The popularity of producing shaped products and feeds is increasing.\u00a0 This includes pet foods, fish feed, and treats.\u00a0 While end products are vastly different, inputs determine the final product and the process to produce them is relatively the same.\u00a0 Use this as a guide to determine the needs and requirements for shaped products extrusion.<\/p>\n
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Individual ingredient preparation\/ product proportioning<\/strong><\/p>\n Products start with a recipe or formulation based on the final product characteristics and application and formulations are best determined by a nutritionist.\u00a0 Several ingredients go into a formulation and can be purchased pre-ground ready for proportioning or plants can process the individual ingredients themselves.\u00a0 Raw materials are weighed individually and placed into a bin or the bin is on load cells so final weights are accounted for as ingredients are added and proportioned correctly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Size reduction\/sifting<\/strong><\/p>\n Once proportioned, ingredients are ground to the same size to ensure uniform material flow and delivery to the extruder. \u00a0Large size variations cause fluctuations in extruder performance and materials need to be ground small enough so they do not plug the die.\u00a0 Finer grinds may be necessary depending on final product appearance.\u00a0 Smaller dies such as 2mm and below will require the product to be sifted to ensure the die does not get plugged during operation.\u00a0 A sifter is used to separate out materials that are just right or too large to extrude.\u00a0 These \u201covers\u201d are rerun though the mixer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mixing\/micro ingredient addition<\/strong><\/p>\n After grinding, all materials are mixed together to ensures a homogenous mix.\u00a0 Micro ingredients can also be added at this time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Preconditioning\/Extrusion<\/strong><\/p>\n The heart of the system is the dry extruder.\u00a0 In shaped products, preconditioning ensures starch pre-gelatinization and product moisture content for proper extrusion.\u00a0 Steam and water are added at this stage while internal paddles mix the product and convey it to the extruder.\u00a0 The dry extruder applies heat and pressure to ensure proper cooking.\u00a0 The process is designed to ensure a properly cooked and formed product exits the cutterhead.\u00a0 A trained operator is required to know how to run the extrusion system to make the correct final product.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Drying\/Cooling<\/strong><\/p>\n Once extruded, the moisture content of the product can be 18% or more, so the product needs to be dried and cooled.\u00a0 Steam or gas heated belt dryer\/coolers are typically used.\u00a0 Heat dries the product, but cooling air is needed so the product is not too hot causing condensation and leading to spoilage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sifting<\/strong><\/p>\n Once dried and cooled, the product should be sifted to remove fines from process handling and recycled back into the system.\u00a0 Removing fines yields a better looking final product and can aid in fat coating.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fat coating<\/strong><\/p>\n Applications, such as pet food and high oil fish feed, require additional fat to be added.\u00a0 The key is to sift prior to coating, otherwise the fines collect the valuable oil and ball together into an unusable product.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bagging<\/strong><\/p>\n The product is bagged for final distribution and storage.<\/p>\n While the process is similar among different products, it\u2019s the details that determine the final results.\u00a0 The exact flow will vary depending on the final product requirements, but overall, this approach works well for most applications.\u00a0 Knowing how to account for your specific application will determine your success. Our team can assists you with a feasibility analysis, nutritional information, full-plant layouts and purchasing of ancillary equipment, funding and sourcing of raw ingredients.\u00a0 Our main goal is to help you develop optimized products to create a successful business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The popularity of producing shaped products and feeds is increasing.\u00a0 This includes pet foods, fish feed, and treats.\u00a0 While end products are vastly different, inputs determine the final product and the process to produce them is relatively the same.\u00a0 Use this as a guide to determine the needs and requirements for shaped products extrusion. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7176],"tags":[195,27,199],"class_list":["post-5507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineeringandmaintenance","tag-aquaculture","tag-extrusion-processing-solutions","tag-medium-shear-extrusion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n