Batangas State University

Graduate School

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.1 Introduction

Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) which was first established as farmers

association in 1969 but changed its name to the former name in 1997 has already positioned and

envisioned itself to be recognized as a world class cooperative empowering stakeholder for

sustainable progressive life. It can be deduced from their vision that the cooperative has

demonstrated its unwavering support towards providing agricultural products to members and

non-members alike by continuously developing and offering competitive quality products and

services and adopting technologically advanced processes to enhance or improve the life of its

members and the community at large. No wonder these important quality attributes has earned

the cooperative has the won the cooperation numerous accolades both home and abroad most

notably among them is the Platinum award Gaward Pitak 2013 land given the bank of the

Philippines and internationally-accredited animal feed manufacturer of the year in 2013.

These noble feats do not come as a surprise neither where they unnoticed given that the

cooperative has incorporated important values that is visible in all segment of its business

operation such as trust in God, integrity, excellence, team work as well as nature stewardship as

an integral part of its business operation that its employees should explicitly exhibit. This to a

large extent has helped to the cooperation to be one of the key players in the animal feed

production sub-segment of the agricultural sector of the local economy of the Philippines. All

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thanks to its carefully planned and well-articulated vision and mission of its founders right from

the company’s inception.

With its wide array of agricultural products and services, it is no doubt that SIDC is one

of the major producers and distributors of animal feeds and other related services in Batangas

city and beyond. The company owns and operate its own state of the art feed mill plant that on

an average produces about 9,000 bags of animal feed per day. The feed mill plant which is the

focus of this study is used to produce finished animal products such as mash, pellet, poultry,

broilers and ruminants. Given the huge output of animal feed produced in a single day, it is

inevitable that its machineries (hammer mills) would experience some challenges or difficulties

that affect the quality of animal feeds in the feed mill plant.

Due to its great features such as simplicity, easy to use and low maintenance cost,

flexibility and very high capacity for crushing several types of agricultural products for animal

feed production, the hammer mill has become the most widely used milling machine in the

production of animal feeds by both small and large scale farmers (Scholten & McEllhiney,

2015). Besides other factors such as screen size, grinding rate, tip speed and clearance were

found to also affect the performance and efficiency of hammer mill (Lopo, 2002; Hall & Davis,

2014). Hence, it becomes imperative to investigate the efficiency of hammer mill as used by

farmers for better utilization through several examinations to improve its performance

specifically at the animal feed mill plant of Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative.

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FIGURE 1. Hammer mill (Source: SIDC feed mill, year 20119)

To process raw materials such as corn, sorghum and soya bean used in animal feed

production it is essential to reduce the particle size. The raw materials used in animal feed

production have to be mixed and milled through a basic and instrumental process called

grinding by feed manufacturers. Duragic et al., (2002) estimated that raw materials used in

animal feed production by feed manufacturers have to be around 80 percent whereas the

remaining 20 percent come from other non-agricultural products such as acids and salts. All

kind of agricultural produce milled, is utilized in the production of animal feed.

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The plant layout of the cooperative clearly shows the area where the research will be

carried out. The research is focused on the issues with the beaters of mill 2 and mill 4 because

these are the milling machines currently in use for the production of animal feeds in the

cooperative. The mill 2 and 4 has the same specification and design and as such were meant to

produce the same quantity of feeds.

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Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative Production Process Plant Layout

FIGURE 2. SIDC Plant Production Process (Source: SIDC feed mill, year 20119)

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The company’s production process plant layout shows the process involved in the

production of animal feed namely; receiving section, batching section, grinding section, mixing

section, pelleting section and bagging section.

Receiving Section

Ingredients that have been weighed and inspected are ready for unloading into the receiving

section. In the receiving section there are varieties of equipment used to transport/convey, clean

and monitor the ingredient:

• Conveying System - There are many different types of equipment for conveying feeds from

one part of a mill to another or from one piece of equipment to another. Some are designed to

operate horizontally, some on a slope other elevate the material vertically to a different level of

the building. The requirement for elevators and conveyors will depend on how automated the

mill is to be and how its plant is laid out.

