How Does a Destoner Work?
January 4, 2018
We often emphasize the importance of properly cleaning your incoming material in order to produce the highest-quality meal. As the old adage goes “garbage in, garbage out.” The…
Category: Engineering & Maintenance
Learn About the Latest Trends & Technologies
Optimizing Your Corn Extrusion Process
November 2, 2017
Driven by customer demand, Insta-Pro has developed a processing solution for corn extrusion. Our customers are excited for this as gelatinized corn has been shown to improve efficiency…
Motor Starters
September 7, 2017
A simple, yet often overlooked item required in extrusion facilities are motor starters. This device is essentially a giant switch to supply power to a motor. Several companies…
Automation & Process Control
August 17, 2017
There’s an old quote that says “you don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.” While this may be philosophical, it can be relevant to…
Machine Hours and Man Hours
August 10, 2017
Equipment efficiency is measured in operating hours, energy consumption, output, processing losses, and so on. Man, too, likes to measure his work time in hours. Managing employee hours…
Low Cost TSP Trials
June 15, 2017
As the world population increases, the need to feed more and more people increases as well. A hot topic during our sales discussions is the development of our…
Safety when working on Insta-Pro Extruders
June 8, 2017
Safety is often overlooked, but it is one of, if not the most important, responsibilities of the workplace. Large machinery is very heavy and consists of moving parts…
Preparing for Equipment Start-Up: What to Plan For
January 26, 2017
So you recently became the proud owner of new equipment. You heard a lot of positive feedback, saw how it works and how it produces high quality product,…
Food Grade vs. Sanitary Design
January 5, 2017
Our extruders may be best known for processing feed ingredients, but several customers are producing products for human consumption. These products can include things like fortified blended foods…
Estimating Bulk Densities of Mixed Products
December 8, 2016
Bulk density is an important metric in many things such as bagging or conveying, which we’ve written about in this past blog. Many websites and resources feature bulk…
Production Line Cleaning Part II
October 20, 2016
In Part I of my blog series, we talked about cleaning the handling equipment prior to the extruder. That part of the line sees mostly dry cool product…
Production Line Cleaning Part I
October 13, 2016
Today’s trend in the feed and food related industries calls for increased regulation with cleanliness and cross-contamination avoidance, especially where GMOs and Non-GMOs are concerned. Regulation can be…
Cleaning Equipment
September 1, 2016
In my 10 years working in service, I have seen plants varying in size, extruding several different products and using several different pieces of equipment throughout the process.…
Maintenance & Repairs: Dealing With Them Properly
August 25, 2016
In this blog I will discuss maintenance and repairs. In my next blog, I discuss the importance of cleaning and maintaining auxiliary equipment. Certain repairs can be patched…
Drive Costs Down & Profits Up with our Service Plus Program
July 28, 2016
In my 35 years with Insta-Pro, customer service has been and always will be my top priority. I have taken countless phone calls directed at helping our customers…
Die Land Length
July 21, 2016
When it comes to producing quality pellets for fish feed and pet food, there are several factors that you must consider that can control the final product you…
Keeping Your Preconditioner Clean
June 9, 2016
If you own an Insta-Pro extruder with a preconditioner you know it requires maintenance. The preconditioner is a blender vessel with a main shaft and adjustable paddles designed…
Hammermill Air Relief Systems
April 28, 2016
Awhile back, in our blog about Particle Size Reduction, we discussed several particle size reduction methods. These included rollermills, pulverizers, and hammermills. Some limitations of the hammermill included…
