The company said that the system was developed to meet the feed manufacturing industry's needs concerning continuous process adjustment and optimisation for improved quality, yield and efficiency.

Those factors are requirements for several feed mills. Experienced operators can respond to potential production risks in advance and improve quality and yield while reducing production costs efficiently according to product quality parameters.

However, operators often need to inspect product quality and make adjustments based on their knowledge and experience, or take samples from the production line and send them to the analysis lab at every time interval. If quality parameters exceed their limits, operators must adjust the process accordingly.

Although traditional practices have worked for decades, there are still the issues of inconvenience and risks of errors due to the heavy dependence on operators' experience, according to FAMSUN. Most of the time, responses to problems tend to come late.

Developed for improving the grinding process and product quality in feed mills, the FAMSUN Multifunction Online Particle Size Analyzer was created to deal with those issues and increase production performance, efficiency and quality.

The analyser can be installed between the discharge outlet of a hammer mill and the inlet of a transporting bucket elevator. A fixed focus high speed camera with a frequency conversion LED captures images of ground particles that pass through the screen in real-time. With these images, the analyser can identify the sizes and the size distribution of the fine particles. Extracted data will be reported as a bar graph from which operators can understand the performance of the hammer mill and the quality of products in real-time.

The analyser provides real-time data 24 hours a day without the need for human intervention. Based on such reports, operators can adjust the rotating speed of the grinder feeder and air volume of the air assist system to produce particles of correct sizes and increase throughput as well. These actions can cut down instances of trial and error compared to when traditional methods are employed.

Additionally, the analyser enables operators to identify abnormal processing conditions and potential risks in advance. Screen brokerage, for instance, can be identified according to the sizes and size distribution of the particles. Changing the screen before it breaks can reduce downtime and prevent a huge waste of raw material, power energy and labor from discarding rejected products or re-grinding them into accepted qualities.

When working with an AI hammer mill by FAMSUN, the analyser can allow the control system to make adjustments, optimise the grinding process and produce early warnings on potential risks automatically according to particle size reports.

The FAMSUN Multifunction Online Particle Size Analyzer can measure the shape and size of both coarse and fine particles in size distribution of between 0.4mm and 6mm, covering the grinding requirements of all raw materials in feed mills.

The system's compact structure allows it to be installed on most types of hammer mills available in the marketplace. It is suited for retrofitting existing grinding lines in many feed factories. Its reporting system also ensures a level of traceability for final feed products.

The FAMSUN Multifunction Online Particle Size Analyzer can reliably replace manual measuring and analyses in a feed mill, boost production consistency and operation efficiency and enable better feed quality.

Based on its aforementioned attributes, the system can contribute to lean manufacturing and the digitalisation of feed mills, FAMSUN said.