Feed Mill Operations in an animal nutrition plant By Dr Ameer Suhail A Animal Nutrition Post Graduation Scholar

1. FEED MILL LAYOUT AND
OPERATIONS
Ameer Suhail A
22-MVM-04

2. OBJECTIVES OF FEEDMILL OPERATIONS
 To increase the productive value of feed
 To increase the consumption rate of feed
 To Increase the palatability of feed
 To increase the digestibility of feed
 To increase the nutritive value of feed
 To reduce the wastage of feed

3. POINT TO BE KEEP IN MIND WHILE
SETTING A FEED MILL
 Project Cost
 Market Area ( Radius of 200 Kms)
 Competition in the Market
 Selecting the site
 Project Feasibility

5. 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009
mixer loader stock bin feeder
pelleting
machine
belt conveyor cooler belt conveyor
packing
machine

7. LAYOUT OF RF FEED MILL

9. DIFFERENT TYPES OF FEED MILL
 2 ton/hr feed mill
 3-5 ton/hr feed mill
 10 ton/hr feed mill
 1-30ton/hr feed mill
 50 ton/hr feed mill

10. 1-2 TPH

11. 2 – 5 TPH

13. 10 TPH

15. FEED MILL EQUIPMENTS AND
OPERATIONS

16. FEED MILL OPERATIONS
 Feed mill is a Production Building produces feed for animals , Poultry and Fishes. Feed
mills manufacture pellets, crumbles or mash and these products are shipped in bagged
form.
 The feed manufacturing process include:
 Raw material selection & storage
 Raw material weighing and grinding
 Mixing of dry ingredients and addition of liquids
 Pelleting of mixed feed (optional)
 Blended feed bagging, storage and dispatch

17. RAW MATERIAL SELECTION & STORAGE
o The raw materials coming into a feed process area will be checked by nutritionist to meet the nutrient
requirements of the diet to be manufactured
o In order to ensure a continuous supply of raw materials at the mill, when some may only beseasonally
available on the market, and to take advantage of price fluctuations, some form of storage will be
necessary.
o Raw materials should arrive in good conditionand in sacks which have not been used for the storage of
fertilizer, pesticides or chemicals.
o Storage areas must be waterproof and well-ventilated, and provide protectionagainst infestation by
insects and vermin
o If materials are to be stored in bags they should be kept in a building having a concrete floor. The bags
should be stacked a few inches above floor level.

18. INGREDIENT DUMPING UNIT

19. Continued…
o Ingredients can be transported by conveyor system.
o A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that
moves materials from one location to another over a fixed path.
 Bucket elevators
 Belt conveyors
 Paddle conveyors
 Drag chain conveyors

20. SCREW CONVEYOR
o A screw conveyoror auger conveyor is a mechanism that uses a rotating helical screw blade,
called a "flighting", usually within a tube, to move liquid or granular materials.
o Consists of a tube or U-shaped stationary trough through which a shaft-mounted helix revolves
to push loose material forward in a horizontalor inclined direction.
o These are of different types i.e. inclined , horizontaland vertical screw conveyors.

21. BELT CONVEYOR
o A belt conveyorsystem consists of two or more pulleys (sometimesreferred to as drums), with
an endless loop of carrying medium—the conveyorbelt that rotates about them.
o One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward.
o The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley is called the idler
pulley.
o The conveyorscan be operated horizontallyor can be inclined as well.

22. DRAG/ PADDLE CONVEYOR
o Drag conveyors are a great complement to screw conveyors and belt
conveyors and a requirement of many bulk material handlingapplications.
o The compact and versatile design allows drag conveyors to fit almost any
plant layout
GRAVITY CONVEYOR
o Loads are conveyed on rollers or skatewheels which are mounted in
frames.
o Typically gravity conveyorsare sloped in elevationto allow products to flow
freely, taking advantage of the Earth’s gravity.
o these are mostly used in loading and unloadingof trucks & Conveyance
within picking areas.

23. CHAIN CONVEYORS
o Uses one or more endless chains on which loads are carried directly
PNEUMATIC/VACUUM CONVEYOR
o Air pressure is used to convey materialsthrough a system of vertical and
horizontaltubes.
o It can be used for both bulk and unit movementof materials.
o Major advantagesare that material is completely enclosed and it is easy to
implement turns and vertical moves.
o The pressureand air flow used to convey the materialsis generatedby air
movers such as positive displacementblowers or vacuums.

