How Much Is Fish Feed Pellet Machine?
Helping fish farmers supply healthy fish feed pellets for sale for sale at a low cost. As a reputable manufacturer of machines for producing fish feed and manufacturer, we’ve introduced a variety of fish feed equipment with affordable prices and top quality in line with local market conditions. These include extruders of fish feed feeder mixers, feed crushers coolers and dryers for feed, among others.
We offer fish feed extruders for a cost ranging between US$2000 and US$7500 depending on the production capacity the clients choose.
In addition, as the expert in fish feed machines We can tailor the capacity of production to meet customer’s requirements. Particularly the fish feed production line is able to produce 100-200kg/h. 300-400kg/h. 1t/h 2t-4t/h and more.
Basic process of Fish Feed Manufacturing
The following are the basic processes of fish feed manufacturing:
1) Batching (Automatic): The automatic plants weigh the various materials according to the formulation requirements. This is known as batching or proportioning. As per the plant's capacity, any number of silos with appropriate capacities can be incorporated. Two sets of silos, or bins, are usually installed. One for the main ingredients, and one for secondary ingredients.
Manual: This is where labor weighs each ingredient according to the formulation and then puts it into the dump bucket at the intake elevator.
2) Grinding: Grinding reduces particle size and is an important function in feed manufacturing. A grinder is used in a feed mill to increase the efficiency of handling ingredients. The grinding also improves mixing properties, feed digestibility and acceptability, as well as extrusion properties. The required texture after grinding is approximately 250 microns. (Average particle size).
3) Mixing: The feed ingredients are mixed in a feed mixer homogeneously (grains, medicines + supplements + oil). It all depends on the characteristics of the ingredients and the preparation of the feed. Efficient mixing is essential in quality feed production.
4) Condition: Conditioning adds moisture and heat to mixed feed to achieve gelatinization. It also makes the product more malleable for pelleting.
5) Extrusion: After the material has left the conditioner, it goes into the extruder barrel. This is where the main transformation of the pre-conditioned raw material takes place, which ultimately determines final product characteristics.
This stage increases the compression ratio of the screw profile to aid in the blending of water or steam with the material. In the last few seconds of dwell in the extruder barrel, the temperature of the moist dough quickly rises.
The majority of temperature rise in extruder barrels is due to mechanical energy dissipated by the rotating screw assisted with direct injection steam. Properly configured barrels will have a final moisture content of 22-25% and a temperature of 110-125° Celsius.
6) Drying: The main purpose of drying an extruded product is to lower its moisture content. The final moisture content of dried expanded extruded products must be below 10 %.
The horizontal conveyor dryer spreads the product on a belt which moves through the dryer. The product's bed is heated air that passes through it at a specific velocity. Variable Frequency Drives allow for control of speed and airflow.
7) Coating: Extruded products for animal operations that are dry-expanded apply liquid fats or flavors after drying. The absorption of warm products is improved by coating them before cooling. If oil percentage is between 3-7% and 25-25%, a drum coater can be used. Normally, a vacuum coater will be used. Vacuum infusion draws coating fluids into all the air cells of the extruded product, while atmospheric processes only result in the surface coating.
8) Cooling: The desired features of an efficient cooler include: It should remove unwanted heat and moisture from pellets in order to increase its shelf life. All sides should receive uniform cooling.
The product's final moisture should not exceed 10 percent and the temperature should be within a range of +/- 5°C.
9) Screening and Bagging: After cooling, it is important that you remove any pieces or fines from the drying, tumbling and cooling processes. These fines can be reincorporated into the raw mixture prior to extrusion to ensure that there is no product loss.
The finished product is then packed into bags after the screener. Bagging can be done manually in small and medium-sized plants. However, electronic bagging machines are more efficient for larger production. Bagging can be done electronically, which allows for greater accuracy and faster speeds.
Raw Materials Available For Fish Feed
In Nigeria there is numerous substances that are commonly used to create pellets for fish feed. The use of these pellets is standard and is widely accepted. A lot of these items are affordable and are easily available in large quantities. They are typically by-products of the agricultural sector including wheat bran or peanut cake, as well as rice bran. Some are derived from animals (e.g. blood meal, fish meal or shrimp meal) Some are derived from plants (e.g. corn, soybean meal, cottonseed meal). The majority of these ingredients are less expensive in Nigeria and are readily available throughout the year.
The most important ingredients in pellets for fish food and the sources they come from are:
- Protein: Groundnut cakes, fish meal, meal of soy beans, blood meal palm kernel cake , and Cotton seed cakes.
- Carbon hydrate: soya bean meal cassava and maize wastes.
- Lipids: Palm, groundnut kernel, and fish oils.
- Minerals: such as bone meal or common salt.
Benefits of floating extruded fish feed
Extruded feed pellets offer the following advantages over ordinary pellets:
- Improve the palatability of the feed. The aroma and palatability of the feed are improved by extruding it. This can increase the animal's appetite.
- Increased digestibility of feed. When the fodder has been extruded and expanded, its long chain structure of proteins, fats and other organic compounds is reduced to a shorter chain structure.
- Feed quality is improved. Starch matrix and protein are difficult to lose. Only after starch is broken down by the digestive enzyme can the protein be released and the protein potency improved. The extrusion also combines fat with starch to create a composite product of lipoprotein, lipopolysaccharide. This reduces the amount of free fatty acids and the passivates lipase. It also inhibits oil degradation and reduces rancidity and rancidity in grease components during storage and transportation. The extrusion reduces the amount of bacteria, mold, and fungi found in feed raw materials. It also provides sterilized, cured feed for animals, which can be used to reduce the risk of developing animal diseases and the dosage of pharmaceutical ingredients.
Fish Farming in Nigeria
Despite Nigeria's oil wealth, agriculture is still the nation's main source of income and the most important source of employment for many Nigerians. The primary source of income for 80 percent rural households is agriculture. Rural households are below the USD 1.90/day poverty level, with more than 70% being "very poor" based on daily per capita spendings.
Nigerian agriculture is a major component of livestock, which has a high potential for economic and social development. The largest economic sector in Nigeria is fisheries. It employs over 8.6 millions people directly, and another 19.6 million indirectly. 70% of these are women.
Nigeria currently produces less than 1 million tonnes of fish. This leaves a deficit of more 800,000 tons that is imported each year. Both aquaculture and capture fisheries are receiving increased attention due to their potential contribution to poverty relief, food security and income generation.