‌Feed Extruder‌

‌Feed Extruder‌ Introduction

feed extruder is a piece of equipment used to process puffed foods such as livestock and poultry feeds and aquatic feeds. It converts mechanical energy into thermal energy, extrudes and matures the raw materials and increases their volume, thereby improving the palatability and digestion and absorption rate of the feed.

‌Main functions of feed extruder‌

Improving Palatability and Digestibility of Feed

Feed expansion breaks down the fiber structure, gelatinizes starch, and partially decomposes proteins, making the feed softer and easier for animals to digest and absorb, thus increasing feed efficiency and nutritional value.

Sterilizing and Enhancing Feed Safety

The high temperatures during the expansion process effectively kill harmful microorganisms and parasites in the feed, such as E. coli and Salmonella, enhancing feed safety and reducing the risk of animal infections.

Enhancing Feed Storage Stability

Expansion reduces feed moisture content and changes its density, making it more resistant to mold and spoilage, which extends the shelf life and facilitates long-term storage.

Improving Feed Appearance and Granularity

Expanded feed usually has a granular or spherical shape that is suitable for aquatic and poultry animals, which helps reduce feed waste. Expanded feed particles also float better in water, making it particularly suitable for aquaculture by allowing control over the feed’s buoyancy in water.

Promoting Animal Growth and Production Efficiency

Expanded feed, which is rich in nutrients and easy to digest, supports faster growth and higher production performance in animals. For instance, expanded feed can improve the body shape and meat quality of aquatic animals, leading to higher yields.

Reducing the Impact of Anti-Nutritional Factors

The expansion process reduces anti-nutritional factors in the feed, such as trypsin inhibitors and phytic acid, which would otherwise hinder nutrient absorption. The reduction of these factors further enhances animals’ nutrient absorption from the feed.

Structural composition of feed extruder

Feeding System

The feeding system evenly delivers raw materials into the extruder. It usually includes a hopper, feed device, and adjustment system to control the speed and amount of material, ensuring stability during extrusion. Some extruders also have automatic adjustment devices to meet the flow requirements of different raw materials.

Heating System

The heating system raises the temperature of raw materials during the extrusion process, with common heating methods including electric heating, steam heating, or external burners. This system preheats the material, enhancing extrusion efficiency and improving the shaping effect.

Screw and Barrel

The screw and barrel are the core components of the extruder, responsible for compressing and heating the raw material. The rotating screw pushes the material through the barrel toward the outlet while applying high pressure and heat, causing expansion and gelatinization. The screw is often divided into multiple stages to heat and compress the material progressively.

Expansion Chamber

The expansion chamber is the primary area where material expansion occurs. Here, under high temperature and pressure, the material rapidly evaporates and loses moisture, causing it to expand in volume. The design of the expansion chamber directly affects the expansion quality and product uniformity.

Cutting Device

Located at the outlet, the cutting device cuts the expanded feed into the required length or pellet size. It typically consists of rotating or directional blades and can be adjusted for cutting speed and angle to produce pellets of different shapes and sizes.

Forming Die

The forming die at the outlet determines the shape and size of the expanded feed. The diameter and shape of the die holes can be changed according to different feed types and application requirements, allowing the production of pellets that meet specific needs.

Cooling System

Since the expanded feed has a high temperature, the cooling system reduces its temperature to prepare it for storage and packaging. This system usually consists of air-cooling or water-cooling devices, which stabilize the pellets after cooling, making them easier to store and transport.

Control System

Modern feed extruder come with intelligent control systems that monitor and regulate parameters such as temperature, pressure, feed rate, and screw speed during extrusion. The control system provides operators with the capability to monitor the extruder’s status in real time. This enables them to adjust parameters as needed, ensuring a stable and efficient production process.

Power System

The power system provides the mechanical energy required for the extruder, typically driven by an electric motor. The motor’s power determines the extruder’s efficiency and capacity. For medium and large extruders, selecting a suitable power system is crucial for stable operation to meet high production demands.

The main advantages of feed extruder

Enhances Feed Digestibility and Absorption

The feed extruder high-temperature, high-pressure processing gelatinizes starch, denatures proteins, and breaks down fiber structures, greatly improving digestibility and absorption. Animals can more easily digest expanded feed, allowing better nutrient intake and boosting feed efficiency.

Improves Feed Palatability

Expanded feed has a crispy texture and excellent palatability, making it more appealing to animals. The extrusion process can also mask unpleasant odors from certain raw materials, making the feed more attractive and increasing feed intake.

Sterilizes and Ensures Feed Safety

The high temperatures during extrusion effectively kill harmful microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and parasites in the feed, ensuring hygienic safety. This safer feed reduces the risk of disease in animals, lowering the need for antibiotics.

Enhances Feed Storage Stability

Extrusion reduces the moisture content and density of the feed, slowing down spoilage. Expanded feed resists moisture and mold, facilitating long-term storage and transport, which lowers feed storage and management costs.

Meets Aquaculture Needs

Expanded feed has good buoyancy, ideal for aquaculture such as fish and shrimp farming. By adjusting extruder parameters, the buoyancy time can be controlled to suit different aquatic species’ feeding habits, reducing feed waste and boosting farming efficiency.

Reduces the Impact of Anti-Nutritional Factors

Certain anti-nutritional factors in feed can hinder nutrient absorption, but the extrusion process effectively reduces or eliminates these factors (like trypsin inhibitors and phytic acid). This enhances feed’s nutritional value and utilization efficiency.

Produces Various Types of Feed

The feed extruder can produce pellets of different shapes and sizes by using various molds and process parameters to meet the needs of different animals. Whether for aquaculture, pet food, or poultry feed, the extruder adapts to produce suitable feed products.

Energy-Efficient and Environmentally Friendly

Modern extruder designs focus on energy efficiency by optimizing screw structure and processing flow to lower energy consumption while improving productivity. Additionally, extrusion generates minimal waste gas and wastewater, supporting environmental protection and green initiatives.

Application of ‌ feed extruder

Typically, the production of Feed Extruder‌ uses raw materials such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and other nutrients as the formula. Our feed extruder is specially used to produce pet feed (dog food, cat food, rabbit food, hamster food, mink food, etc.), aquatic feed (fish food, shrimp food, turtle food, etc.). For different animals, with different growth cycles,  the feed pellet size required is different, but our Feed Extruder‌ only needs to replace ring molds with different apertures or use a pellet crumbler to reach the required size.

Parameter of  feed extruder