Fishmeal is a very important animal protein feed. China's fishmeal industry started late, but in recent years, with the increase in the output of high-yield and low-value fish and the development of animal husbandry, the demand for feed has increased, and the fishmeal processing industry has developed rapidly. The quality of fishmeal is closely related to the quality of feed products, and there are many factors that affect the quality of fishmeal. Among them, the processing technology of fishmeal and the selection of fishmeal equipment production lines are particularly important for the quality of fishmeal.
Process of fish meal processing
The fishmeal production process is mainly divided into two major methods: the dry and wet method. Further, each method is in its turn divided into different processes. For instance, the dry method is divided into direct drying processes and dry pressing processes, while the wet method is divided into pressing processes, centrifugal processes, extraction processes, and hydrolysis processes.
Because the dry method technology requires long-term high temperatures to dry the raw materials, the potential of the oxidation of the oil is higher, the fish meal produced is dark in color, easy to produce peculiar smells, and the protein content is low too, which affects the digestibility of the feed. The advantage is that the equipment is simple, requires low investment in equipment, and is suitable for medium and low-fat fish.
While the wet method uses a more common fish meal processing technology that allows the material to be precooked, squeezed, separated, and then dried. The fish meal produced has better quality and a higher protein content. Its disadvantage is that it requires more investment, and the threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises is relatively high.
What equipment is included in the fishmeal equipment production line
Since currently the most common method used in fish meal production plants is a wet method, here we mainly introduce the equipment concerned with the wet method.
The wet method technology mainly includes the following four processes:
Wet pressing process
Centrifugal Process
Extraction process
Hydrolysis process
Each process has its own characteristics and application, but the equipment used is nothing more than the following:.
Cooking machine: The purpose of cooking is to rupture the fat cells in the fish body, coagulate the protein, and fully free the oil and water from the fish body to prepare for the subsequent pressing.
Press: separate most of the oil and moisture of the cooked material and then dry it to reduce the load of the dryer and reduce the consumption of steam.
Three-phase decanter centrifuge: its purpose is to centrifuge the cooked material and separate oil, moisture, and solid residue. It can replace the press to further reduce the moisture content, reduce the content of free fatty acids (FFA), reduce impurities in fish oil, improve oil production, and prolong the storage time of fish oil.
Fishmeal Dryer: The purpose of drying is to convert wet material into dry fishmeal. The moisture content of fish meal is generally below 12%.
Fishmeal cooling equipment: The purpose is to cool the fishmeal to room temperature and prevent the fishmeal from burning fat due to the high temperature. This requires a good cooler that cools fishmeal efficiently and quickly.
Vacuum concentration equipment: Its role is to concentrate and recover the protein solution produced in the production process in order to reduce the cost of the production and increase the benefits as well.
Fishmeal deodorization equipment: The purpose of deodorization is to solve the odor generated during the production and reduce the impact on the air and the environment.