Why on-line moisture control is needed for animal feed:

Feed that is above the set target moisture level (too wet) can have a high risk of mould, shorter storage and cause claims from customers.

Feed that is below the set target moisture level (too dry) means wasted dry substance, bad pellet quality, higher energy consumption and increased die wear.

The method

The product batch is measured for moisture after it exits the main mixer. Any additional moisture required to attain the declared level is injected at the steam mixer/conditioner. Final product is measured again for moisture in the cooler, providing a "closed-loop" moisture control from start to finish.

The Intelscan AquaSmart water dosing software automatically calculates the required amount of water to be added to the mix, if needed, to maintain the required moisture level.

Enquiries: intelscan@intelscan.is 

On-line enquiry: Click here

Moisture measurement for pet food

For a complete overview of moisture content in-process, Intelscan offers continuous moisture sensors for pet food after extruder (before dryer), after dryer and inside the cooler.

1) Moisture measurement after extruder:

The iScan on-line moisture sensor is integrated into a Bulk Density Sampler (BDS) from Source Technology.  

Bulk Density Sampler is installed after extruder. Samples are measured for moisture.

 2) Moisture measurement after dryer:

 The sensor is installed after dryer, inside a silo, holding bin, buffer, or above a non-metallic conveyor belt

3) Moisture measurement inside cooler

The sensor is installed in the cooler, giving the operator a complete overview of the process, in real time, for improved control of moisture content.

Case study: 
Only one calibration setting needed

The iScan online version was installed above a conveyor belt with pet food pellets after the exit of the dryer in a large pet food plant. Moisture measurement values were obtained instantly and gave valuable information to control the dryer.

In total, 23 different pet food products were measured, different in terms of pellet size, recipe, density and color. After an 8 month processing period the following results were obtained:

No drift in the measurement was noticed after the 8 month processing period. Results were accurate, reliable and stable. This meant that the iScan system didn’t have to be re-calibrated for the 8 month period. Last but not least, the iScan used only 1 calibration for all the different types of product.

Enquiry: intelscan@intelscan.is

On-line enquiry: Click here

Moisture measurement for wood pellets

Over-drying sawdust equals higher energy consumption. If too wet, the capacity of the pellet mill is affected since the pellet process is delayed until optimal moisture level is achieved.
To solve this, Intelscan is offering on-line moisture measurement sensor to be both before and after the dryer.   This greatly improves control of the drying process.

25% production increase

8 tons of sawdust are processed per hour in the dryer at Statoil Trepellets, in Brummunddal, Norway (now called Pemco Trepellets).  The wet product input has 14-20% moisture content.
Upon exit it is reduced to 10-11%. With improved moisture control, fluctuations of moisture content has been reduced - meaning more consistent dryer output. This has meant a production increase by 25%  

Enquiries: intelscan@intelscan.is

On-line enquiry: Click here

NEW! Moisture control for grain drying

Together with the company Amplio in Norway, Intelscan is introducing a new and a revolutionary method to control moisture content in grain drying. The unique benefit of this system is that only one moisture scanner is needed for up to 5 dryers. Samples, from different segments of the dryer, are brought to the moisture scanner that continually measures each sample. 

Amplio sampler inside grain dryer	Amplio sampler inside grain dyer
Amplio sampler can take samples from different segments of the dryer.	Mr. Öjven Aamodt and Mr. Frode Aamodt from Amplio.

Case study:
Cost of acid treatment of grain halfed with Intelscan moisture control.

Felleskjøpet Rogaland Agder [FKRA] is one of Norway´s leading supplier of animal feed. At its feed production plant in Stavanger, over 350.000 tons of feed are produced each year. 7.500 tons of grain are treated with acid to increase storeage time. Recently, FKRA decided to utilize Intelscan on-line moisture measurement to optimize its acid treatment for grain. The aim was to reduce the high cost of the acid by accurately measure the moisture content in the grain.

Cut cost in half

“We saved the cost of the Intelscan instrument in under 2 weeks. Previously we needed to add 6 litres per ton grain. Now, when we are able to trust the moisture measurement, we have been able to go down to a medium of 3 litres per ton,” explains Mr. Stig Fagerli, process engineer at FKRA in Stavanger.

