld.com.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and
inquiries to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of
WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com.

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46

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World Grain - December 2007

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