Shrimp feed production line in Indonesia

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An aquafeed producer upgrading its shrimp-feed operation

The customer is an Indonesian aquafeed enterprise with an established farming customer base and experience in overseas cooperation projects. The new purchase was intended to expand its shrimp-feed operation with a coordinated production system.

Feed for whiteleg shrimp or tiger shrimp needs size and physical behaviour suited to the intended growth stage. That requirement puts fine grinding, pellet formation and final grading at the centre of the design. The selected recipe and grade define the product being made.

The company wanted additional capacity and better control over the different products passing through the plant. For sinking feed, a bag of correctly sized pellets is only the starting point: the product must also meet the agreed sinking and water-stability requirements.

The shrimp feed mill project therefore centres on a defined process and a repeatable product specification. The customer’s formulation work determines the ingredients; the equipment plan handles those ingredients through grinding, dosing, heat treatment and finishing.

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Protein meals cereal flours and measured liquid additions

The processing brief covers ingredient groups commonly used in formulated shrimp feeds. Their inclusion is decided by the customer’s formulation, ingredient analysis and supplier specifications. The list below identifies their processing roles without prescribing a complete ration.

Shrimp-shell meal, if considered, needs its own ingredient assessment because ash and chitin content affect its role in the formula. It is not automatically interchangeable with fish meal. Liquid additions also need a defined dose and application point: adding more oil before pelleting can change how the mixture binds and passes through the die.

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From fine-ground ingredients to sinking pellets

The shrimp feed production line in Indonesia uses a ring-die pelleting route. Meal preparation, conditioning before the press and hot holding after it work together to produce the intended pellet structure. Sinking behaviour and resistance to breakdown in water are then checked on the finished product.

The process is organised around the following operations. Fine grinding is specified in the 80–100 mesh range; the agreed sieve standard and required passing fraction are needed to turn that description into a measurable acceptance requirement.

• Receiving and batching: Powdered, granular and liquid ingredients follow suitable receiving routes. Ingredients are identified before storage and weighed from the batching system according to the selected recipe. Liquids and small additions have their own controlled dosing arrangements.
• Two-stage grinding: Coarse ingredients are reduced before the fine-grinding stage. The pulverising duty is checked against the agreed particle-size distribution, including the coarse fraction left on the test sieve. Fine grinding must keep up with the prepared-meal demand of the shrimp-feed process.
• Mixing and liquid addition: A double-shaft mixer combines the ground ingredients and measured additions. Fish oil and lecithin are dosed according to the recipe and the equipment arrangement. The mix needs even distribution without adding a liquid load that disrupts the following pelleting stage.
• Conditioning and pelleting: Steam conditioning prepares the mixture before the ring-die shrimp feed pellet machine forms the pellets. The feeder, conditioner and die work as one process. Small-diameter shrimp feed is sized on its own recipe and operating duty, rather than a poultry-feed capacity rating.
• Post-pellet conditioning: Hot pellets enter a controlled holding stage before final moisture removal and cooling. This provides further time for the pellet structure to develop. Retention time and chamber conditions are set for the product being made, with access for inspection and cleaning.
• Moisture control and cooling: The finishing duty is to remove excess moisture and bring pellets towards ambient conditions before grading. Required drying capacity is checked separately from the countercurrent cooler; the heat and airflow arrangement must serve the specified product moisture at the intended rate.
• Crumbling and double screening: Selected cooled pellets pass through the crumbler when a smaller feed grade is required. The screening arrangement separates the requested size, oversize material and fines. Whole-pellet products follow the appropriate grading route without unnecessary crumbling.
• Packing: Accepted product moves to quantitative weighing and bag closing. Product grade, batch identity and packed weight stay linked. Finished feed is packed only after the required product checks, with storage conditions agreed for the actual formulation.

Pellet diameter comes from the die, while density and water stability also depend on formulation, particle size and the thermal process. Samples taken after finishing and grading are checked for the physical qualities agreed with the customer, connecting the operating settings with the feed leaving the packing station.

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Feed grades covered by the line and later products to assess

The purchase is for sinking shrimp feed. A crumbler and grading screens give the customer a route to selected smaller grades from suitable parent pellets. Each grade needs its own size limits and expected yield; nursery crumbles are not the same product as microencapsulated larval feed.

Sinking fish feed or selected crab-feed products may be assessed through separate formulation and equipment trials. Floating products need an extrusion route and a review of the downstream equipment. Specialised eel and shellfish diets also have their own feeding and processing requirements, so a separate product proposal precedes any expansion.

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Ingredient storage and coordinated equipment functions

The equipment plan includes ten batching bins of 8 m³ each, giving 80 m³ of nominal bin volume. This figure describes space, not ingredient tonnage. Actual working stock depends on each material’s bulk density, usable fill level and the way ingredients are assigned to the bins.

The line is coordinated through a central PLC system for operating sequences, production monitoring and fault alarms. Operators still manage ingredient identity, recipe entry, changeovers and product checks. The layout needs access to the grinder, mixer, pellet mill and hot-holding section for cleaning and maintenance.

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Checking the hot-pellet load behind a 2 T/H product target

Finished-feed output and the hot, moist load passing through the thermal section are different quantities. The finishing equipment is sized for the water it must remove as well as the tonnes eventually packed. A simple mass balance shows why the product rate alone does not define that duty.

For illustration, assume 2,000 kg/h of finished feed at 10% moisture and a post-conditioned pellet stream at 16% moisture. Assume no dry-matter loss, no later oil addition and no circulating fines in this calculation. These are design-example assumptions, not measured production results from the project.

The 10-minute hold is an assumed case at the example’s constant wet-pellet flow. Actual retention time is set by trials and product requirements. Working volume is then selected using pellet bulk density, usable chamber capacity and the flow arrangement. Return fines, added steam or different moisture levels change the calculation.

Product acceptance should connect the agreed grade with the tests used to release it. Moisture, size distribution, sinking behaviour and water stability need named methods and limits. The equipment list alone cannot establish those results.

For smaller feed grades, record accepted crumbles separately from fines and oversized material. Suitable returns go back to a compatible product. This keeps the packing record clear and prevents material making a second pass from being counted as extra finished production.

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A purchase defined by the whole shrimp-feed process

This 2 T/H project brings ingredient receiving, fine preparation, pelleting and graded-product packing into one equipment plan. Its useful feature is the connection between those operations: a change to particle size, liquid dose or thermal treatment can affect the product at the final screen.

From the first contact on October 3, 2021, to the contract on June 2, 2022, the customer and RICHI worked through process design, quotation and commercial negotiations. The agreement brought those discussions into a receiving-to-packaging equipment purchase with a defined sinking-feed capacity target.

Engineering for this configuration aligns recipes, feed grades and site services with the equipment schedule. Steam supply, moisture-removal duty, access around the hot-holding equipment and the finishing arrangement need to support the intended product rather than only the nominal press rate.

For a shrimp feed production line in Indonesia, send RICHI the shrimp species, required feed grades, proposed ingredients and accepted-product capacity. Include the available steam and power services and any existing equipment. We can then develop a receiving-to-packaging proposal around the sinking feed you intend to produce.