Pig Feed Plant for Large Scale Farming in Spain

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Why Spain?

Spain has the largest pig population in the European Union and a highly integrated pork industry:

Key drivers for in-house feed production:

The client’s breakeven point is 120,000 tons/year (60% capacity). At full capacity (200,000 tons/year), operating margin is about 15-20%.

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Raw Materials: Corn, Wheat, Soybean Meal, and Additives

The client’s raw materials are sourced from Spanish farmers and international suppliers:

The client’s advantage: The client doesn’t need to source from multiple suppliers. Premix already contains trace elements; no separate addition required.

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The Site and Building

Building layout:

The 6-story production building (37m high) layout:

This vertical design allows gravity flow — material falls from floor to floor, reducing conveying equipment and energy consumption by 20-30%.

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Equipment Configuration

The client chose two complete animal feed pellet production lines inside the 6-story building:

Why this configuration for pig feed (20-25 t/h, 200,000 tons/year):

1. Two complete lines. Redundancy is critical for a 24/7 operation serving pig farms. If one line is down for maintenance, the other line continues at 50% capacity (10-12 t/h).

2. 6-story vertical building (37m high). Gravity flow reduces energy consumption. Material moves from top to bottom, with only one bucket elevator lift to the 6th floor.

3. Two hammer mills. The client runs both for high capacity, or one for lower demand. The larger mill handles corn and wheat.

4. Two animal feed pellet mills and two extruders. The client can produce standard pelleted feed and extruded feed (for piglets) on the same line.

5. 3 t/h gas boiler. Spain has natural gas infrastructure. The boiler provides steam for conditioning (70-85°C, 3-5% steam addition).

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Process Flow

This is a large-scale, highly automated feed mill factory designed for 24/7 operation with 70 staff in 3 shifts.

Step 1: Raw Material Receiving

Bulk grains (corn, wheat): Trucks deliver to the cylindrical silos area (3,050m²). The driver reverses into the receiving pit. A screw conveyor moves material to a bucket elevator, which lifts it to the top of the silos.

Bagged ingredients (soybean meal, additives, minerals): Forklifts unload pallets into the raw material warehouse (2,500m²). Operators manually dump bags into a small intake hopper with a dust hood.

Step 2: Cleaning (6th Floor)

Cleaning protects downstream equipment. Stones break hammer mill screens. Metal damages pellet mill dies.

Material from the receiving pits (or bag intake) passes through:

• Pre-cleaners — removes stones, twine, debris
• Magnetic separators — removes nails, staples, metal fragments

Step 3: Grinding (5th Floor)

Clean corn and wheat are fed into two hammer mill feed grinders.

Hammer mill parameters:

Particle size target for pig feed: 800-1,200 microns (80% passing 1,500 microns).

Step 4: Batching (4th and 3rd Floors)

Batching accuracy is critical. A 1% over-dosing of soybean meal costs the client €175,000/year.

Ground material is lifted to the 4th floor and distributed to 4 large batching bins by rotary distributors.

From the bins, screw feeders discharge material into batching hoppers and batching scales on the 3rd floor.

Batching sequence (automated, per scale):

Batching accuracy (RICHI guarantee):

• Major ingredients: ±0.1% of target
• Minor ingredients: ±0.2%
• Micro ingredients: ±0.5%

Step 5: Mixing (3rd Floor)

The batch drops into one of two twin-shaft paddle feed mixer machines.

Mixer parameters (each):

• Capacity: 1,000 kg/batch
• Mix time: 90-120 seconds
• Coefficient of variation (CV): <5%
• Discharge time: 30 seconds

Step 6: Conditioning and Pelleting (2nd Floor)

Mixed feed drops into conditioners where steam from the 3 t/h gas boiler is injected.

Conditioning parameters for pig feed:

Pellet mill parameters (KLPS, 200-250 kW each):

Extruder (for piglet feed): The client also has two twin screw extruders for producing highly digestible feed for piglets.

Step 7: Cooling and Screening (1st Floor)

Hot pellets (75-85°C) drop into a counterflow cooler. The cooler uses ambient air fans to reduce temperature to 30-35°C in 10-15 minutes.

Pellets then pass through a screener:

• Acceptable pellets: 4-8mm length
• Fines (<2mm) → return to mixer
• Oversize (>10mm) → return to ring die feed pellet machine

Step 8: Packaging (1st Floor)

Finished pellets are bagged (40kg bags) or loaded into bulk trucks.

The client’s distribution: Feed is delivered to the corporation’s pig farms by the company’s own fleet of trucks.

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Utilities and Consumption

Electricity breakdown (annual, 350 days, 24 hours/day = 8,400 hours):

Natural gas consumption: 720,000 m³/year for the 3 t/h boiler (running 14 hours/day).

