The Consolidation of Fodder Globules - Report Example

University> Theories explaining the condensation of feed pellets by Abstract This paper aims to examine preheating temperature; moisture content and particle size affect the pellet durability and density at a particular pressure and how the conveying speed also affects the disintegration of the pellet particles. It is known that features of feedstock such as preheating temperature or steam conditioning, moisture content and particle size affect the durability and density of compacted products like briquettes and pellets. The paper examines in details, the factors that affect the sustainability of feed pellets and the types of equipment for measuring their quality. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0.Introduction 4 1.0.Methodology 6 1.1.Equipment 7 1.2.Materials 7 1.3.Experimental Method 8 2.0.Discussion 8 3.0.Conclusion 9 1.0. Introduction Livestock feed pellets are concentrated made into pellets. The pellets have the advantage of ease of handling, lack of dust and waste, and a standard composition of the pellets. They have the disadvantage of additional cost and the potential danger of destruction of vitamins by heat or compression during processing. Feed Pelleting is a common feeding technique in poultry and rabbits. Pellets of high quality are capable of withstanding the repeated handling that happens mostly during the packing process, storage, transportation, and conveying in feed lines without excess breakage of fine fragments. Feed Pelleting can be defined the process of converting the finely ground mash feeds into free flowing and dense capsules or pellets, in a series of events involving mechanical pressure and steam injection of heat and moisture. Feeding broilers with pelleted feeds have several advantages, mainly improving the performance of the birds regarding feed conversion, weight gain and enhanced feed intake (Jafarnejad et al. 2011). The animals fed on pellets diet require a lower energy needs for maintenance and take less time during eating and digestion as compared to the birds fed on mash food (Selle et al. 2012). There are more positive effects of feeding on the pelleted feeds including the killing of pathogens found in the feeds, improved mechanical handling of feed on the feed lines, selection and wastage, reduced feed dustiness, and increased feed density. Thus, to obtain the maximum potential of the animals such as the modern broilers, it is important to feed them on pelleted feeds (Zohair et al. 2012). Achieving all these benefits, the durability, and quality of the feeds must be of the highest standard, lest it will affect the performance of the animals (Lillyet al. 2011) negatively. Various methods can be applied to ensure high quality of the feeds with improved bulk handling, storage and transportation properties. The feed pellets of high quality are said to be able to withstand repeated handling that occurs in the process of packaging, storage, transportation, and conveyance on feed lines without generating or breaking of excessively delicate matter (Singh et al. 2014). The transportation of livestock feed pellets from the feed mill is always done in bulk, in can Lorries and transferred into hoppers of storage and the production site. The speed of transportation is a major determinant of the attrition of the final product. The product mass flow about air mass flow, or loading ration, bend design, mechanical characteristics and density of the matter conveyed are other significant parameters affecting the pellet breakage (Dozier et al. 2010). Pellet durability index (PDI) is the expression used for pellet quality and is measurable using a tumbling can device (Huang et al. 2015). When measuring the durability of pellet, a test sample is sieved first to remove the small particles before it is tumbled in the tumbling can apparatus for a period predefined. The fine particulate matter is then withdrawn from the dropped pellets, and the volume of intact feeds is calculated. The Pellet durability index is obtained by dividing the weight of entire feeds after tumbling by the weight before plunging and multiplying the dividend by 100. Lignotester and Holmen pellet tester are also applicable in determining the durability of pellets (Huang et al. 2015). Several factors affect the quality of pellets including processing and formulation of feed, the size of feed ingredients particle, and steam. It is important to retain the quality of the feeds until they taken by the animals (Serrano et al. 2011). Durability maintains the reliability of flow in package silos, while the produced fines source challenges, like arching and segregation in the hopper. Dust formation indicates direct loss of the pellets but also pose problems associated with the animal welfare and working surrounding (García-Maraver et al. 2011). This paper aims to outline the theories application in attenuation of the best quality of the stock feeds. It is known that features of feedstocks such as preheating temperature or steam conditioning, moisture content and particle size affect the durability and density of compacted products like briquettes and pellets. The specific goal of this paper is to examine preheating temperature; moisture content and particle size affect the pellet durability and density at a particular pressure and how the conveying speed also affects the disintegration of the pellet particles. There exists an ambiguity of bend designs for least damage of products, a suggestion for the existence of an association between technology quality, turn radius and conveying speed of the transported product. Even with high-quality products, there still is a possibility of product damage through chipping, surface attrition, and impact fracture. The use of binders, processing condition and the quality of raw materials is a determinant of the feed pellet quality. The pellet varieties differ a great deal posing a challenge for the establishment of a model for fragmentation through handling of the product. 