24. BUCKET ELEVATORS
o It is a type of vertical or inclined transport equipment that efficiently moves goods
between floors, vesselor other structure.
o Elevator is generallypowered by electrical motors that either drive traction cables
or counterweight system like a hoist or pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical
piston like jack.
o Generallyit is preferred for short in distance compared to belt conveyor.It is more
preferableto transport the materials vertically.

25. RAW MATERIAL WEIGHING/BATCHING
SYSTEM
 Large bin-type weighers are often used for raw materials which have been pre- ground or are free
flowing and discharge readily from storage bins or silos.
 Bin-type weighers may be mobile or stationary. Inline weighers which measure the quantity of material
flowing over a small electronic sensorand volumetric dischargersare also available.
 Each bin consist of two parts : Concrete part and Hopper ( steel made )
 For all major and minor ingredients,the equipmentused for this includes screw conveyors which
provide excellent proportioning control and scale hoppers above the mixer
 Bulk bag and hand dump stations are also frequentlyused to add ingredients to the feed mixture.

27. WEIGHING HOPPER
 Weigh batching hoppers are used for weighingdry products to dispense
accurate amounts as required by downstream processes
(mixer/packaging,etc.).
 A weigh hopper is suspended from load cells and can be installedabove
the mixer, a skip hoist or a belt conveyor that transports aggregatesto
the mixer.
 The hoist bucket itself can also function as a weigh hopper.The hoist
bucket moves into a weighing unit where it rests on two load cells
making it possible to use the hoist bucket as a weighing unit or for weight
checks.

28. RAW MATERIAL GRINDING
 Grindingor particle-size reduction is a major function of feed manufacturing.Many feed mills
pass all incoming ingredients through a grinder for several reasons:
• (a) clumps and large fragmentsare reduced in size,
• (b) some moisture is removeddue to aeration,and
• (c) additives such as antioxidants may be blended.
 The grindingof ingredients generallyimproves feed digestibility,acceptability,mixing
properties, pelletability, and increases the bulk densityof some ingredients.
 It is accomplished by many types of manual and mechanical operations involvingimpact,
attrition, and cutting.

29. Grinding Equipments…
1. HAMMER MILL
• A typical hammer mill consists of a horizontal rotor assembly fitted inside a metal housing. The rotor assembly
includes a shaft and several circular plates mounted on it with equal spaces between plates.
• Plates are having hammer pins on which swinging hammers are fitted. A perforated metal screen is forming
either a full circle or half circle fits around the rotor assembly.
• The diameter of hole in screen is selected to match the desired particle size.
• A material inlet is typically located at the housing top and a material outlet is located below the housing.
• A flow deflector is mounted below the material inlet to deflect the material either way to assist grinding.

30. Grinding Equipments
2. ATTRITION MILLS
 Attrition mills use the hammermill principle to a certain extent; i.e., shattering by impact. However, they
also impart a shearing and cutting action.
 Grinding is done between two discs equipped with replaceable wearing surfaces. One or both of these
discs is rotated; if both, they rotate in opposite directions. When one disc is rotated, and the other
stationary, the assembly is used for shredding and deferring.
 Often materials which have been coarsely ground by other mills, are passed through an attrition mill for
blending or smoothing out an ingredient or mixture containing liquids which may have clumps.
 The discs of an attrition mill are generally in a vertical positionso that materials not capable of reduction
can pass by gravity out of the grinding area.

31. Grinding Equipments
3 ROLLER MILLS
 A combination of cutting, attrition, and crushing occurs in roller mills. These are smooth or corrugated rolls
rotating at the same speed set at a pre-determined distance apart with material passing between the two.
 A tearing action may be added by operating the rolls at different speeds and by corrugations which are
different for each roll; i.e., the top roll may have off-radial spiral corrugations and the bottom roll lateral
corrugations.
 This last type, called a "Le Page cut" is used in making granules from hard pellets, as it provides a breaking
surface without much impact to cause dust.
 Roll grinding is economical but limited to materials which are fairly dry and low in fat.