The utmost use of such equipment is made in the modern animal feed mill (often using

pneumatic systems) to minimize labor needs and to maximize the use of land by building multi-

story rather than horizontally arranged plants. The types of equipment for conveying/cleaning

ingredients/feeds includes, air locks, augers, belt conveyors, bucket elevators, cleaners, drag

conveyors, screw conveyors, pneumatic conveyors, divertors, elevator legs, magnets, separators,

slide gates, turn head distributors and vibrators.

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• Bulk ingredients storage - Processing feed requires storage of ingredients in either

bulk or bagged form. Micro ingredients such as vitamins or medications are often stored in

bagged form, while ingredients such as soybean meal or decal are stored in bulk form.

Ingredients stored in bulk form are delivered to the feed processing center in 3- to 20-ton

shipments. Bulk ingredient bins should be used exclusively for one ingredient. For example,

soybean meal should not be placed in an empty-dical bin if the soybean meal bin cannot hold all

the meal when delivered.

• Types of Storage - Feed ingredients are stored or temporarily held in a variety of

structures. The following are normally employed:

• Ground level, flat-bottom bins with unloading auger is normally used for the storage of

grain. These bins may be sized for a two-week to one month supply (in systems where all grain

is purchased), or they may hold a one-year supply when the producer is feeding grain produced

on-farm.

• Ground level, hopper-bottom bins are normally used for soybean meal, complete

rations and/or grains, such as oats, that are required in relatively small amounts. These bins cost

two to three times as much per ton capacity as flat-bottom bins.

• Overhead bins normally are used to provide gravity flow to processing or mixing

equipment. Because these bins are expensive (about twice the cost per ton capacity as ground

level, hopper-bottom bins), their use must be justified by flexibility, efficiency and labor savings

in feed preparation. Overhead bins in high volume systems are sometimes used to temporarily

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hold complete rations. Overhead bins are called working bins and are not intended for long-term

storage.

• Bagged ingredients are normally stored on pallets or a raised wooden platform. Small

pallets can be moved by a portable hand-truck.

Batching Section

An automatic batching system differs as it requires a great deal more space. Normally 8-

12 bins are positioned over, in which the different ingredients used in the feed are kept in each.

Through the use of process automation and feed formulation software, the measuring

(dosing/batching) of each ingredient are controlled from the control room via a computer.

The automation of this system improves productivity and increases both precision and

output. With the system automated the next batch is prepared as the prior batch is being mixed in

the mixer.

Advantages of an automated batching feed mill are obviously in the reduced need for

labor, higher productivity and higher accuracy in measurements. On the other side the size and

expensive of an automated batching system may be out of reach of some feed producers.

Grinding Section

In the feed processing process there may be a number of ingredients that require some

form of processing. These feed ingredients include coarse cereal grains and corn which require

particle size reduction which will improve the performance of the ingredient and increase the

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nutritive value. There are a many ways to achieve this particle size reduction here we are looking

at using hammer-mills, for information on roller mills.

Both hammering and rolling can achieve the desired result of achieving adequately

ground ingredients, but other factors also need to be looked at before choosing the suitable

method to grind. Excessive size reduction can lead to wasted electrical energy, unnecessary wear

on mechanical equipment and possible digestive problems in livestock and poultry

FIGURE 3. Hammer Rotor and Grinding screen, (Source feedmachinery.com)

For more in-depth information regarding what actually occurs to the ingredients during size

reduction.

• General Design - The major components of these hammer mills, shown in the picture, include:

• A delivery device is used to introduce the material to be ground into the path of the
hammers. A rotor comprised of a series of machined disks mounted on the horizontal shaft
performs this task.

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• Free-swinging hammers that are suspended from rods running parallel to the shaft and

through the rotor disks. The hammers carry out the function of smashing the ingredients in order

to reduce their particle size

• A perforated screen and either gravity- or air-assisted removal of ground product. Acts

to screen the particle size of the hammer mill to ensure particles meet a specified maximum

mesh-size.

• Feeder design - Materials are introduced into the paths of the hammers by a variable speed

vein feeder. This type of feeder can have its motor slaved by a programmable controller to the

main drive motor of the hammer mill. The operational speed of the feeder is controlled to

maintain optimum amperage loading of the main motor.

Mixing Section

Mixers are used in feed mills for the mixing of feed ingredients and premixes. The mixer

plays a vital role in the feed production process, with efficient mixing being the key to good feed

production. If feed is not mixed properly, ingredients and nutrients will not be properly

distributed with it comes time to extrude, pelletize the feed, or if the feed is to be used as mash.

