There is a rapidly increasing demand for tailor-made produced feed. It challenges feed manufacturers to dose an ever-increasing number of different ingredients in small quantities. The application of specialized Small, Micro, and Precision Ingredient Dosing systemshelps to optimize the fine dosing process. These systems allow producers to accurately dose a large number of vitamins, minerals, and additives without any loss of quality, speed and production capacity.
Dosing a large range of micro-ingredients
The addition of micro-ingredients in animal feeds demands the highest possible precision in order to realize the desired effect for each animal in each phase of the animal’s life. Adding too much results in wasting precious ingredients, and adding too little results in suboptimal performance. Many feed manufacturers are faced with the challenge of having to produce formulas with an increasingly diverse range of micro-ingredients, each with their specific properties such as sticky, dusty, aggressive and abrasive. Production capacity can then quickly become a bottleneck, as sequential weighing and dosing of multiple micro-ingredients with traditional systems takes a lot of time.
Hygienic and accurate dosing technology for precious micro-ingredients
The first step in finding an optimum fine dosing solution is to analyse the recipes of the production location in question. Then, the system calculates the best combination of dosing systems to realise optimum accuracy in combination with the highest possible production speed. The final design proposal is based on an integrated system of individual dosing units, consisting of a combination of micro-dosing (up to 20 or 50 kg) and small dosing (up to 75, 100, or 200 kg), with each dosing system being able to dose eight different ingredients. A precision dosing system (up to 1 kg) can also be integrated into the micro-dosing unit.
Increased speed as a result of simultaneously weighing several ingredients
The combination of several individual dosing units allows producers to simultaneously weigh out several micro-ingredients, thereby speeding up the entire weighing and dosing process. For example, a combination of three dosing units can handle a maximum range of 24 (3 x 8) ingredients and weigh up to three times faster. The dosing systems are designed as closed systems in order to prevent any loss or contamination of ingredients. The product cells can be fitted with a stirring device for difficult flowing ingredients. Dosing slides with V-shaped openings allow for very accurate dosing as speed and rate of opening can be adapted to the specific ingredient.
Dosing of micro-ingredients in practice
Below are some common ingredients and additives with their specific properties which are accurately dosed with Small,Micro and Precision Ingredient Dosing Systems.
| Ingredient | Properties | Dosage |
|---|---|---|
| Maize gluten meal | Generally applied | Up to 10% |
| Whey powder | Precious, sticky | Up to 10% |
| Lignosulfonate | Precious, dusty, sticky | Up to 2% |
| Premixes | Precious, dusty, dangerous | Up to 2% |
| Medicinal additives (e.g., coccidiostats) | Precious, aggressive | Up to 0,5% Accurate dosing is very important |
| Dry fermented product powder | Precious, aggressive, dusty | Up to 8% |
| Calcium carbonate | Abrasive | Up to 10% |
| Mycotoxin binders or converters | Precious | Up to 0.5% |
