1.       Expanded fish feed

In order to meet modern fish farms development, most of modern fish feed is made by twin-screw (or single screw) extrusion production line, which is called expanded fish feed. Adopting cereals, vegetable proteins, vitamins, minerals, fish meal and fish oil as raw materials, and adopting dry-type or wet-type extrusion as manufacturing technique, expanded fish feed is made for both carnivorous and graminivorous fishes. Compared with traditional fish feed, expanded fish feed has the advantages: (1) easier feeding management (2) lower wastage rate (3) lower water contamination (4) higher feed nutritional ingredient use ratio (5) longer storage time. Expanded fish feed improves digestibility and refined the balance of nutrients to match the needs of the different species of fish more precisely at different periods of development. At the same time, expanded fish feed improves the sustainability of the ingredients used. Based on the advantages, expanded fish feed will replace traditional fish feed in the future.

2.       Expanded fish feed samples introduction

2.1   Raw materials: corn meal, wheat flour, rice flour, corn starch, de-oil soya flour, fish meat (or waste), fish meal, animal oil, ash content, wheat bran, allicin, gunk, vitamins, minerals, food color etc.

2.2   Humidity: the moisture is no more than 15%.

2.3   Ups and downs properties: floating, half-floating, sinking.

2.4   Shapes: spherical (pellets), granular, columnar, acetabuliform, pisciform, or customrized.

2.5   Sizes: (1) diameter: from 1.5mm to 25mm(2) length: user-defined.

3.       Expanded fish feed processing lines description

3.1   Expanded fish feed processing lines features

3.1.1          Capacity range is large: our expanded fish feed processing lines capacity range is from100kg/hr to2500kg/hr. It can meet most fish farms and fish feed plant requirement.

3.1.2          Expanded fish feed processing line has wide raw materials application range. One of our users even adopts food rubbish as raw materials.

3.1.3          Our expanded fish feed processing lines’ extruders are twin-screw extruder, there is one couple of screws inside the barrel. The raw material of screws is 38CrMoAl (standard: GB/T 3077-1999). This material’s hardness and strength performance is excellent, which can bear high temperature and high pressure.

3.1.4          Our twin-screw extruder has self-clean function.

3.1.5          Our extruders, dryers and cutting machines (if any) are equipped with inverters. The inverters are famous brands (Delta, LS, ABB, Siemens etc.).

3.1.6          Our expanded fish feed processing line automation degree is high, it need only 2-4 workers to operate.

3.1.7          The production factors can be quantized and controllable.

3.1.8          Expanded fish feed processing line not only makes fish feed, it can be adopted to make the other feed (eg. bird feed, shrimp feed, pig feed) or pet food (eg. dog food, cat food) as well.

3.1.9          We can custom-make all the machineries for expanded fish feed processing line as per users’ requirement. We supply OEM goods.

3.1.10      Our twin-screw extruders are equipped with forced lubrication system. The driving method can be tape drive or direct-connected.

3.2   Expanded fish feed processing line work flow

3.2.1          Work flow: Raw material treatment---Extrusion---Drying---Flavoring---Packing & Detection

3.2.2          Machineries description in each process

3.2.2.1    Machineries in raw material treatment: (1) Grinder or grinding group (option), used for grinding raw materials. (2) Bone broken machine (option), used for broken big size raw materials into small size pellet. (3) Colloid grinder (option), used for grinding small size bone or meat into colloidal material. (4) Mixer (include propeller type mixer, vertical type mixer, dry powder type mixer), used for mixing all raw materials and adding appropriate water (don’t need to add water into dry powder type mixer), to make the raw materials uniform.

3.2.2.2    Machineries in extrusion: (1) Conditioner (option for small capacity lines, necessary for big capacity lines), used for pre-conditioning raw materials. (2) Twin-screw extruder, used for extruding and shaping.

3.2.2.3    Machineries in drying: different dryers. Our dryers’ heating power source can be electricity, gas-fired burner (Baltur,Italy), oil-fired burner (Baltur,Italy) or steam (from boiler). It is up to users’ local power situation.

3.2.2.4    Machineries in flavoring: (1) Flavoring hoister, used for hoisting self-finished feed and adding seasoner. (2) Oil sprayer, used for spraying oil on the surface of self-finished feed, make sticking seasoner easier. (3) Single drum, used for mixing self-finished feed and seasoner (ancillary use with flavoring hoister). (4) Double-drum, used for adding seasoner, and mixing it with self-finished feed.

3.2.2.5    Machineries in packing & detection (option): (1) Cup type packing machine, used for packing feed with small size bag by heat-seal. (2) Multi-head weigher packing machine, used for packing feed with medium size bag by heat-seal. (3) Big size bag packing machine, used for packing big size bags. (4) Weight detector, used for detecting the goods after packing. It can get rid of the finished product with unqualified weight. (5) Metal detector, used for detecting if there is any metal inside the bag and removing the unqualified one. (6) Weight and metal all-in-one detector, used for detecting both weight and metal, and removing the unqualified product.

3.2.2.6    The other machineries may be adopted: (1) Transport machineries, they are screw conveyor, air conveyor, cooling conveyor, hoister, vertical type bucket elevator, Z type bucket elevator, vacuum suction machine and negative pressure suction machine. They are used for conveying raw materials, self-finished product and finished product between the other machineries. (2) Vibrating screen (option), used for screening feed and removing dreg. (3) Stock bin (option), used for storing raw materials or finished product. (4) Boiler (option), used for supply steam to conditioner, extruder and dryer. Its power source (electricity, gas, oil) is due to user’s local power situation.

4.       Twin-screw fish feed extruders’ models and parameters (heated by electrical rings)