As an inexpensive raw material for raw materials, molasses is very common in some countries in Europe and Asia. This is because molasses is not only the most raw material, but also has the advantages of fast digestion and absorption, improved palatability, reduced dust and improved particle quality. However, its use in the feed industry in China is limited. The reason is not only as a kind of carcass, but also requires special tools for storage and transportation. Another important reason is that adding a viscous liquid with poor fluidity is not as convenient in feeding processing as other liquids. This article discusses the method of adding molasses in feed and some key technologies. 1 Physical properties and feeding value of molasses Molasses is a by-product of the sugar industry such as sugar cane and sugar beet. Due to technical costs and other reasons, sugar extraction is no longer economical, and the remainder is molasses. In the past, the sugar industry called it waste honey. It is a dark brown liquid with very poor fluidity. Its viscosity at room temperature is about 3-8 Pa.s. There are two ways to reduce its viscosity: heating and reducing dry matter content. It is a very effective and common method to catch high temperatures and improve their fluidity. The viscosity of the molasses is reduced by half for every 5 °C increase in temperature. Its viscosity is about 1.0 Pa.s at 40 °C. However, if the temperature is too high, coking sugar will be produced over time to hinder the flow. The dry matter content of molasses has a great influence on its fluidity. When the dry matter content is between 72% and 78%, the viscosity is halved for every 2% reduction in dry matter content. The dry matter content is generally diluted with other liquids such as water, oil, and the like. However, this makes the addition process more complicated. Therefore, this method is generally not used. The sugar content of molasses is generally between 42% and 50%. Although its energy density is lower than that of corn, it has a good taste compared with corn, and it has a fast digestion and absorption and a price advantage. Some experiments have shown that adding molasses to pig feed instead of the same amount of energy-energy feed increases pig food intake by 9% to 12%. Daily gains increase but feed returns slightly decrease. An experiment conducted by the UK Department of Agriculture showed that 2% molasses was added to the broiler feed. During the whole feeding cycle (49d), the daily gain of a single chicken was up to 40go. The feed conversion rate was 0-21 days, and the molasses group was significantly higher. In the control group. The entire feeding cycle does not differ much. The role of molasses in reducing dust in feed is also very obvious. Especially for duck feed, due to the special feeding mode of ducks, the dust rate of granular feed is very strict, generally not 2%. Therefore, many European manufacturers use molasses to reduce dust, which can be added up to 5%. According to a chicken feed experiment, the addition of 2% molasses to the growth of chicken feed improved the granule feed dust rate by 5.7, the addition of 3% molasses, the improvement rate was 6.8%; adding 2% molasses to the chicken feed. The improvement rate was 26.7%; the improvement rate of adding 3% was 28.8%. It can be seen that the improvement of the quality of the granule feed by molasses is obvious. And the larger the pull, the more obvious the effect. 2 Addition of molasses in compound feed In the compound feed processing process, there are the following methods for adding molasses: adding in the mixer, adding in the conditioner, spraying after granulation and using special adding equipment. 2.1 Adding many feed mills to the mixer is expected to add molasses to the mixer. This is because the mixing process of most feed mills is constitutionally based on batches. Therefore, it is easier to implement the most accurate, real-time control and recipe management in the mixer. However, molasses cannot be sprayed in a mixer like other liquids. The specific method is to open two holes equidistantly on one side of the spiral direction in the lower half of the horizontal mixer, and install an electric or pneumatic ball valve and connect it to the φ50 mm molasses pipe. The addition method is that after the mixer is mixed for 35s, the two ball valves are opened and opened for 3 to 5 seconds. The duration is up to 30s. This is because the mixing cycle of the mixer has a time limit. If the valve is opened for too long, it is difficult to mix evenly when the feed is too much; if the total feeding time is too long, the mixing quality will also be affected. It can be seen that the amount added in the mixer cannot be too high, up to 2%. Otherwise it will affect the quality of the mix. The addition method for the two-axis mixer is different. A long tube was inserted in the axial direction of the mixer, and a small hole having a diameter of 10 mm was opened thereon. The position of the small hole varies from top to bottom depending on the distance from the entrance to the molasses. Molass inlet plus electric (pneumatic) valve. After the material enters the mixer and is mixed for 5 seconds, the valve is opened to start adding molasses. The duration is up to 15s. The amount of this method should not be added too much; it can be added up to 5%. 2.2 It is convenient to use this method in the conditioner, and it is also used in European countries. In the starter of the steamer, the molasses is mixed with steam, and the molasses is atomized by the temperature and pressure of the steam and then blown into the conditioner. Here, due to the borrowing of steam, the added amount of molasses and the amount of addition are greatly improved. Add up to 10%. For some feed mills that use ripening tanks, the amount of molasses added can be more than 10% due to longer conditioning time. However, this method is also inadequate. First, the conditioner needs to be cleaned regularly, and second, it is difficult to achieve real-time control. Since the preparation of the feed is carried out in batches, the addition of molasses is a continuous addition process. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve automated real-time control of recipe management. In order to add molasses to the recipe management, it is necessary to convert the continuous signal into a batch management program. This inevitably creates errors between recipe management and actual addition. Therefore, another set of control systems is generally used. 2.3 Spraying after granulation Strictly speaking, spraying after granulation is generally not pure molasses, mostly a mixture of molasses. Pure molasses spraying is very difficult. Even if it is heated, it is difficult to spray evenly. Moreover, it will cause difficulties in subsequent packaging and transportation after spraying. Post-spray products developed in some European countries generally use liquid fat mixed with molasses. This not only reduces the viscosity of the molasses, but also improves the appearance of the granules and improves the palatability. It also reduces the cost of the feed. Mixing molasses with other liquids, selecting ingredients according to actual needs, or adding some materials that are easily lost under high temperature conditions, such as vitamins, into the series of products, I believe that the market prospects will be very broad. 2.4 Additive equipment for molasses Special equipment for adding molasses is more common in Europe. China developed as a research project during the 7th Five-Year Plan period, and the relevant standards were formulated by the original Ministry of Commerce, but did not form a commercial application. Moreover, the viscosity of the standard-developed molasses after heating is 0.2 Pa.s. It is also not practical. Under normal circumstances, undiluted molasses is far less than 0.2 Pa.s even if heated. Of course, too high a temperature (greater than 40 ° C) will produce coke sugar as previously described. The mixing unevenness coefficient (CV) is not more than 10% and there is a distance from 7% of the general mixer. Although the uneven mixing of molasses has little effect on feed quality, it has a certain impact on the external quality of the product. The maximum addition amount of such equipment is generally around 5%.
Method for adding molasses in compound feed