COLOGNE, Germany — Bühler Group on June 12 launched a single-screw extrusion system, PolyOne, specifically designed for pet food and aqua feed production.

The modular system allows for flexibility and customization from process to process and yields consistent, high-quality finished product. High sanitation standards translate into its hygienic design, which is built with food safety in mind.

“PolyOne enables our customers to maximize their productivity, and helps to prevent product recalls,” says Christoph Naef, head of business unit nutrition at Bühler.

The PolyOne can produce direct-expanded kibbles, semi-moist pet foods and diets for smaller companion animals.

On the aqua feed side, the extruder can produce floating and sinking feeds, micro pellets and feed for industrial fish farming.

PolyOne is equipped with process control features for storing formulations, start-up and shutdown. Formulation memory can decrease process errors and save time during product changeovers, and predefined start-up and shutdown sequences reduce wasted raw materials.

The system’s control system is an intuitive touchscreen that tracks and reports historical production data and quality data and includes safety features such as an automatic self-stopping mechanism in cases of emergency.

PolyOne includes a double-stage preconditioner, in which the mixing zone is separated from the retention zone to optimize intensive mixing at high screw speeds, as well as gentle retention at lower screw speeds.

Stability of the process is also aided by the feeder screw between the preconditioner and extruder barrel, which reduces cross contamination risks and improves accessibility during cleaning.

The PolyOne system features an end barrel valve to divert product from the die and cutter until it reaches the correct temperature. It also ensures end-of-the-barrel sanitation between product streams.

The wear-resistant features of the PolyOne system can cut maintenance costs. Additionally, Bühler provides a barrel wear measurement service to catch wear and tear early on to ensure stable product quality and minimal downtime.

In addition to the PolyOne single-screw extruder, Bühler is showcasing other digital services for feed and food processing this week at the 2019 VICTAM International trade fair.

LumoVision is a data-driven grain sorting technology designed to minimize contamination in maize by detecting cancer-causing, aflatoxin-infested grains. According to the company, the solution can detect and eliminate up to 90% of contaminated maize.  

Kubex T is a cloud platform where feed and food manufacturers can visualize and track their processes, which increases transparency and can result in reduced downtimes. The solution is designed specifically for high-capacity pelleting.

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