This means that the feed will not have even nutritional benefit would be bad for the

animal/fish/shrimp that are feeding on the feed.

There are a number of different types of mixers used in the feed industry with the most

widely used being:

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 Vertical Mixer - Used in small farms, they consist of a vertical screw which takes

material to the top where it falls back down again, and repeats that process to mix

materials

 Horizontal Mixer - Comprising of paddles or blades attached to a horizontal rotor, these

mixers are normally mixer and can usually have a higher consistent homogeneity and

short mixing times.

The vertical mixer (illustrated) consists of one or more vertical screws which elevate the

ingredients to the top of the mixer where they fall by gravity to the bottom, to be mixed and re-

elevated.

FIGURE 4. Vertical Mixer, (Source, chemical Pharmaceutical, Paint Machinery, ETO Sterilizer,

Autoclave manufacturer in India

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Vertical mixers are the most common type found in small livestock feed mills. However,

the vertical type is less well suited to aquaculture, poultry and fish feeds than the horizontal type,

which are much more efficient in blending in small quantities of liquids (such as added lipids) or

in mixing ingredients with different particle sizes.

Horizontal mixers consist of a series of paddles or metal ribbon blades mounted on a

horizontal rotor within a semi-circular trough. The blades move the material from one end of the

mixer to the other, tumbling it as it goes. These mixers usually discharge the mixed product from

the bottom, using the same mixer blade action. See above for inside views of both a paddle mixer

and a ribbon mixer.

FIGURE 5. Horizontal mixer (Source: SIDC feed mill, year 20119)

Another type of mixer, which is similar to the horizontal type in action, has a bowl-

shaped or flat-bottomed container in which a series of paddles are mounted on a spindle driven

by a motor mounted either above or below the mixer. This type of mixer has the same

advantages over the vertical type of mixer as the horizontal mixers mentioned earlier. In addition

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it is cheap and is therefore frequently used in farms, particularly in South East and South Asia. It

can also be used for mixing moist feeds.

Pelleting Section

A pellet mill is a type of mill used to create cylindrical pellets from a mixture of dry

powdered feedstock, such as flour, sawdust, or grass, and a wet ingredient, such as molasses or

steam. The pellets are made by compacting the mash or meal into many small holes in a die. The

die is usually round and the pellets are pushed from the inside out. Pellet mills are used in the

production of animal feeds, and of wood and grass fuel pellets for use in a pellet stove.

Pellet mills are unlike grinding mills, in that they combine small materials into a larger,

homogeneous mass, rather than break large materials into smaller pieces. In this way, pellet mills

are similar to extruders. Feed stocks for pellet mills can sometimes break down and then re-form,

or polymerize, under the extreme heat and pressure of the pellet mill. Pressures in the "Die" can

reach up to 25,000 psi.

The process of pelleting consists of forcing a soft feed through holes in a metal die plate

to form compacted pellets which are then cut to a pre-determined size. The machinery which has

been developed for this purpose is now very diverse in design and there is much controversy

between different equipment manufacturers as to which type is the most effective. Pelleting is a

key to the production of high quality nutritional feeds as they ensure that the feed formulation is

in the correct quantities for all that eat them. Each bite of a pellet will have the same designed

formulation ensuring all the stocks are feed as intended. Most pellet mills now have one or more

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conditioning units mounted above them where liquids such as water to improve pellet ability.

The water is sometimes added in the form of steam which softens the feed and partially

gelatinizes the starch content of the ingredients, resulting in firmer (and for aqua feed more water

stable) pellets.

• Steam Boiler - Where steam is used in the pelleting process, a steam boiler is needed. A pellet

mill with a capacity of 1.0-1.5 tons per hour of pellets would require a steam generation plant

capable of producing about 60-90 kg/hour of steam at 100-150 psi.

FIGURE 6. Component Parts of a Conventional Pellet Mill (Source: ADCP/REP/87/26)

From the conditioner, the feed falls into the center of the pelleter itself. In the pelleter two

or more rollers and feed ploughs push the material through the holes of the die plate.