Enquiries: intelscan@intelscan.is 

On-line enquiry: Click here

Moisture control of fish feed for improved dryer performance.

Main benefits:

• Increase quality products with more homogeneous moisture content
• Better oil absorption
• Reduced risk of claims
• Reduced fluctuations of moisture content ensures higher profit and less energy cost.

Installation of moisture sensors
 

Software:

Settings can be easily changed through Ethernet and stored in a database for later reference. Results are immediately displayed in the factory control computer, allowing production management to swiftly respond to reduce moisture fluctuations and stay on the set moisture target.

Main display of the iScan sensor, showing real-time values of moisture, density and temperature.

Installation result:

Fish feed recipes = 30
Calibration setting used in iScan = 1
Fish Feed moisture range = 5-18%
Accuracy of measurement = +/-0,5% (compared to standard dry oven)
Accuracy of density measurement = +/- 15g/l

Enquiries: intelscan@intelscan.is
On-line enquiry: Click here

Main benefits of on-line measurement

• Improved quality: Enhanced monitoring of the process evens the moisture fluctuations
• More accurate and consistent analytical results of moisture and dry material, eliminating human error.
• Better use of raw materials
• Easy to operate: In many cases only 1 calibration for many different types of product types, irrespective of recipe, color or density variance
• Safety in operation: No moving parts
• Savings in man-power since no more need for the 15 minute - 24 hour sampling

Case study

Water content of quark inside a 2-4” pipe at 8-10 bar was measured for moisture. Real time data was sent to factory control for fine tuning of process. Results of dry matter measurements were compared between off-line "weigh and dry" method, iScan on-line and the laboratory.

Result:



Close correlation was noted between off-line "weigh and dry" measure-ment, laboratory measurement and the immediate measurement performed by the iScan pipe on-line microwave system.

The laboratory showed that the average dry material in the product, during 10 day processing, was 21.35%

The iScan was actually closer to that result than the off-line scale, that was previously used to control the process in this factory.

On average, Intelscan was more accurate than the off-line instrument, compared with the laboratory result.

Summary of results

Dry material substance in the quark could be up to 3-4% too high, when the old “weigh and dry” method was used – meaning that money was unnecessary wasted.

a. Measurements can be done in real time and reaction time from factory control is much shorter.

b. As a result, much less quantity of products is produced with wrong specification.

c. Different results from sample analysis from different times has been eliminated.

d. Confirming specifications on dry material to buyers is much easier since results are stored in a database and can always be printed out for further reference.

Enquiries: intelscan@intelscan.is 

On-line enquiry: Click here

The need for on-line moisture measuring of fish meal

The problem and the challenge

Existing methods to measure moisture on-line for fishmeal have not been reliable (NIR + guesswork).

The challenge is to measure moisture content in products after exit of steam and air dryers and to send a direct feedback to control system for optimization.

The solution

iScan on-line is either installed directly above a non-metallic conveyor belt or between two screw conveyors with a sample tray.

Installation

To smooth out the surface of the fishmeal and to secure even thickness of the product for accurate moisture measurement a sampling tray is mounted on the side of the screw conveyor. The system automatically collects a sample every 30 seconds to be placed under the sensor for measurement – before returning it back into the process.

Result

Close correlation is between adjustments of temperature in the dryer and fish meal moisture content.

When temperature goes down, the moisture content goes up. This is monitored in real time from the operator´s control computer as the graph illustrates:

Distribution of moisture content can now be viewed in real time, allowing the operator for the first time to see that 54% of his total production are under the target 8% moisture level.

23% of products produced had 7% moisture, 17% had 6,5% moisture, 10% of products had 6% moisture, 3% of products had 5,5% moisture and 1% of products had 5% moisture.

With the on line moisture measurement, control of the dryer is improved so that majority of products fall into the highest value, 8% target moisture, category. This means an added income of 534.280 IKR (5.000 EUR) for only 4 day production.