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What Are The Different Types Of Grain Milling Equipment

Grain milling equipment is used to produce bran, germ, and flour.  These are made by collecting, separating, and grinding the grain. Many products such as livestock feed and cereal must go through this process. This idea of milling has been around since the beginning of time with tools as primitive as gathering granules with one’s hands and grinding them between two rocks. Nowadays as understanding and technology improves, so does the steps and equipment required when milling.

Breaking down and processing cereal is a complex operation
. To begin, granules must be collected from the fields with the use of a combine, and then stored in silos. In storage, the granules may be there for a matter of days or months depending on the need of the customer and the particular season. When storing, it is important to take into consideration factors such as temperature, moisture, humidity, sanitation, and storage time.

Next, the granules from the silo must be transported to a truck
. This feat is accomplished using grain milling equipment called a sweep auger. Generally, a sweep auger is placed at the bottom of a silo and picks up kernels with a lift, which get pushed down a chute to be vacuumed up into the truck bed. Once the silo has been emptied, the truck will make its way to the factory where a similar machine will be used to scoop and vacuum the grain into the plant.

Once at the plant, the granule is pumped out onto an assembly line where it will be filtered of its inedible and unwanted company
. To do so, a separator with a reciprocating screen is used to catch the larger foreign substances, such as rocks and sticks, while the smaller granules pass right through. From here, aspirators are deployed that use air to blow away and rid the mixture of items like plastic and straw. The next section of the assembly line is composed of disc separators that only allow certain sized objects through in order to get rid of smaller objects such as barley and oats. The next step contains one of the most critical pieces of grain milling equipment, the magnetic separator, which is responsible for the health safety of the granules. The mixture is placed through this magnetic and ferrous material is pulled from the batch.

After separation is complete, the product is ready to be processed. Different types of grinders are employed to crush the bran and germ. Corrugated rollers then break and reduce the seed to its basic parts. This grain milling equipment is made to grind large pieces into flour and germ. The germ is sifted, purified, and packaged while the flour is sent for more processing. The flour is then put through more reducing rolls to guarantee an even spread and is purified again. From there the flour is bleached and enriched with nutrients like thiamine and riboflavin. Finally, the flour is packaged and transported out for purchase by the consumer.

It is truly quite an amazing journey that a batch of cereal takes to get to one’s bowl, and is in thanks to the precise steps and correct grain milling equipment used.




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