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Source, ADCP/REP/87/26

FIGURE 7. Feedmill Pelleter

Usually the die plate itself rotates, and on its outer-side stationary knives cut the pellets to

a pre-set length. From there, they are transferred to a cooler/drier to remove the heat which is

generated during the pelleting process or is often added during steam conditioning. The moisture

content of the pellets also needs to be reduced for proper storage.

Pelleting and the efficient operation of pellet mills are specialized subjects on which

many books have been written. All makers of pelleting equipment provide instruction in their use

and some organize training courses in this and related topics.Die hole sizes usually range from

1.5 mm (shrimp) up to 9.5 mm. The thickness of the die plate helps to determine the

compactness and stability of the pellet. Pellet dies can be up to about 90 mm thick.

Bagging Section

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From the finished product bins there are a wide number of available options for storing or

bagging the feed. If finished feed is for own use the feed will be transferred to the storage

location.

For larger scale operations feed will either be bulk transport, loading directly onto trucks

or ships or it will be packed into bags. Packaging systems are available in both manual and

automatic form. For the manual system, the feed is deposited into bags positioned on a weighing

scale release is done upon a manual gate.

An automatic system would normally comprise of a computer-controlled system, where

the finished feed is weighed by the computer, then pneumatically discharge into the bags.

Weighed bags would then travel along a conveyor where machines are available for sewing the

tops of the bags in which dry feed may be placed for storage.

A Milling machine which comes in different sizes, shapes and types such as hammer

mill and roller mill – the most widely utilized mills in animal feed production (Ziggers, 2001)

are utilized in grinding the various components used in animal feed production process by feed

manufacturers. A hammer mill is therefore used to reduce the particle size. A hammer mill is an

electrical machine powered by a revolving beater used to crush or grind farm or agricultural

produce into smaller particles. A basic hammer mill used in animal feed production consist of

several basic parts such as delivery device, hammers, rod motor, screen and takeaway which are

important in processing animal feed production by feed manufacturers.

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The hammer mill which is the current grinding machine in used in the feed mill plant of

Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative is the main theme of this investigation. The feed mill

plant of the aforementioned cooperative was established in 1987 and data available shows the

plant currently has three mills namely mill 1, mill 2 and mill 4 all utilized in the production of

animal feeds. The focused of this investigation is only limited to mill 2 and mill 4 since this was

where the proponent had actual experience on while as intern with the organization. Since

inception, the milling machines have lived up to the expectations of the owners in terms of

quality and quantity of output produced. To confirm this, data also made available to the

proponent shows the quantity of feeds produced from 2016 to 2018 was 2,285,980 to 2,544,819

bags/50 kg or 17,500 tons and 1,500,000 bags or 75,000 tons between mill 2 and mill 4 (See

Table 1). This shows a significant increase from what it was in the previous years as revealed

during an informal interview with one of the staff of the cooperative.

Table 1

Quantity of Feeds Produced from 2016 - 2019

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
2019 252,640 188,937 227,407
2018 189,986 175,117 190,050 203,934 214,715 202,389 211,281 228,775 233,261 252,033 226,102 217,176 2,544,819
2017 171,286 144,544 188,717 168,914 192,808 197,184 194,312 205,740 192,758 198,673 200,508 193,995 2,249,439
2016 202,800 181,490 202,500 181,600 200,298 200,869 196,096 160,097 211,638 204,332 156,178 188,082 2,285,980

However, despite these significant increase in the quantity output produced, hammer

mills as the proponent discovered has increased the cost operation for the owners due to the

frequent break-down of beaters. Specifically the proponent discovered that the hammer mill 2

and 4 in the Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative Feed Mill Plant were not functioning as

expected or desired due to the frequent deteriorating beaters which sometimes works for 18 to

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24 hours a day and not been replaced all through the week by the engineering and maintenance

crew during his time as an on the job training intern in the cooperative. This is despite the fact

that the milling machines were using the standard beaters measuring 15 mm in length, 50 mm in

width and 19 mm holes size. This was a daily problem that operators of the hammer mill had to

deal with and this alone was the most significant factor that consumes most their energy and

time during production. The persistent deteriorating beaters is not normal given that standard

beater according to industry experts is expected to last for at least 12 – 15 days before they

should be replaced with a new one (Alles, 2013). This problem with the hammer mills in the

cooperative as observed by the proponent adversely affected the animal feed production in terms

of production time and efficiency, feed quality and more to the ratio of quality and quantity of

the finished animal feed products. Also, the issue with the beaters also led to increased

production costs and poor pellets quality that ultimately affects growth performance of animals

fed with the feeds.

