Industry: Feed Industry
Customer: Leading manufacturer of feeds for many different species.
Problem: One additive that is used to enhance the flavor and nutritional value of dairy and horse feeds is molasses. Feeds for dairy and horses have fragile ingredients such as flaked corn, whole grain, and pellets. A system to apply molasses to feeds must be gentle, but it also needs to be able to apply the ingredient uniformly. The customer was having problems getting a product that was acceptable to a large breeder of horses. They approached APEC about the possibility of using the Mistcoater to apply molasses to the horse and dairy feed that they manufacture. The Mistcoater has the ability to apply liquids to dry solids without the use of spray nozzles. Spinning disks are used to atomize the liquids that are being applied to the feed. This is particularly valuable when liquids (i.e. molasses) have suspended solids, or have high sugar or salt content that can crystallize and clog a spray nozzle.
Solution: APEC provided a system that measured the flow of the feed by weight, and dispensed the flow of liquid by weight. This system was fully automated so the system was easy to use, and provided the end user with a complete solution.
Result: APEC set up a test at their facility and ran the feed through our Mistcoater. The customer was very happy with the results. The quality of the coating was greatly improved and the feed manufacturer’s customer was won over. The customer was so happy with the results that they purchased a second system shortly after.
