Energy consumption pattern in manufacturing of different types of broiler feeds

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine the specific energy consumption pattern in the manufacturing of different type of broiler feeds with different process conditions and thereby analyze the gaps between the benchmarking and actual energy usage pattern. The study was conducted in three commercial feed plants located at different locations. This was achieved by conducting energy analysis for the specific energy consumption for different type of the broiler feeds. The actual consumption was recorded from the electricity board department’s energy meter readings. The results indicated that the gap between actual consumption and bench marking was lesser at one plant whilst, it was considerably higher at other two plants. The gap was observed to be higher in the pre-starter feed and lesser in the finisher pellet feed. The gap between actual power consumption and benchmarking observed for pre-starter feeds at different locations viz., Muzaffarpur, Kanpur and Ambala was 2.70, 2.43 and 0.85 kwh units respectively. The gap analysis for starter feed was 1.71, 1.46 and 0.59 kwh units and for finisher feed 1.37, 1.81 and 0.92 kwh units respectively. The cost saving per metric tonne of feed ranged from Rs. 16.00 to Rs. 22.00. Among the three feed manufacturing plants, the gap between bench marking and actual power consumption was very minimal at Ambala plant due to better production efficiency. From the boiler’s fuel cost point of view, coal was found to be cheaper than wood due to its high calorific value and hence it was suggested to replace fire wood with coal at Ambala plant for further improvement of fuel efficiency. The present findings also revealed that the timely replacement of press roller of pellet mill and reduction in pellet fines recycling leads to better efficiency and cost control.