After a disastrous fire caused by an electrical failure in the feedmill in Berlo, Germany, AgriV decided to build a new feed mill at exactly the same location. AgriV produces feed structures that are in harmony with performance and animal health, individual and customer-specific. For AgriV, it was crucial to produce all kinds of feeds according to the latest insights in animal nutrition for pigs.
To realize the highest degree of flexibility and be able to produce customized feed in accordance with the requirements of the farmers Van Aarsen was selected to build this 50 tons per hour feed mill. The new feed mill is now an ultra-modern factory with the application of new technologies that support the latest insights about feed nutrition for pigs. AgriV can efficiently produce various types of feed with different raw materials structures, including hygienized meal, pellets, and crumbles.
Raw materials
Raw materials are received at the intake pit and cleaned by a magnet cleaner and a wind sifter. From here, the raw materials can be transported to the existing raw material silos or directly to the dosing silos. The level in the silos is measured by an ultra-sonic detector. In this way, at any moment, the exact quantity of product in each silo is known.
Dosing
From the dosing silos, the raw materials are weighed and dosed in one of the three macro dosing scales. The higher number of macro dosing scales guarantees fast and flexible dosing. Minerals are received in bulk at a separate intake station outside of the building and transported by pneumatic transport to the 14 existing mineral dosing silos. They are weighed in the 500-kilo dosing scale.
Sieving & Grinding
Next, the raw materials are sieved in the sieving machine, the fines are removed and dosed directly into the hopper above the mixer. They do not need to pass through the hammer mill, and therefore saving energy in the grinding process. In the GD hammer mill, the raw materials are milled to the correct size and structure. The automatic screen exchange on the hammer mill guarantees the desired screen perforation for each individual recipe, in a highly efficient manner. Within just one minute, the screen is exchanged without stopping the machine. Dust and any sparks produced by the hammers form a potential explosion risk. The bunkers after the hammer mill are equipped with explosion relief valves. Alternatively, when structures are required with minimum deviation, the raw materials are ground in the disc mill by applying both a disc mill and a hammer mill. All kinds of raw material structures can be produced.
Dosing
Micro ingredients that come in (big) bags are dosed manually in the silos. The silo deck is located in a closed room for optimal performance of the exhaust system and maximum limitation of dust emission. ArgiV invested in four micro ingredient dosing units. The maximum batch weight can vary from 100 kilos, 50 kilos, or 20 kilos, depending on whether it is dosed on the small or micro ingredient dosing units. One of the micro ingredient dosing units is equipped with the integrated precision ingredient dosing unit for dosing up to 1 kilo with an accuracy of 1 gram. The precious micro components are dosed highly accurately by the V-shaped slide openings that allow different settings and slide speed and opening. A stirring device is added for difficult-flowing components. With four dosing units in operation, four components can be dosed simultaneously, speeding up the entire dosing process.
Mixing
All components of the formula are mixed in the 8000-liter multimix paddle mixer to a homogeneous mixture. Liquids are added in the separate liquid mixer. This prevents contamination in the paddle mixer and saves cleaning costs, to ensure accurate dosing of the liquids. The bin below the paddle mixer and above the liquid mixer is set up for weighing.
Conditioning & Pelleting
From the mixing section, the compound is transported to the steam mixer and passes through the long-term vessel and keeping the meal for four minutes at a temperature of a minimum of 85 degrees Celsius. Pathogenic germs such as Salmonella are killed by hygienizing the meal. The hygienized meal can be transformed into pellets or it can leave the factory as a safe hygienized meal feed. In that case, the hygienized meal will be cooled in the double-deck meal cooler. The meal can also be transported to the pellet mills where it is compressed into pellets, with the help of the two CU900 dynamic pellet mills with motor-operated roller adjustment The ideal roller distance is set for each individual recipe. The built-in active roller slip control system detects slip and takes immediate action, virtually eliminating blocking of the pellet mill caused by roller slip. The application of an expander in one of the production lines increases the flexibility to produce exactly the feed the farmers need in the correct quality. The expander preconditions the meal and improves starch gelatinization in a short time.
Cooling & crumbling
After the pellet mill, the pellets are cooled to five degrees above ambient temperature in the counter-flow cooler. If required, the double-deck meal cooler can also be used for cooling pellets. In that case, only the lowest cooler deck is in operation. The cooling air is sucked in from the outside and passes through special filters, which guarantees extra-fine purification of the cooling air. If required, the pellets can be crumbled. Next, if the pellets or crumbs are sieved, they are freed from dust. The dust is fed back directly to the pellet mills.
Finished feed
The meal, pellets, and crumbs are transported to the finished feed silos. Here, an automatic sample taker is integrated into the line. The application of an XY bulk robot weigher and contra sets guarantees an accurate weighing and loading of the trucks in just 10 minutes.
Hygiene & Maintenance
To ensure optimal hygiene, the dust in all the internal transport systems is continuously sucked away. The dust filters are fitted with sound absorbers. Each floor is fitted with a central exhaust system enabling all areas to be kept dust-free. Silos and bins have rounded corners and cables are mounted above each other to minimize dust retention. Compressed air is used for cleaning the filters and operating the slides. A modular energy-saving compressed air system is applied. Piping exist of round piping which comes in segments and is quickly installed or replaced on location.
This new factory with a hammer mill and disc mill for optimal feed structures, combined with lines for hygienized meal, pelleted feeds, and crumbles, enables AgriV to produce high-quality feeds according to the latest standards and feed nutrition for pigs. Moreover, the factory is highly efficient, guaranteeing a low cost per ton of feed.
For AgriV, Van Aarsen was the vital link to build this new factory!