Design And Fabrication Of Vertical Animal Feed Mixer

Electrical Electronics Engineering | Industrial Physics | Physics

The design and fabrication of a vertical animal feed mixer involve the creation of a specialized apparatus tailored for blending various components of animal feed efficiently. This process encompasses crafting a robust structure equipped with mechanisms to homogenize diverse ingredients, including grains, supplements, and additives, crucial for balanced animal nutrition. Emphasizing precision and durability, engineers integrate components such as mixing blades, a sturdy shaft, and a reliable motor to facilitate seamless blending. The mixer’s vertical orientation enhances gravitational force, promoting thorough mixing while optimizing space utilization in feed processing facilities. By prioritizing efficiency and reliability, this innovative equipment streamlines feed preparation, ensuring consistent quality and nutritional integrity crucial for livestock and poultry farming operations.

ABSTRACT
This paper presents the design and fabrication of a poultry feed industrial tumble mixer. The design computations to handle a 50Kg mass of feed was done in the MS Excel environment for proper machine design approach. The machine was designed using proper material selection was done before the assembling and fabrication of parts. The efficiency of the machine, its associated cost of production and the product obtained after few minutes of mixing were outstanding, thereby, making the design acceptable and cost effective.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
APPROVAL PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWELDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
1.2 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
1.4 LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
1.5 TYPES OF FEED MIXER
1.6 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VERTICAL MIXER AND HORINZONTAL MIXER
1.7 OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
CHAPTER TWO
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 COMPONENT AND MATERIAL SELECTION
2.3 REVIEW OF WATER SUPPLY NETWORK
2.4 REVIEW OF WATER ABSTRACTION AND RAW WATER TRANSFER
2.5 WATER TREATMENT
2.6 REVIEW OF WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
2.7 TOPOLOGIES OF WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 SYSTEM DIAGRAM
3.2 PUMPING POWER
3.3 PUMP EFFICIENCY
3.4 CAUSES OF LOSS OF WATER PRESSURE IN A WORKSHO
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 DESCRIPTION OF WATER RETICULATION COMPONENTS
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.2 REFERENCES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Mixing is one of the most important operations in manufacturing of animal feeds and mixer is considered to be the heart of feed milling operation.
The need for uniformity in a complete feed is a must in order to satisfy nutritional requirements of the animal to achieve growth, production and good health as well as to meet regulatory guidelines of food and drug administration.
Feed mixers are used in feed mills for the mixing of feed ingredients and premixes. The mixer plays a vital role in the feed production process, with efficient mixing being the key to good feed production. If feed is not mixed properly, ingredients and nutrients will not be properly distributed when it comes time to extrude and pelletize the feed, or if the feed is to be used as mash. This means that not only would the feed not have nutritional benefit, it would be bad for the animals that are eating it.
These mixers produce a very homogeneous mix of different ingredients used in feed industry. In this machine, mixing is performed by four curved blades clamped on main shaft which when revolve give continuous turbulent movement to the ingredients. Arrangement is given for direct addition of certain percentage of liquids, fats or molasses.
Vertical mixer has its shaft vertical which lifts the feed ingredients to the top and whirls it. Material then falls to the bottom cone and is again lifted. Process continues and a homogeneous mix is obtained. This mixer is suitable for mixing of dry ingredients only, as liquids are not mixed efficiently. We have made lot of modifications in this mixer for better mixing efficiency.
1.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The objective of this work is to construct vertical animal feed which is a type of mixer that consists of one or more vertical screws which elevate the ingredients to the top of the mixer where they fall by gravity to the bottom, to be mixed and re-elevated.
Vertical mixers are the most common type found in small livestock feed mills. However, the vertical type is less well suited to aquaculture, poultry and fish feeds than the horizontal type.
1.2 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
Vertical feed mixer has one or two gearboxes depending on the augers and drive shafts. The mix is a lot more consistent with a vertical mixer. This is shown by better and more consistent gains in cattle and milk production. The vertical mixer will have less bunk sorting than a reel mixer due to a much more consistent mix.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
