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Food extrusion is a form of extrusion used in food processing, its manufacturing process used to shape and assemble feed.It involves forcing a mixture of ingredients through a die under high heat and pressure. The extruded feed can then be shaped and sized to meet specific needs,
Here ,we talk the main steps in the manufacturing process of extruded feed as follows:
GRINDING
The raw materials that make up the feed arrive at your place ,may come in different formats and grain sizes (cereals, flours, grain legumes, etc.). All of these elements must be ground to the proper particle size for subsequent mixing and extrusion process.
MIXING
To carry out this process, the most common metheod is to use mills machine or grinder,which ensure the uniformity of the materials that will reach the extrusion section.
EXTRUDING
Food extrusion is an established and highly versatile technique ,it is the most important phase, it is a high-temperature process with short times, which minimises the degradation of the nutrients while improving the digestibility of starches and proteins. The extrusion process allows the mass production of food through a continuous and efficient system, they are widely applied for the production of food, feed, nutritional additives and flavors.
Generally, extruded food products have a high starch content. Some examples include pasta, bread, many breakfast cereals and snacks, confectionery, prepackaged cookie dough, bread sticks, some baby food, whole soy, textured vegetable protein, feeds, croquettes, some beverages and dry and semi-moist pet foods. food extruder machine is used to grind raw ingredients freely and mix the ingredients uniformly , using different shaped moulds or die , it finally produce long continuous food items such as like pellets, ring, ball, flake, star, moon, letter and so on.
To conduct this extrusion process, single or twin-screw extruders are used to compress the previously mixed materials, so that guarantee the humidity and temperature conditions required to obtain a high-quality product.
The extruder machine is fed continuously with the mixture of ingredients, and the screw compress and heat this mixture material. As it comes out of the extruder, this mixture is cut into cylinders of the desired thickness and length as per your specific needs.
Extruder machine equipment are also used for food processing, by mixing ingredients through an opening of die which is designed to produce the ideal shape and size. The food, passing through the extruder barrel, can be cut to length according to the specific needs .
The thermochemical environments inside the extruder machine may are greatly caused by the below factors:
*Screw profile
*Set temperature
*Screw speed
In the polymer extrusion industry, basically single screw extruders are the most common continuous extruders due to their various advantages like low cost, simple design, toughness, reliability, and high performance or cost ratio
The most commonly used extruders machine in the food industry include single-screw and twin-screw systems.
These factors affect the local heat conduction, heat dissipation, velocity profile, and residence time inside the extruder.
The common layout of single screw extruders consists of:
Heating elements –used to set the axial temperature profile of the barrel
Feed hopper and entry -placed upstream of the extruder
Die –placed at the other end of the extruder
Twin Screw Extruders
The twin screw extruders was called this name becasue it come with two screw in the design .The extrusioin is one process by forcing a mixture of ingredients through die,and finally produce a quantity of specifically shaped food products.
Twin screw extruders are used to transform plastic polymers and food components into a desired form, shape, and product. By using twin screw extruder machine ,it can can be pipes, technical profiles, pellets, medical devices and pet food etc.
Compared to single screw extruder , twin screw extruders have a better mixing capability that helps working with more difficult materials.
Basically ,Twin Screw extruders feature higher mixing capabilities, better control of process parameters, high speed of processing and better processing of much harder materials like PVC.
Extruder Screw
The extruder screw is the most important component of the extruder. Basically, a screw is a cylindrical rod with changing diameter and helical flights around it. This component is responsible for the conveying, heating, and mixing of the material.
Usually ,for most extruders machine, its outside diameter of the screw, from the flight-to-flight tip is constant. Basically carbon steels are the most common material which are used in screws. But there are also many other material used for screw ,like as low carbon steel, stainless steel, tool steel, nickel-based materials, and hard facing materials.
Main equipment and function introduction:
Extruder Machine:Extrusion equipment for food ,like bread, chips etc,is the process of forcing a material to flow under a variety of conditions through a shaped hole (die) at a predetermined rate to achieve various resulting products. Through extrusion process ,it enables mass production of food via a continuous, efficient system that ensures uniformity of the final product.
Sigma kneader mixer：The most effective machine that is used for heavy-duty like mixing, grinding, etc, and is commonly used for high viscosity materials mixing. From experiment to production, complete specifications, high efficiency and high quality, customized equipment according to requirements.
Horizontal ribbon mixer: Widely used for mixing powder and powder, mixing a small amount of liquid powder.
Conveyor: Including pneumatic conveying (positive and negative pressure dense phase dilute phase) and mechanical conveying (spiral bucket pipe chain and belt).