1.0. Methodology The materials used in the sample for the study are collected and supplied by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI). Pellets were immediately collected upon discharge from the pellet mill and put into trays for cooling at a depth of approximately 3.8 cm. The pellets were tested immediately after cooling according to ASAE standards (Theerarattananoon et al. 2011). Each sample was divided into six subsamples before testing with the Holmen NHP 100 and the modified and standard KSU tumble box. At 50 RPM, the smaller samples were dropped for 10 minutes according to S269.4. The samples are shifted over a similar screen to remove the fine particles before weighed again. The percentage of PDI was then determined by dividing the final weight of the feeds by the original weight and multiplying by 100. After that, the tumbling equipment is cleaned to remove any build-up of particles in the corners. The rest of the samples are tested using the NHP 100. After finishing the effective procedure, there is the need for statistical analysis using the general linear models. The range of the two values of PDI was found and applied as a value to examine each of the methods of testing. A comparison between the testing methods was determined to establish the existence of an association between the methods. In case a correlation is notable, the statistical models for determination of PDI were singled out. 1.1. Equipment Tumbling of the test sample in a dust-tight enclosure at 50 rpm for ten minutes should be used to determine the durability and quality of crumbles and pellets. The device called seedburo PDI Tester is centered in the 12-inch sides and rotated around an axis that is perpendicular to the sides. A 2-inch by the 9-inch plate is affixed symmetrically along one of its 9-inch sides to a diagonal of one 12-inch by the 12-inch aspect of the can. A dustproof door should be placed on any side. Projections such as screws and rivets should be kept to a well wounded and minimum. Other available equipment that applies to measuring the quality of pellets includes Holmen Pellet Tester, Open Screen Tumbler, Tube Tester. These machines have become the standards in this field because of their excellent performance (Abdollahi et al. 2013). 1.2. Materials The feed formulation; applied additives and raw materials, have a direct effect on the pellet quality. Some elements hurt the quality of the pellet while others have a positive impact on the quality. Including wheat by-products or wheat grains improves the quality of pellets whereas, the corn do not bring out feeds of desired quality. Researchers have found out those proteins produce pellets of desired quality than starchy materials. The oil reduces friction generated between the particles and also has a coating effect prevent the penetration of the particles by steam, reducing the rate of starch gelatinization. The use of binding agents such as gelatin, hemicelluloses extract, lignin sulphonate, and water can lower power consumption, increase pellet throughput and quality (Thoorens et al. 2014). 1.3. Experimental Method Monitoring the pellet length is one of the simplest means of measuring the quality during the handling of the feeds. For samples taken from sampling points with similar characteristics, the longer pellets are an indication of lesser fines and greater durability. The feed lengths can be an indicator of the points of destruction when taken from multiple sampling points. The determination of the mean pellet length is not reasonable. The right procedure is measuring the number of feeds in a weighed sample of pellets and calculating the number of pellets per gram. It is sufficient to use a 10-20 g sample of screened pellets (Witwer et al. 2013). 2.0. Discussion The pellet quality and durability tests show a significant efficiency of the pelleting process in ensuring the delivery of top quality feeds to the clients. Every pellet milling machine should be designed to include a testing model for estimating the percentage some fine particles in the feeder on the farm, in the delivery truck or bag, and at the feed mill. A durability model that is well designed is capable of providing a continuous feedback of the influence of the processing variables and the formulation on the quality and durability of the feeds. A proper feedback of the quality of the products can be used in improving the quality of the pellets produced. Reducing the size of the ingredient particles influences the quality of the pellets. Some materials set back the quality of the pellet while others have a positive impact on the quality. Processing is found to have a large impact on the quality of the feeds. Passing the mash feed via a conditioner exposes it to high-pressure steam. This process is essential for damage of feed pathogen, feed semi-digestion, adhesion of particle, and starch gelatinization since the steam provides the necessary pressure and heat for achieving this standard. Letting the pellets stay for the maximum amount of time and inducing the right temperature also enhances the stickiness of the pellets and thus their quality. 3.0. Conclusion Feeds of high quality are capable of withstanding the repeated handling that happens mostly during the packing process, storage, transportation, and conveying in feed lines without excess breakage of fine fragments. It is notable that the tumbling box, when compared to the Holmen line of pellet testers, is the most suitable and consistent method for evaluating the quality of pellets. The use of large sample size and the simplicity in design of the tumbling block makes it more superior to the rest. Preheating temperature, the conveying speed, moisture content and particle size affect the pellet durability and density at a particular pressure. Reference List Abdollahi, M.R., Ravindran, V. and Svihus, B., 2013. Pelleting of broiler diets: An overview with emphasis on pellet quality and nutritional value. Animal feed science and technology, 179(1), pp.1-23. Dozier, W.A., Behnke, K.C., Gehring, C.K. and Branton, S.L., 2010. Effects of feed form on growth performance and processing yields of broiler chickens during a 42-day production period. The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 19(3), pp.219-226. García-Maraver, A., Popov, V. and Zamorano, M., 2011. A review of European standards for pellet quality. Renewable Energy, 36(12), pp.3537-3540. Huang, X., Christensen, C. and Yu, P., 2015. Effects of conditioning temperature and time during the pelleting process on feed molecular structure, pellet durability index, and metabolic features of co-products from bio-oil processing in dairy cows. Journal of dairy science, 98(7), pp.4869-4881. Jafarnejad, S., Farkhoy, M., Sadegh, M. and Bahonar, A.R., 2011. Effect of crumble-pellet and mash diets with different levels of dietary protein and energy on the performance of broilers at the end of the third week. Veterinary medicine international, 2010. Lilly, K.G.S., Gehring, C.K., Beaman, K.R., Turk, P.J., Sperow, M. and Moritz, J.S., 2011. 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Physical properties of pellets made from sorghum stalk, corn stover, wheat straw, and big bluestem. Industrial Crops and Products, 33(2), pp.325-332. Thoorens, G., Krier, F., Leclercq, B., Carlin, B. and Evrard, B., 2014. Microcrystalline cellulose, a direct compression binder in a quality by design environment—A review. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 473(1), pp.64-72. Witwer, K.W., Buzas, E.I., Bemis, L.T., Bora, A., Lässer, C., Lötvall, J., Nolte, E.N., Piper, M.G., Sivaraman, S., Skog, J. and Théry, C., 2013. Standardization of sample collection, isolation and analysis methods in extracellular vesicle research. Journal of extracellular vesicles, 2. Zohair, G.A., Al-Maktari, G.A. and Amer, M.M., 2012. A comparative effect of mash and pellet feed on broiler performance and ascites at high altitude (field study). Global Veterinaria, 9(2), pp.154-159. Read More