Vertical feed mixer which is often used to mixer powder feed, and it is referred to as vertical dry mortar blender. Power consumption, the small area, and the low price, high cost, very suitable for small-scale feed processing are all advantages of small vertical feed mixer.
1.4 LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
mixing uniformity of small vertical feed mixer is low which is the biggest drawback of the small vertical feed mixing equipment .Only reach about 87%, and the longer mixing cycles, lower productivity, output per hour is about 500-1500 kg. Another drawback is that the discharge is not complete, the remaining material will be wasted.
1.5 TYPES OF FEED MIXER
There are a number of different types of mixers used in the feed industry with the most widely used being:
Vertical Mixer – Used in small farms, they consist of a vertical screw which takes material to the top where it falls back down again, and repeats that process to mix materials
Horizontal Mixer – Consisting of paddles or blades attached to a horizontal rotor, these mixers usually have a higher consistent homogeneity and short mixing times.
These machines come in a variety of configurations:
Round bowl- The sides are shaped in rounding configuration
Decagon bowl- The sides are shaped with angled flats creating a circular configuration
Square bowl- The sides are similar to a square box with the top being open to load feed.
Paddle reel- A large rotating reel with paddles to move feed forward and back.
Auger system- Multiple augers processing feed and moving forward and backwards in the tub.
Vertical screw- A vertical standing auger moving feed upward and down the sides to process feed.
1.6 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VERTICAL MIXER AND HORINZONTAL MIXER
The vertical mixer consists of one or more vertical screws which elevate the ingredients to the top of the mixer where they fall by gravity to the bottom, to be mixed and re-elevated.
Vertical mixers are the most common type found in small livestock feed mills. However, the vertical type is less well suited to aquaculture, poultry and fish feeds than the horizontal type, which are much more efficient in blending in small quantities of liquids (such as added lipids) or in mixing ingredients with different particle sizes.
Horizontal mixers consist of a series of paddles or metal ribbon blades mounted on a horizontal rotor within a semi-circular trough. The blades move the material from one end of the mixer to the other, tumbling it as it goes. These mixers usually discharge the mixed product from the bottom, using the same mixer blade action. See above for inside views of both a paddle mixer and a ribbon mixer.
Another type of mixer, which is similar to the horizontal type in action, has a bowl-shaped or flat-bottomed container in which a series of paddles are mounted on a spindle driven by a motor mounted either above or below the mixer. This type of mixer has the same advantages over the vertical type of mixer as the horizontal mixers mentioned earlier. In addition it is cheap and is therefore frequently used in farms, particularly in South East and South Asia. It can also be used for mixing moist feeds.
Vertical mixers are unsuitable for mixing wet ingredients. Horizontal mixers are more suitable but, because of their complex construction, are often difficult to clean properly. There is also a tendency for sticky materials to adhere to the blades and to accumulate at one end of the mixer. Simple bowl or circular mixers, pictured above, are the most suitable types for mixing wet ingredients or mixtures of wet and dry materials. They can also be used for mixing dry ingredients. This type of mixer is available in sizes suitable for mixing a few kilograms or of dealing with several tons of ingredients. The larger types discharge the mixed product from the bottom.
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITRATURE REVIEW
OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
The idea of mixing various feed materials such as grains, feed supplements and other animal feeds to produce a homogenous mix ready for dispensing for animal consumption had being part of man‟s activities since the creation of man. This has always been done using crude method such as hands, sticks etc. in this recent time, the advancement in technology has brought about the use of machines to perform the same function much faster, accurate and less energy consuming. It is for this purpose that the feed mixing machine has been designed. The objective of this project are to design a small feed fixing machine, to model and simulate the machine before production, to fabricate component of feed mixing machine based on design specifications and to test the machine after fabrication , while in designing and in material selection consideration was given to the tech- economic status of the micro scale industries who are intended users of the machine. Feed mixing machines are used in feed mills for the mixing of feed ingredients. The machine plays a vital role in the feed production process, with efficient mixing being key to good feed production. If feed is not mixed properly…