Plant Layouts
February 5, 2013
Here at Insta-Pro, we not only sell equipment, but we have the unique opportunity to provide engineering services as well. This can prove to be a valuable resource…
Category: Engineering & Maintenance
Learn About the Latest Trends & Technologies
Cooler Maintenance
January 16, 2013
Cooling of post extruded products is important, especially as it relates to the production of Full Fat and ExPress Soy. Acceptable levels of urease and trypsin inhibitors, achieved…
Oil Press Cage Maintenance
December 12, 2012
Of all the maintenance duties involved with an ExPress® (extruder and oil press) System, replacing cage bars and reshimming the cage is probably the most important. And most…
Particle Size Reduction
November 22, 2012
Regardless of your feed production process, there is a good chance that you will have to grind material to a suitable size for processing. In the case of…
Water Injection
November 8, 2012
When we talk about water injections as it relates to Insta-Pro extruders, we generally think about production of shaped products such as pet foods, fish feed, etc. There…
Mechanical Oil Pressing
November 1, 2012
Oil extraction is often a goal with seed processing. Oils can be harvested from a variety of seeds and a common method is through an oil press. This…
To Grind or Not to Grind
October 18, 2012
Recently the question of whether to extrude whole or ground soybeans has come up several times. So now is a good time to discuss the pros and cons…
Extruder Screw Design and Purpose
October 11, 2012
At its core, the extruder is a very simple machine. The various configurations of shaft speed, number of chambers and types of screws/steamlocks enables the operator to create…
Spare Parts
October 4, 2012
Nowadays it’s a real balancing act to keep the costs associated with a feed business down. Being competitive with input costs that change daily can drive you crazy.…
Soybean Dehulling – How Does it Work?
September 20, 2012
A topic we come across often is the need, or want, for soybean dehulling. Dehulling (or decortication) is the process of removing the hull of a seed and…
Important Parameters for Processing Soybeans – Part II
September 13, 2012
In my previous blog post, I discussed two important parameters to monitor when pressing soybeans (moisture and steam extraction). Now, we will focus on the other two important…
Statistical Process Control (SPC): Quality Tools for Your Plant
August 30, 2012
An area sometimes overlooked within a plant is quality control. Quality control does not have to be limited to visual appearance only, though. It is easy to associate…
Important Parameters for Pressing Soybeans – Part I
August 28, 2012
The process of pressing oil from soybeans appears at first glance to be a pretty simple process: you extrude the soybeans and run it through an oil press.…
Start-Up Time
August 8, 2012
After doing hundreds of equipment start-ups over the last 30 years, I’m here to tell you it can be a wild time that comes with emotional ups and…
How Does an Extruder Work?
July 25, 2012
We should probably start with what an extruder is. In fancy terms, it is a positive displacement machine designed to apply shear forces to raw ingredients in order…
Vibration
July 11, 2012
Anybody who owns more than one extruder will tell you they have one extruder machine that vibrates more than the other. Why is this? And what can you…
Conveying and Product Transfer Options for Food and Feed Manufacturing
June 13, 2012
When designing a manufacturing process, product obviously has to get from point A to point B. The typical way to do this is through conveying. This is a…
Preventing Maintenance Issues
May 30, 2012
Do you ever wonder how to correctly prevent maintenance issues on your extruder machines? The following is an excerpt from a short article published in Feed and Grain…
