Process optimization in poultry feed mill

Abstract

The poultry feed industry is pretty much active in a lot of countries and it is achieved market acceptance. The final products are supposed to meet certain specifications to fulfill the nutritional need of animals at different life periods. The final product for poultry is shipped in the form of pelleted feed for the convenience of consumption. One of the major challenges of poultry feed production is the principal complement of equipment necessary for the local production. Imported poultry pellets are quite expensive and unaffordable for many poultry feed industries. Hence, the need to be able to produce poultry feed at lower cost yet achieve the objective of quantity and quality expected of pelleted feeds is critical to the viability of the enterprise. The study aims to investigate the effects of some operating parameters (pressure and temperature of the compounded feed) and die hole size on the pelleting efficiency, throughput capacity, and to optimize the conditions. The improvement approach is conducted by observing the main operating parameters of productivity; statistical analysis is conducted to observe the effect of those parameters on the production rate and the quality of the product. Comparison between parameter levels is done through analysis of variance to determine the significance of the tested parameters. The optimization of parameters was applied with Minitab and designed expert software to determine the best operating conditions. The obtained results showed that the downtime decreased by 77% monthly and productivity increased by 32.5% per hour and the pellet durability index increased by 1.23%. The total sales increased by 6,750,600 LE/Month.