BÜHLER HAS INTRODUCED NEW, MORE HYGIENIC TECHNOLOGIES TO MEET SOCIETY’S EVER-MORE-STRINGENT DEMANDS FOR FOOD AND FEED SAFETY.

Marcel Scherrer, Managing Director of the business unit Feed, said the feed industry is heading

towards rigorous feed safety, e.g. as demanded by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the US.

Recently built feed plants demonstrated that feed safety has become a key consideration for feed plants as well as along the entire value chain.

“Achieving good hygiene is only attained through holistic thinking. It cannot be limited to a single machine,” Marcel says and adds that high quality and safe feed is the result of an elaborated plant design, starting already in the engineering and conception phase of a feed mill.

With food and feed safety in mind, Bühler solutions are designed for preventing contamination, ease of cleaning and service. Therefore Bühler integrates a dedicated food safety officer in the design team, Mr. Scherrer adds.

Also, the company’s designers pay great attention to the system integrity of the entire processes, not only on to producing excellent machines.

For all new developments, Bühler works closely with the leading feed industry associations around the world and pilot customers to reflect and implement the latest market trends. “Our aim is to create solutions that enable customers to master their business challenges”, adds Mr. Scherrer.

Hammer mills – focus on efficiency and safety

The hammer mills of the AHZC and AHZK series are compact and reliable grinding solutions, designed for minimal changeover time and maintenance.

The doors are interlocked with the rotor. As a result, the mill cannot be started while the doors are open. A fixed hammer back-locking mechanism avoids wrong installation of hammers and saves hammer installation time. The grinding screen is adjustable and easy to change.

Pelleting systems – designed for safe, high quality pellets

Bühler’s AHHC and AHHD series are designed for hygiene, quality consistency and efficiency with max. capacity of up to 30 tons/hour – depending on pellet quality and formulation

The pellet mills can be equipped with a hygienization system, consisting of a conditioner and – as option – up to two retentioners. In the conditioner, hot steam is applied to prepare the feed mash for pelleting and reduce the amount of pathogenic bacteria.

The unit is covered with heating mats to prevent condensation, and can be flushed out and dried with hot air to reduce condensation and product residues. The “first in first out” principle of the retentioning unit ensures an uniform thermal treatment of all particles. Depending on the system configuration, retentioning times are flexibly adjustable between 30 to max. 240 seconds.

“We do not want to sell the pellet mill. We want to sell the system behind it,” states Mr. Scherrer.

Bühler’s Kubex T, a new pelleting concept featuring variable die speeds, protection of roll slippage and recognizable energy savings, is the example when it comes to new technology developments. In addition Bühler recently introduced the HYMIX Plus, a retrofit compatible add-on for conventional conditioners, which reduces start-up time and ensures higher feed safety standards.

The latest innovation is the NIR (near infrared) system for online measurement of moisture, fat and protein of feed meal. Combined with a unit for moisture regulation, the system can have a ROI of as less as 12 month

Dies – best steel quality, for all pellet mills

Roman Inauen, Managing Director of Bühler’s die business, said the company offers a wide range of dies to fit customer requirements for Bühler pellet mills, as well as for dies and roller shells of all brands.

There is no limitation on hole patterns because Bühler is capable of drilling, counter drilling and vacuum hardening within its own factory facilities. Bühler dies are made of high quality grade steel alloy type X46Cr13 and pass a sophisticated heat treatment process, resulting in an outstanding die durability.

Recently, Bühler introduced a proprietary parallel hole pattern. The new pattern consumes up to 5% less energy and yields 15-20% higher throughput. The design offers advantages in reducing Steven Gao (left) and Roman Inauen forces between rollers and die with less risk of die breakage, resulting in more uniform wares.

Besides, the die can be rotated 180 degrees and put back on the machine. meaning the die can be used on both sides, making the wear more uniform. Because of this, consumers do not have to discard the half-used die because the sides have worn out unevenly.

The die is tested and run-in prior to delivery, so that it can get up to full capacity within a short time.

The holes are closed with a special mixture when they leave the plant to prevent corrosion during delivery.

Die refurbishment

Refurbishment is a unique service that Bühler offers,extending the lifetime of the dies. Typically, a die can be reconditioned 2-3 times. It is recommended that the die should have its surface frequently repaired and holes cleared to save energy and regain its full production capacity.

Bühler has opened a die refurbishment center in Jakarta and will soon add a new one in Bangkok. Bühler also operates die refurbishment centers in Japan and China.

Focus on further innovations

Bühler recently launched the COOLEXTM pellet cooler, which offers less than half of moisture fluctuations as compared to conventional coolers.

Meanwhile, Bühler is working on developing Sortex – optical sorting machine – for mycotoxin-contaminated grain, especially corn for feed production.

Sortex has become the industry standard in rice milling where it has a proven ability to sort out foreign materials and defects in rice.

About Bühler

Every day, billions of people come into contact with Bühler technologies, to cover their basic needs for food and mobility.

With our industrial process technologies and solutions, we contribute significantly to feeding the world’s population, setting a focus on food security and safety as well as reducing carbon emissions of cars and buildings. In 2015, its roughly 10,800 employees in more than 140 countries generated a turnover of CHF 2.4 billion. The global Swiss family-owned company Bühler is particularly committed to sustainability.