A wise man predicted that we must feed nine billion people by 2050, pointed out justly by Darren Paris in the August issue of Milling and Grain. This is a challenge not just for the food industry but also most certainly for the feed industry. In these times of rising energy prices, shortage of resources, emissions targets and changing legislation the compound feed industry is challenged to become more sustainable. Simultaneously the feed mills manager must meet his objectives to either maximize sales or minimize the energy consumption. At the VICTAM International in Cologne, experts predicted dramatic changes for feed milling in Europe over the next 10 years. And how true this is, we don’t need to wait 10 years; it is already here today in Kalmar Lantmän in Sweden by Van Aarsen.
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The most modern feed mills in the world
Kalmar Lantmän is a leading feed manufacturer in Sweden, and with years of operational experience it had very clear goals for what it wanted to achieve with its new feed mills.
This factory, built by Van Aarsen, is presently the most modern feed mill in the world. New technologies and a high degree of automation were implemented to reach the best in:
- flexibility and efficiency
- hygiene level
- energy efficiency
- feed mill automation
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Flexible and efficient Feed mills
Serving many farmers, each with their own specific preference for feed, the mill produces about 200 recipes. Most of the Swedish farmers like to have their own mix and with this new mill and the systems inside, Kalmar Lantmän can produce mixes, in a very efficient way, for every farmer even if the batch is only five tonnes.
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- The hammer mills are fitted with automatic screen exchange
- The 52 raw material silos are set up for weighing, each with their own dosing weigher. All components of a recipe can thus be dosed simultaneously, resulting in 30 batches an hour at 4 tons each.
- C 900 pellet mills with unique die change systems allow fast die change in case of production of various pellet diameters.
- The double-deck cooler system allows a quick change of products. The process only takes a maximum of two minutes.
- If required, the pellets can be crumbled, for instance for chicken feed.
- To be able to add extra liquids on cold pellets or meal, each production line is fitted with a pellet coater.
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Hygienic production
Not only can they deliver tailored feeds for every farmer, it is all carried out in an extremely hygienic environment.
- All 5 production lines are separated and dedicated to specific animal species to avoid cross contamination.
- Also the building is divided into a “dirty” section (for raw materials) and a “clean” section (for finished feed).
- Clean rooms for steam mixer, Long Term Vessel, pellet mill, cooler and finished feed are continuously kept on over pressure to prevent contamination by dirty air.
- A long term vessel is applied to extend conditioning times at a set temperature and to ensure hygienization of the feed mash and the destruction of Salmonella.
- The incoming cooling air passes extra fine HEPA filters to clean the air and prevent any contamination from entering the system.
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Energy efficient
Energy efficiency was a pivotal feature of the whole project.
- The plant has been designed to make optimum use of gravity.
- Every effort was made to fit energy-efficient machines with energy-efficient motors.
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Feed mill automation
The whole production process is automated to optimize recipe changes, production time and overall performance of the feed mills thus allowing Kalmar Lantmän to react faster to market developments and customers’ needs.
- It only takes 2 operators to track all stages of the production process.
- Operators can make any adjustments on the spot, just by using a tablet.
- All silos, bins and mixers are equipped with weighing facilities, to see at any time where which raw materials or finished products are in the process, as well as keeping an eye on actual stock levels.
- Automatic sampling of finished products is possible in combination with the full automatic sample packing system.
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