Efficient Pellets. Influencing Production Parameters to make energy efficient pellets

Abstract

Feed manufacturing is an important aspect of animal production that occupies a huge share of the economics of commercial animal production. The feed produced has different physically quantifiable parameters that determine its quality, such as hardness, length, and durability. These parameters are influenced by the equipment and production characteristics such as the conditioning temperature, type of mill used for grinding, roller type, etc. We performed an experiment that analyzed the quality parameters after making pellets using the same diet but with different conditioning temperatures, rollers, roller die distance, and die dimensions. The effect of these parameters and their interactions were then studied. We used 6 dies, three with 5-mm die holes and three with 3-mm die holes with varying thicknesses, with dimpled and corrugated rollers at varying roller-die gaps. Increasing the conditioning temperature improved the durability of the pellets. Increasing the roller die gap with the thinnest and medium thickness of 5 mm die reduced the durability, whereas it improved it for the thickest die. Increasing the roller die gap generally improved the quality of 3 mm dies. Increasing the thickness of the die also improved pellet quality. Interaction effects are complicated, and there is a need for more research to better understand them