Dosing water and fat without real-time data
An animal feed producer processes raw materials from powder to pellets. Fluctuations in moisture, fat and protein directly affect pellet quality, energy consumption at the pellet mill and the efficiency of the whole line. To keep them in check, water and fat have to be dosed at the mixer according to the actual composition of the material.
Lab tests could not deliver that. Results came too late for high-throughput production, so recipes ran with safety margins and the pellet mill had to cope with load peaks.
The measuring points are in dust Ex zones at the mixer, feed hopper and pellet mill feeder. Any sensor there had to be explosion-protected and robust enough for a dusty environment.
One spectrometer, several Ex-protected measuring points
Polytec installed explosion-protected NIR sensor heads in dust Ex design directly at the critical process points: mixer, feed hopper and pellet mill feeder. They measure moisture, fat and protein continuously, with less than one second per measurement.
All sensor heads share a single spectrometer, so several process stages are monitored at the same time without interrupting production. The measured values are used to dose water and fat precisely at the mixer and to stabilize the material before it reaches the pellet mill.
Why the feed producer chose Polytec
Three points made the difference. The compact ATEX/IECEx sensor heads fit even at tight installation points in the feed mill. Multiplexing lets one spectrometer serve up to six measuring points instead of one analyzer per point. And open software and interfaces connect the measurement to the existing process control system.
Stable pellet quality with less energy
With water and fat dosed to the actual composition, the feed producer no longer needs large safety margins in its recipes, and the pellet mill runs more evenly.
- Stable pellet quality: uniform moisture, fat and protein levels and fewer fines
- Lower energy costs: smaller recipe safety margins and fewer load peaks at the pellet mill
- Safe operation: measurement directly in the dust Ex zones without compromising explosion protection
Want to monitor moisture, fat and protein in your feed mill? Let's talk about your process.