September 27, 2006

 

Victam to address use of modern technology in compound feed production

 

Press release

 

More exacting customer requirements, intensified competition, official directives and changing market conditions increase demands on compound feed producers.

 

Many compound feed enterprises increasingly recognise that the use of modern technology improves profit. Victam International 2007, set to take place at Utrecht, the Netherlands, from May 8-10, 2007, will be a showcase of current trends and developments that meet the needs of today's feed industry.

 

Reduced costs, broader and greater diversification of equipment, production of high quality and safe products, reduction of downtime as a result of longer machine life, longer maintenance intervals and improved operational safety are only some of the ways that modern and correctly used technology can improve performance in the field of compound feed technology.

 

An effective means of cost reduction is to lower energy consumption, which also lessens environmental impact.  Significant price increases over the past two to three years and a general fuel shortage, suggest that high costs can be expected in the future for energy-intensive compound feed production. Higher taxation for energy-intensive industries will also impact on the bottom line.

 

Because of relatively low energy costs in past decades, many production plants now need to see how they can catch up in terms of operational investment that can help offset these increased costs.

 

Energy saving potential is a clear requirement for new feed technology. In particular, modern air pressure systems, frequency controlled electric motors and reduced steam production can help lower the use of energy. Seemingly small measures should not be overlooked as sometimes, a small cause creates a big effect. An example is the use of energy saving lamps that can lead to a noticeable cost reduction.

 

Greater saving potential should always be sought with the desired particle size reduction and raw material characteristics in mind. Besides familiar measures for saving thermal energy, new concepts have been developed over recent years in terms of recovery of thermal energy from drying and cooling of the air, sometimes cleverly combined with a closed exhaust air circuit with an integrated odour reduction system.

 

Electrical consumption can also be lowered significantly by suitable conveying solutions. The same goes for selection of the most suitable particle-size reduction or a combination of particle-size reduction systems.

 

An important trend in compound feed production is customised, just-in-time production in multi-product plants. The bigger number of recipes creates logistical and technological challenges in the production process. Frequent product changes necessitated by the variety of formulations create the risk of carryover of essential micro-ingredients and hence cross-contamination becomes problematic. Older plants are often unable to meet the greater flexibility and safety demanded for working accuracy.

 

These risks can be reduced significantly by implementing processing steps to reduce carryover and by stringent procedures. Elevator boots that require minimal cleaning, substitution of screw conveyors, shorter conveying distance, correct dimensioning of pneumatic conveyor systems and complete-emptying mixers are some important measures that can considerably reduce carryover in the plant and can be implemented within controllable expenditure.

 

End-of-line measures - the finishing of diets by adding, among other things, essential ingredients, at the end of the process by bulk blending or post-pelleting application (PPA) - offer several advantages. With integration of this step in the production process, disadvantages of just-in-time production can be greatly minimised: complex logistics of the production process, which are susceptible to mistakes; increased wear and power demand by frequent starting and stopping of the machines and to a great extent, possible damage to sensitive additives such as enzymes, probiotics and vitamins by hydrothermal mechanical treatment.

 

The range of different application possibilities, such as addition of liquids (including fat and/or liquid formulated additives) and dry ingredients to the semi-finished product, and blending of pelleted semi-finished products, provide improved accuracy and greater flexibility in production planning.

 

High product safety is a basic requirement of feed production. Special consideration must be given to elimination of bacteria, pathogenic germs, and mould, and to prevention of contamination and recontamination. Interesting concepts have been created by machine and plant builders specifically for this purpose: the application of hygienic design principles at the concept stage of equipment and devices, creation of defined treatment conditions and avoidance of germ-laden cooling air.

 

Traceability demanded by legislation for all raw materials coming into the feed mill and for finished products is clearly simplified by modern IT systems, with uniform nomenclatures for product types and distribution also creating transparency in the chain required by legislation.

 

By establishing control of product quality and safety during processing, official objections or claims of recourse can be met very effectively. A condition for this is reliable sampling procedures in the receiving as well as production areas that guarantee representative samples are taken.

 

Because sampling is a basis for further material investigation, negotiation with trading partners and traceability, sources of error should be minimised as much as possible. Feed mills increasingly use automatic or semi-automatic sampling equipment in the receiving area and in processing. Additionally, many possibilities exist for obtaining essential information about composition, structure and moisture content of mixes and single ingredients by quick analysis. Meanwhile, online-NIR systems are used in feed plants for control of moisture levels and/or for determination of essential ingredients.

 

In these intensely competitive times, minimising downtime through application of modern technology takes on even greater importance. Besides interruptions from, for example, wear and tear, which have clear consequences for the most part, fires or dust explosions can also result in serious material and personal damage.

 

Avoiding a dust-explosive atmosphere, preventing ignition sources, as well as limiting the spread of a local explosion to other plant areas through constructive measures raise operational safety to the status of an essential measure, especially for new buildings and in procurement of spare parts.  The zones as designated by ATEX categories must be followed for devices and protective systems according to the law.

 

As a rule of thumb, the higher the requirements by zone, the higher the expenditure required for machine technology. By common sense measures, in particular for primary and secondary explosion protection (such as by a modified aspiration design, metal separation before critical elevators, consideration of certain minimum standards for conveyors, mills, storage as well as sifters) and correct ATEX zoning, moderate investment can lead to clearly improved operational safety that meets both legal and insurance requirements.

 

Qualitative improvements to feed or nutritional value (such as energy content, levels of anti-nutritional factors, abrasion resistance of pellets) are essential preconditions for more added value. In general, more detailed targeted improvements are necessary.  Current research indicate for example that vacuum technology can raise significantly the fat content as well as the exposure period of products with simultaneously reduced abrasion.  The result is a new product with improved characteristics that can provide competitive advantages.

 

There are many feed mills that demonstrate how application of modern technology improves efficiency and reduces risk. Whether the investments required are also really worthwhile can only be determined by weighing the predicted use against the costs. Victam International 2007 will provide an important and indispensable platform to address this issue and others.