1-60T/H Automatic Premix Feed Mill Solution

Premix is the front process of feed production, although it only accounts for a small proportion in feed, it plays a key role.

The equipment and process required for premix production are relatively few and simple, but the equipment manufacturing precision and process requirements are relatively high. For the poultry feed factory to be transformed into a premix feed mill, the following problems are mainly solved:

• 1. The mixing uniformity of the mixer should be high, there is no mixing dead angle, and there is no residue in the discharge;
• 2. The accuracy of the ingredients must be accurate. The traditional Chinese medicine and trace elements in the production of premixed materials only account for a small amount. The ingredients must be accurate, otherwise the product quality will be seriously affected;
• 3. To prevent cross-contamination, whether it is material lifting or transportation, it is required to achieve low residue and automatic cleaning to avoid cross-contamination;
• 4. A good and clean working environment is also required in the production of premixed materials. Dust is easily generated during the production process of premixed materials, and dust has a great impact on the health of operators. Therefore, good dust removal facilities must be configured.

The materials to be crushed in the premix feed mill plant include: carriers such as corn and bran; carriers such as calcium bicarbonate; mineral salts such as copper carbonate and ferrous sulfate; cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate and sodium selenite, etc.

Grinding is to make the carrier, diluent and other raw materials meet the premix particle size requirements stipulated in the standard, so as to ensure that the components are mixed evenly and obtain the maximum biological efficacy.

For compound premixes, the particle size requirements are: all pass through a 16 mesh sieve, and no more than 10% are retained above 30 mesh; for trace element premixes, the particle size requirements are: all pass 40 mesh, and no more than 20% are retained above 80 mesh. %.

In order to effectively protect the activity of the active ingredients, the moisture content of the raw materials in the premix is relatively high, generally not exceeding 10%. Some raw materials have high moisture content or high moisture content due to moisture absorption, and need to be dried.

In general, an electric oven can be used. If the drying volume is large, a small drying room can be made. The drying room consists of a trolley for raw material trays, an exhaust fan, Electricity! Steam” heating coil and a set of automatic temperature control instrument.

Because the raw materials are all in powder form and the particle size is very small, there are many dust spots and a large amount of dust in the production of premixed materials, which is harmful to the health of workers and must be strictly controlled. The main dust generation points are: raw material feeding, manual batching table, packaging port, equipment, and places where the silo is not tightly sealed.

On the basis of following the principle of “closed first, supplemented by air suction”, the premix feed mill mostly adopts the ventilation and dust reduction method combining centralized dust removal and single-point dust removal.

Due to the small particle size of the material, it is required that the wind speed at the dust suction port should not be too high to avoid too much active ingredients being sucked away. First-level or second-level dust removal should be used, but it must be equipped with a bag filter. In order to reduce waste and avoid cross-contamination, it is best to use single-point dust removal at the manual feeding port of the mixer.

Due to the strong hygroscopicity of the raw materials and finished products of the premix, the bag of the dust collector is easy to be damp and rotted. The cleaning of the bag should be strengthened, and it should be dried regularly, and replaced in time if damaged.

Because the horizontal or animal feed premix drum mixer can handle materials with large variation in bulk density, it generates less friction and heat during mixing, and can provide a larger exposed surface when adding liquid materials, so it can be used for premixing mix of ingredients.

When choosing a animal feed premix mixer, the following characteristics should be considered: whether it is easy to add materials and suitable for adding liquid materials; whether it can improve mixing efficiency and eliminate static charges; whether it is easy to clean, etc. Any lack of any of the above features will cause serious problems.

Although mixers vary in shape, design, and process parameters, there are 2 main considerations when choosing a mixer: mixing time and surface area of internal parts. The mixing time should try to avoid static arching, the internal parts should be as few as possible, and the minimum surface area should be ensured to reduce arching and facilitate cleaning.

The manufacture of premix is different from the manufacture of compound feed, so in order to ensure the quality of the mixture and reduce storage and transportation, the same set of equipment cannot be used.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) are critical to producing high-quality premixes. The quality assurance program for premixtures should be developed based on established GMPs, which allows continuous inspection of the entire production process to ensure that the product produced after the completion of the production process meets its specified requirements.

Common quality control programs include:

• With the standard as a reference, visually observe the appearance (color, texture, etc.) of each batch of products;
• Sampling and testing the active ingredient content of each batch of premix during the mixing process;
• Keep samples/batch records of each batch of products for a certain period of time, the specific length of time is determined according to the expiration date of the active ingredient;
• For each raw material, traceable original records shall be kept.
• Inventory control and proper storage time of premixes are also very important. If possible, premixed feed products should be purchased once a month, and the storage volume and purchase frequency are affected by the stability of the product’s active ingredients and cash flow. Premixes should be stored in a dry and cool place, and a program for pest and rodent control should be developed.

The purpose of using the carrier is to physically carry the micronutrients of the finely ground powder, and at the same time ensure that the raw materials are mixed evenly during the processing.

Rice husk powder can better stabilize fine particles because of its uniformity, shape, and porosity, and is a commonly used carrier in premixes. Other commonly used carriers include: corn cob meal, wheat bran, and DDGS, among others.

