From Raw Materials to Finished Feed: Inside a 20t/h Turnkey Plant

Facet Engineering was recently awarded a contract for a turnkey animal feed Plant for the production of Chicken Feed in the form of both Pellets and Mash at a rate of 20t/h. This entails the full design, manufacture, delivery and installation of a fully automated plant.

A brief overview of the project;

In order to keep the plant compact and with a relatively low footprint structural steel towers were used, along with the use of a number of chain conveyors and bucket elevators for the majority of the conveying in the plant.

A raw material intake system was required to cater for up to thirteen different products, the bulk of which being maize. This maize is conveyed from bulk silos, adjacent to the plant, and fed into a hammer mill in order to be converted into a meal.

This, along with the other raw materials, all of which are in granular or powered form, are conveyed into large holding bins. Below each bin is a feed screw conveyor system which allows all, or any of the products to be extracted and fed into a weigh hopper strategically positioned below the bins. This process allows for an exact percentage proportion and feed rate to be achieved in fulfilling pre-programmed recipes.

The combined products are now conveyed up into a ribbon blender which is positioned a top one of the structural towers. This crucial stage of blending all the ingredients into a homogenous mix, take place within minutes and ensures consistency in the final product.

Once mixed, bomber doors below the ribbon blender discharge the product into further conveyors and up into Pelletizing system position on another structural tower. This system incorporates a buffer bin and pre-conditioner augers. By virtue of heat and pressure, the perfect pellet is formed. Another important stage of the process is to cool down this hot pellet into ambient, ensuing is doesn’t break and is done by the use of counter flow air chamber Cooler, which is position below the Pelletizer with use of a high-pressure extraction fan. The now cooled pellet is conveyed into the finished product bin.

The same product can be diverted and conveyed into a Crumbler as and when required, where it is converted into a course powered product refer to as Mash. This Mash is also conveyed to the second finished product Bin. From the two finished product bins the final product is fed into Packer Weigher system, where it is measured and filled into 50kg polypropylene bags and sewn closed, ready for dispatch.