Flake Lines
Flakes are produced by steaming grains such as corn and barley, and passing them through rollers.
This helps increase the surface area of grains and gelatinize the starch in them, therefore making them easier to digest. Since the improvement in digestibility also increases the amount of energy available from the feed, efficiency in dairy cows rises.
The quality of steam chamber is crucial in flaking.
In KARDEV steam chambers, the products are steam-conditioned based on several temperature, time and moisture parameters. A special steam distribution system applies the saturated steam to the products from several points to ensure even distribution. The amount of steam used varies according to the type of grain. Increasing the humidity facilitates the gelatinization of the grain during flaking.
Following the steam chamber, the products are conveyed to the flaking roller mill, whose feeder consistently feeds the rollers to obtain a regular grain flow.
The large-diameter rollers on the flaking roller mill facilitates the gelatinization of starch, achieving 78-93 percent gelatinization at the end of the process. The intervals of rollers can be adjusted to set the desired flake thickness. Flake thickness directly affects the product quality and machine capacity.
The hot and moist product exiting the mill is then sent to the dryer. The air pulled into the heat exchangers on the dryer is heated and passed through the flakes to initiate the drying process. In multi layer dryer applications, the lower level is used for cooling. This lower level achieves cooling by exposing the grains to room temperature.
