From May 31 to June 2, 2022, Brabender will exhibit at the world’s largest exhibition for animal feed processing, VICTAM International in Utrecht (Netherlands). At booth 302 in Hall 2, Brabender will present a selection of its equipment for analyzing the physical properties of raw materials used in the animal feed industry and for the extrusion of animal feed pellets.

Testing moisture and viscosity of a wide range of raw materials

For determining material moisture, the MT-CA offers particular time and automation advantages over the conventional oven drying method. For example, the desiccator usually used for cooling the sample is no longer required. The rotating sample carousel allows up to ten samples to be loaded at different times without disturbing or distorting the ongoing measurement of the other samples.

The ViscoQuick can be used to measure the viscosity behavior of various starch-based raw materials after gelatinization at low temperatures (e.g. 30 °C or room temperature) via rapid heating and cooling ramps. Compared to previous laboratory viscometers, additional quality differences between different raw materials can be visualized by cooling below 50°C. Different paddle geometries extend the application range of the ViscoQuick to the determination of the absolute viscosity of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.

The Convimeter II is used for continuous inline measurement of the viscosity of liquids or pastes (e.g. feed mixtures) during the production process. The advantage is direct access to current viscosity data for production monitoring and quality assurance. The Convimeter II can be used both within a control station system and in stand-alone operation.

Testing the extrusion of animal feed pellets on a laboratory scale

Brabender offers various solutions for developing feed formulations using laboratory-scale single- and twin-screw extruders. For example, different raw material blends can be tested for their processing properties at different process parameters. For example, fish feed with different sinking properties (depending on the degree of expansion) or fat content and thus for fish with different nutritional habits can be produced.

Brabender extruders can also be used to optimize processes in animal feed production. In this context, Brabender is presenting the results of a research project with Evonik Operations GmbH and Fulda University of Applied Sciences. The project partners have developed a process for increasing the fat content in extruded fish feed pellets without an additional vacuum coating step by adding silica and will present it at the Aquafeed Extrusion Conference taking place at the same time as VICTAM International on June 1, 2022.