The particle size of the carrier should be appropriate to ensure that the produced premix not only has good fluidity and low dust, but also facilitates the loading of active raw materials without classification.

Diluents are used to amplify or dilute micronutrients. As a flow agent, it affects the density of the premix and also acts as a filler for the premix. Diluents commonly used in premixes include stone powder, zeolite powder, etc.

The combined application of carrier and diluent can achieve the desired density, achieve maximum stability and ensure cost economy. The proportion of carrier and diluent depends on the purpose of the premix and the proportion of the compound feed.

When selecting a certain carrier and diluent to make a premix, further consideration should be given to its particle size. When the particle size of the two raw materials differs greatly, it is easy to cause the large particles to move farther in the mixing process due to the large difference in the flowability of the raw materials, resulting in classification. The flowability of a raw material or premix can be judged by observing the angle of repose.

In addition, the bulk density is also an important physical characteristic of the carrier and diluent, and large variations in the bulk density of each raw material in the premix should be avoided to reduce grading.

In low-priced premixes, the proportion of calcium carbonate is often added, so the proportion of stone powder in the compound feed is relatively high. From a nutritional point of view, this will cause an imbalance in the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the diet, thereby affecting animal performance. In actual production, cost should not be the basis for selecting carriers and diluents, but should emphasize the ability of such carriers or diluents in premixes to carry micronutrients, and their compatibility with other nutrients and compound feeds .

This step is very critical and should be completed by professional formulators or other technically trained personnel. During the formulation process of many premixes, due to the paranoia of the formulator’s personal understanding, the formulation is not reasonable.

Before making the formula, the formulator must also consider the source of raw materials, specific gravity variation and particle size, cost, processing characteristics, possible interaction effects between different raw materials, and availability of nutrients.

The availability of vitamins and trace elements varies with their sources, which should be considered when formulating high-grade premixes. It is best to have a comprehensive understanding of the sources and potency of vitamins in advance.

Formulators need to consider the stability and possible interactions of various raw materials when writing their premix specifications. Vitamin products can ensure their stability and potency by:

• Using synthetically stable vitamin derivatives; adding stabilizers;
• Add coating;
• Absorption of liquid vitamins with suitable carriers;
• use of water-soluble and water-dispersible vitamins;
• Standardized content and excessive addition of active ingredients (2%~10%);
• Use highly bioavailable vitamins.

On the premise of meeting the same production target, from a financial point of view, whether it is the optimal investment should be judged by whether the depreciation cost of production line equipment + manpower + energy consumption + maintenance cost is relatively the lowest.

At present, most premix companies lack comparative analysis of production costs under different conditions of equipment selection in the design and investment stage of production lines, which often leads to the following two situations:

• The direct investment of the premix feed mill is low and the production cost is high;
• The direct investment of the premix feed mill is high, and the production cost is high.

Neither of the above two cases has reached the relative minimum of production cost. Next, RICHI will illustrate how to calculate and judge the optimal investment of the animal feed premix production line through the selection and design of different equipment in the two processes of feeding and packaging.

• Feeding process

Taking a feeding port with a daily feeding capacity of 100t as an example, the 10-year depreciation of the equipment shall prevail. From a financial point of view, according to the optimal investment principle, that is, the equipment depreciation cost + manpower + energy consumption + maintenance costs are the lowest.

Therefore, it should be in the feeding process of raw materials and aniseed materials, using automatic unpacking machines, compared with manual feeding, can save at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost in 10 years.

• Packaging process

In the packaging process, the packaging methods currently available include manual packaging, semi-automatic packaging, and fully automatic packaging. The following are the labor costs, production capacity, and equipment depreciation corresponding to the three feeding methods.

Based on the premise that the premix feed mill capacity is 15t/h, the packaging is 25kg/package, and the packaging volume per shift is 4800 packages. The required speed of the packaging process is on the premise of 600 packs/h, the annual production cost is calculated based on the 10-year depreciation of the equipment (excluding the palletizing part).

According to the principle of optimal investment, that is, equipment depreciation cost + manpower + energy consumption + maintenance cost is the lowest. In the packaging process, semi-automatic packaging machines and fully automatic packaging scales should be used.

Compared with manual packaging, the two packaging lines can save at least cost in 10 years hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The quality of raw materials has a great influence on the actual effect of the premix. The basic requirements of high-quality raw materials are high purity and no toxic and harmful substances.

• The most important thing is the content of active ingredients, especially vitamin A and vitamin C, which are easily destroyed. Additives should be determined after actual measurement.
• Trace element compound raw materials must have the characteristics of high biological potency, stable physical properties and less toxic and harmful substances.
• In addition, for some additives, their own quality and dosage form are likely to affect other additives, so special attention should also be paid.
• When selecting trace element raw materials, many factors such as the content of its components, particle size, crystal water and content of toxic and harmful substances should be considered.
• Drug feed additives should also pay attention to safety issues. When using them, they must fully understand their use period, drug withdrawal period and precautions according to the instructions and test materials provided by the manufacturer.