32. Grinding Equipments
4 CUTTERS
 Rotary cutters are a type of grinder which reduces dry particle solids mainly by shearingwith
knife edges againsta striking plate.
 The mill consists of a rotating shaft with four attached parallel knives and a screen occupying
one fourth of the 360 degree rotation.
 The mill is best used to crack whole grains with a minimum of "fines". It is not used as a final
process for reducing the size of ingredients

33. AIR ASPIRATION SYSTEM
 Hammer Mill Air Aspiration system, an optimal grindingrequires the right amount of intake of air,
which is cleaned in the nozzle filters.
 This also guarantees an economic use of the Tear Drop Hammer Mill, the air is necessary to
quickly transport the fine products from the area of the hammers through the grinding sieve and at
the same time, to cool the biomass materials.

34. MIXING
 It is the job of the mixer to produce a homogenous blend of all the raw materialsdesired
in a formulation,such that at each feeding period each animal receives a balanced
mixture of nutrients
 Mixing often improves feed palatability if one or more of the raw materials is
unpalatable to livestock
 Concrete mixers : Small concrete mixers with electric or petrol engine drives are
mobile low cost machines suitable for the manufacture of mixtures of dry ingredientsor
mixtures of wet feeds.
 Conventionalfeed mixers : Two designs of mixers are most commonly found in the feed
industry: the vertical (or fountain) mixer and the horizontal (or U-trough) mixer.

35. VERTICAL MIXERS
 Raw materials may enter the mixer either at the top, from the grinder, or
at the base of the screw at a sack tipping point.
 After mixing for a pre-determined time, normally 10-15 minutes
(althoughthis time may be shorter in some mixes), the mixture is
discharged into a bag or conveyed by bucket elevatorto a storage bin or
pelleter.
 Since many raw materialsare dusty it is often desirable to include
materials such as molasses,oils and fats in the formulations to reduce
dustiness as well as to provide a source of nutrients.

36. HORIZONTAL MIXERS
 operate with a horizontally turning mixing shaft, the mixer is suitable for blending up
to 8% liquids into a dry mix and therefore offers greater versatility if a wide range of
rations are to be offered from one feed mill unit.
 It is preferable that fats and molasses be warmed before addition to the raw
materials in the mixer and they should be added as the last ingredients

37. CONVEYOR MIXERS
 Conveyor mixers are also available, particularly for farm use, and consist of a
trapezoid metal box in which mixing is effected by slats extending almost the full
width of the machine and which are carried on a pair of endless chains.
 Like the vertical mixer this machine is limited in its ability to blend liquids thoroughly
into the mixture.

38. MOLASSES MIXING UNIT
 Molasses is an important cheap source of energy
 Molasses is stored in MS storage tanks. Quality of molasses should be checked for
its density prior to transfer to storage tank.
 Batch after getting mixed in batch mixer is fed mechanically to the mixed feed bin
above molasses mixer through elevator.
 The mixed feed is fed to the molasses mixer , where molasses at around 45-50 degC
from molasses heater is sprayed and mixed in controlled quantities .
 The molassed feed is either conveyed to finished feed bins for bagging if the feed is
required in mash form or is allowed to ripen in a small bin for few minutes .
 The molassed feed is finally fed to pellet mill through its feeder and conditioner, if
feed is to be produced in pellet form.

39. MAGNETIC SEPERATOR
 Magnetic seperator mainly used for iron impurity separation.
 It is used in grain mill, feed mill and brewing plant etc.
 The core part of it is made of ferromagneticmaterial, the shell of it adopts stainless steel, it
is of high effect and less land occupy.

40. PELLETING
 Pelleting is a process in which mixed feed in powder form is converted into pellets by
mechanical compression in combination with moisture and heat.
 Process is achieved by a set of rolls and die of suitable hole size and shape. As the die & roll
rotate, the product passes through the nip of roll and die and pressedinto die holes to make
pellets.
 Has both physical and nutritional benefits of it. Among physicalbenefits, we can count -
improvedease in handling, reduced ingredients segregation,less feed wastage and increased
bulk density.
 Nutritional benefits - Decreased feed wastage, reduced selective feeding,decreased
ingredientssegregation,less time and energy expended on prehension,destruction of
pathogenic organism,thermal modification of starch and protein,improvedpalatability.