Hence, the above stated issues prompted the proponent to draft a proposal on how best to

improve the hammer mill used in Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) feed mill

plant so as to increase its efficiency and utilization in the production of animal feeds.

Considering that the Philippines has an expansive land that is used for agricultural purposes,

animal produce inclusive, and SIDC being a key player in the production of animal feeds and

distribution of other agricultural products to local farmers, the planned proposal should help or

enable the cooperative overcome some of the challenges impeding the full attainment of the

potentials of its hammer mills through increased production, increased feeds quality and quantity

of finished animal feeds most especially since the company is planning to open a new feed mill

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plant in the nearest future. The proponent therefore proposed to design a new hammer mill as his

main objective based on the existing ones that will specifically focus on the improvement of the

beaters and other important variables that should increase their maximum efficiency.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this project is to design an improved hammer mill that will help to

improve the performance and efficiency of the existing milling machine used in the feed mill

section of Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative in Batangas City, Philippines.

Specifically, the study sought to;

1. Identify the factors that affect the efficiency and performance of hammer mill.

2. Design an improved hammer mill beaters.

3. Develop a manual of operation and sustainability plan for the proposed improvement

of hammer mill.

4. Conduct economic analysis to evaluate the viability of the proposed designed

hammer mill.

Significance of the Study

The main aim of this technical report is the proposal for the improvement of hammer

mill used in the feed mill plant of Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative, in Batangas city,

Philippines that could increase the efficiencies of its hammer mill in terms of production time,

and quantity of finished animal feeds. This is because the new designed beater is expected to

have a long a life span which will ensure the increase in quantity produced with a significant

reduction in the amount of time. With the expected increase in animal feed production, the

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outcome of this study should help SIDC increase profits through increased sales of animal feeds

which could increase the presence of its brands among farmers in Batangas city and beyond. In

addition the outcome of this technical report is expected to be of immeasurable and inestimable

value to the following:

Since the outcome of this study is expected to enlighten the key stakeholders in animal

feed production and the agricultural sector as a whole, it therefore means that the study will add

more knowledge to the already existing body of knowledge which should enhance future

planning in addressing the problems associated with the inefficiency of hammer mills used in

animal feed production.

To farmers who are actively engaged in the animal feed production, the outcome of this

study will enlighten them on how best they can plan and maintain their existing hammers to

achieve greater efficiency in its utilization both during and after production.

It is an undeniable fact the conduct of this study is a necessary requirement for the

completion of the proponents’ master degree program however, it is also conceivable that

faculty and staff of Batangas State University, would benefit from the outcome of this study as it

envisaged to help them further research and add to knowledge building in the university.

The outcome of this study will serve as reference materials to students and researchers in

the field of mechanical engineering which could be used to further enhance the current study.

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Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is designed to generally focus on the proposal for the improvement of hammer

mill used in Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative feed mill plant in Batangas city.

Identifying factors that causes the deterioration of hammer mill, factors that increases the

efficiency, design of an improved hammer mill as well as manual of operation and sustainability

plan for the proposed planned improvement of hammer mill should be further advanced. One of

the limitations of the study was that the proponent was not able to retrieve production data for

the past five years from the company due to privacy and confidentiality issues. Also, no data

was provided for the size and type of grain, and production. Hence, the proponent relied on what

was given for the research.

Important and relevant materials and information on the subject matter and requirements

needed to develop and improve hammer mill through related literatures and studies and other

internet sources will be sourced.

Definition of Terms

Terms Definition
Energy consumption The amount or quantity of energy utilized during grinding process of raw

materials for animal feed production of the hammer mill

Feed Mill The animal feeds produced in the feed mill plant which is feed to animals.
Feed mill Plant It is a place or rather a production area where hammer mills installed are

used to produce animal feeds.

Fine Particles Are particles smaller than the coarse particle.
Grinding The process involved in the breaking down or crushing of materials in the

hammer mill.
Hammer Mills Are machines with a revolving beater used to crush or grind

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farm/agricultural products into small grain particles.

Pelleting Breaking down of animal feeds in to pellets or small substance.

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