Crumbling of feed pellets just got quicker, says Bühler

We spoke to Christian Ziemann, head of product management, business unit feed, at the Swiss company, at the show to get the low down on its latest feed plant related innovations.

There was a lot of interest at the stand in the company's new cracking mill OLCC, originally launched at VIV Europe in Utrecht in June. The machine is designed for oilseed crushing, extraction meal grinding as well as crumbling of feed pellets and multistage grinding applications.

Ziemann flagged up its high throughput rates, full automation control and ease of maintenance.

He said the updated roller exchange technology allows for rapid roller replacement - in under two hours per pair. “That is the big advantage. You can save about six hours for every roll exchange using this machine.” ​

He explained the roll exchange is achieved by disconnecting the roller shell from its shafts, thereby allowing the removal of the roller shell from the machine. The bearings, pulleys and roller shafts on the other hand remain inside the machine. He said this not only protects the transmission assembly from handling damage, but also reduces labor time and handling weight.

The machine has a small footprint as well, he added.

NIR technology upgraded ​

Ziemann also told us that company has upgraded its NIR technology for use in feed plants to increase efficiency or raw material usage.

He said the new Multi NIR Inline System start up time is much faster.

Its components offer a high degree of durability against interfering factors, such as vibrations or temperature fluctuations, he added.

The measuring head and spectrometer are spatially separated, and this design allows for six measuring heads per spectrometer to be connected.

“If you look at other products in the market you can normally just use one probe per spectrometer. However, sometimes you want to know how much moisture, how much fat and how much protein you have in [raw materials] at different areas in your plant. For example, [you might want to gauge] how much moisture you have at the intake, at the mixture, at end of the pelleting process. If you can use up to six probes you can measure at different points.”​