41. PELLET MILL
 A pellet mill, also known as a pellet press, is a type of mill or machine
press used to create pellets from powdered material. Pellet mills are
unlike grinding mills, in that they combine small materials into a larger,
homogeneous mass, rather than break large materialsinto smaller pieces.
 pellet mill is mainly composed of 3 parts:
i. pelletizingpart
ii. drive engine
iii. drive system.

42. PELLET DIE & ROLL SHELL UNIT ASSEMBLY
Remote roll adjust system Typical pellet mill die and roller
hoist arrangement

43. COLD PELLETERS
 In cold pelleting, mixed feed is fed directly from a bin or auger into the die
head at ambient (normalatmospheric) temperatures.Some water may be
added,preferably in the mixer if the meal is too dry to bring it to
approximately15-16%moisture, but there is no heat treatment of the mixed
meal before it enters the die.
PELLET CONDITIONER
 Here, the mixed meal is directly pre-heated with dry steam. The steam preheats
or conditions the meal to the preferred temperature and moisture content for
pelleting according to the formulation of the mixture, for example, 65-121°C avg
80°C and 15-25% moisture
 Generally, the quality of pellets (that is, resistance to break-down after
pelleting and during handling) of a given mixture from a conditioner pelleter is
marginally better than that from a cold pelleter, but the conditioner pelleter
requires a boiler and associated water treatment plant to treat the feed water
for the boiler.

44. PELLET QUALITY
 Pellets should have a desired degree of hardness, and should also show
high resistanceto abrasionduring handling and transport.
PELLET BINDERS
 Some mixtures of raw materials do not bind well together when pelleted
and require the addition of special binding agents. Molasses is often added
at 2-5% to aid binding,but other binders include bentonite clays and
lignosulphonates,and are added at the suppliers'recommendeddosage
levels, usually about 1-2%.

45. COOLING & STABILISING
 The Pellet Cooler is used for cooling hot feed pellets from 80o C to ambient
temperature. Cooling columns are on either side with central duct for
conveyinghot air. Wire mesh separates pellets from air. Set of flaps
regulate flow of cold air inside the cooler. Thepellets while falling operate
inside portion of the flaps and cold air is passed through stock of pellets.
 Basically three types of coolers used in the feed industry:
Vertical
Horizontal
Counter flow
 Pellets are then cooled from 80°C to ambient.

46. DRYER
 Dryingis the process that reduces grain moisture content to a safe level for
storage,
 Proper Dryingwill maintain grain quality and minimize losses.
PURPOSES OF DRYING
 To reduce the moisture content of rough rice to a level safe for storage.
 Dryingof grain involves exposinggrain to ambient air with low relative
humidity or to heated air.
 This will evaporate the moisture from the grain and then the dryingair will
remove the moisture from the grain.

47. TYPES OF DRYER
 Continuous flow dryer
 ConventionalContinuous Flow Dryer
• Cross flow dryers
• Counter flow dryers
 Flash Dryer
• The fluidizedbed dryer consists of a drying chamber with an air speed of
around 2.3 m/s, a bed thickness of 10 cm in which the grain is exposed to the
drying air for 10-15 minutes.
• Capacities of commercial units range from 1-10 t/h. A diesel burner or a rice
hull furnace is used as heat source and a system for recycling 50- 70% of the
drying air is provided to improve energy efficiency.

48. PARTS OF A DRYER
 Perforated metal sheets 44 rings
 Two blur fans 75 hp motor of each
 FD (forced) fan 50 hp motor
 Heat exchanger
 Rotary 3 hp motor
 Steam header
 Dryer panel
 Conveyer and elevator

49. CRUMBLING
 Pellet Crumblier is an essentialequipment for the preparationof crumbled
pellet feed.
 The pellets can then be diverted into the crumblier, if crumbles or granules
are desired,or they can by-pass it. This is used for breaking the pellets into
crumbs requiredfor chicks which are 2-3 weeks old.
 Pellets are broken into pieces of the required size between the two rolls of
the crumblier situated below the cooler/drier exit.
 The gap between the rolls can be adjustedto regulate the size of crumbs.
The roller gap is adjusted with a hand wheel mechanism.