Water consumption: 4,620 m³/year (4.62 m³/day), including boiler make-up, lab water, cooling tower, etc.

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Laboratory and Quality Control

The client has an on-site laboratory and a larger quality control center (Phase 2, 6 floors, 3,794m²) for testing:

Laboratory chemicals:

Laboratory waste management:

• Acid/alkali wastes → neutralized in a 2m³ Nakawa Pond
• Organic solvents → collected as hazardous waste
• Laboratory wastewater → treated in the lab’s wastewater system before discharge

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How RICHI Customized This Line for Pig Feed Production

The client had specific requirements that shaped the feed mill equipment design:

Requirement 1: The feed is for internal use only (not for sale). Quality standards are still high, but the client doesn’t need to worry about customer specifications — only their own pig farms.

RICHI solution: Designed the line for consistent quality rather than maximum flexibility. The client uses a limited number of formulations (starter, grower, finisher, sow, piglet). The batching system stores 50 recipes (not 200+).

Requirement 2: 24/7 operation (24 hours/day, 350 days/year). The client needed high reliability.

RICHI solution: Two complete animal feed production lines. If one line is down, the other continues at 50% capacity. The client also keeps spare parts on site (dies, screens, bearings, motors).

Requirement 3: The client has a 6-story building (37m high). They wanted to use gravity flow.

RICHI solution: Designed the layout from top to bottom:

• 6th floor: Intake, cleaning
• 5th floor: Grinding
• 4th floor: Batching bins
• 3rd floor: Batching scales, mixing
• 2nd floor: Pelleting, extruding
• 1st floor: Cooling, screening, packaging

Only one bucket elevator lift (from ground to 6th floor). Material flows by gravity thereafter.

Requirement 4: The client has 70 staff, many with no prior feed mill experience. The client’s workers are from the pig farms.

RICHI solution: Centralized PLC control system with touchscreen interface (in Spanish). The client runs 3 shifts with 2 operators per shift in the control room. The rest of the 70 staff are for maintenance, logistics, lab, and administration.

Requirement 5: The client is located in a region with natural gas availability. They wanted to use gas for the boiler (cleaner than diesel or biomass).

RICHI solution: 3 t/h gas boiler with low-NOx burner (to meet Spanish NOx limits of 100 mg/m³). The boiler has an 85% efficiency rating.

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Product Specifications

The client’s pig feed formulations meet Spanish Ministry of Agriculture standards and the corporation’s internal specifications.

Pricing (internal transfer, not for sale):

The client’s savings are €30-70/ton × 200,000 tons/year = €6-14 million/year.

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Market Outlook for Integrated Pig Feed in Spain

Spain’s pig industry is highly integrated and efficient. Key drivers for in-house feed production:

1. Vertical integration. Major Spanish pork producers (Grupo Jorge, Vall Companys, Costa Food Group) own their own feed mills. The client is following this model.

2. Quality control for export. China (the largest pork importer) has strict requirements for feed additives and traceability. In-house production gives full control.

3. Cost savings. Commercial feed margins are 10-20%. Producing in-house captures that margin.

4. EU regulations (Regulation 183/2005/EC). Feed mills must meet GMP+ or FAMI-QS standards. The client’s facility meets these.

Competition: There are 500+ feed mills in Spain (10,000-200,000 tons/year). The client’s 200,000 tons/year puts them in the top tier.

Challenges the client is managing:

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Why a Pig Feed Plant Makes Sense in Spain

Spain is the EU’s largest pig producer. Integrated pork producers increasingly own their own feed mills. Here’s why you should consider this market:

Raw materials are available. Spain produces 15+ million tons of corn, 6+ million tons of wheat, and 8+ million tons of barley annually.

Natural gas is available. Spain has a well-developed natural gas network. The client’s 3 t/h gas boiler is efficient (85%) and clean.

The market is large and stable. Spain produces 5+ million tons of pork annually. Feed demand is 10+ million tons/year.

The export market is growing. Spain exports pork to China, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. In-house feed production helps meet export requirements.

If you’re considering a pig feed plant in Spain (or any country with a large pork industry), RICHI can help. We’ve designed lines for pig feed, poultry feed, and other livestock. We understand the requirements for 24/7 operation, high reliability, and EU compliance.

Contact us to discuss your animal feed factory project. Tell us about your target species (pigs, poultry, cattle), raw materials, site conditions, and budget. We’ll prepare a customized process flow, equipment list, and budget estimate — no obligation.

RICHI Machinery – Pig feed plants from 10 t/h to 30 t/h. Shipping from Qingdao to Valencia port: 20-25 days. Installation support available in Spain within 2 weeks.