50. SCREENING
SIEVE GRADING:
 Gradingrotary sieve is made to grade and screen the pellets getting gone
through crushing in the large or medium-sized animal feed.
 It is also used to clean the initial materials to process pellets. It is applicable
for screeningand classifyingof mash or pellet feed.
 It is also can be used for cleaning of raw materials.
 Large pellets and very small particles with ground material are recycled
through the pelleting machine.

51. BAGGING / PACKING
 Load Cell Type Bagging Machine :
 The Load Cell Type BaggingMachine or Bagging-Off-Weigher is an
electronicallycontrolled baggingmachine.
 It is a heavy-dutymachine for the repeated and accurate weighing in bags of
products like pelleted or mashed feed, grains, sugar and cereals
 It consists of a bin hopper, feeder with slow-speed and high-speed drives, a
weighment chute supported on load cells and a pneumaticallyoperated bag
clamp. The accuracy of the machine is 0.2 %.
 When bag put at mouth of cell, clump took message to sliding gate open for
specific weight of feed draggingdown in bag, as weight attained according
to our input to load cell.

52. BOILER
o The main function of a boiler is to heat water to generate steam
o Boiler broadly classified into two categories,
• Water tube
• Fire tube
PARTS OF BOILER : Three main thing to run the boiler
1. FD (Forced) Fan; its function is forced the air into furnace (combustion
chamber) to stimulate the fire, its running motor is 5 hp.
2. ID (induced) Fan; it induced the air from main shell/ boiler to chimney,
having motor 40hp. 3. Water Feed Pump also call multistage centrifugal
pump; it consist of stages/ impellers, function of impeller is to increase
pressure.Its pressure 1.5 times more than boiler inside pressure.

53. PARTS OF BOILER Continued…
3. Water Feed Pump also call multistage centrifugal pump; it consist of stages/
impellers, function of impeller is to increase pressure.Its pressure 1.5 times
more than boiler inside pressure.
OTHER PARTS
 Dryingpipe; its function is to allow only steam to move out and filter the
water drops.
 Rose pipe; it acts like a shower, prevent the water directly hitting on fire
tubes
 Safety valve; It control the pressureup to 150psi, above its range that will
open and save the over pressure problems in the boiler.
 Main hole; entry point for repairingpurposes.
 Air valves; to remove vaccum from the boiler when again start after some
time break.

54. PARTS OF BOILER Continued…
 Air valves; to remove vaccum from the boiler when again start
after some time break
 Cyclone; to separate ash and dust, allow smoke to release out
 Below down valve; for water discharge from the boiler.
 Water level gauge glass; to check water level.
 Stop valve; to stop the steam

56. Continued…
 Load cell message to pneumaticallycontrolled cylinders to close the gates.
 As gate close clumps release and bag moves to sievingmachine by belt
conveyer.
 Here packing is completed and feed bag is either stored in store house or
directly loaded to vehicle

57. STEAM FLOW
 From boiler to conditioner throughout steam line 4 inch and insulated.
 Distributer (Header) it get steam and distribute the steam to multiple lines,
near to boiler, dryer and next pellet sides.
 Strainer: it is sieve type valve use to filter the particles from the steam to
protect the seats of valve.
 Steam Trap: it is use to separate the water from the steam
 Pressure reducing valves: use to control the pressure in a constant way,
use before the conditioner to avoidthe over conditioning problems.
 At pellet side trapper valves separate the water this water comes back into
boiler for recycling by two inch pipe line.

58. PLC (Programmable Logic Control)
 This consists of a list of logic functions and instructions, which are
successivelyprocessed through a program.
CONTROL SYSTEM
 This a customizable software and hardware package.
 With a custom hardware and software solution you have the ability to
monitor and completely control a facility from a PC.
 The operationof the PLC controller can be monitoredand changed via the
keyboard/mouseand the recipes/alarminglog etc.
 The PLC graphicallydisplaysthe information on a screen (touch screen or
standard)and allows the user to manipulatethe data on the PLC (start/stop
motors, view outgoing batches etc.)

59. DUST FREE GODOWNS