DD238912A5 - PREPARATION COATED ANIMAL FEED - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing coated animal feed, as used in animal husbandry. The invention provides improved lipid pelletization methods, devices and products that can be used in or as feed supplement and / or feed ration. The object of the invention is the development of improved lipid pelletization processes, devices and products. According to the invention, solid lipid pellets having lipid concentrations of 65% to 95% or more are prepared by preparing in a mixing chamber a mixture containing at least water and an edible alginic coagulant, adding a liquified lipid to produce a gelatinous lipid coagulant-water emulsion and the emulsion in discrete amounts into a metal ion bath so that the emulsion sets to a lipid pellet which is uniform and solid throughout its entire texture.

Description

Field of application of the invention

The present invention relates to a process for producing coated animal feed, as used in animal husbandry.

Characteristic of the known technical solutions

The value of fats (other than hydrocarbon and / or petroleum based) and oils (other than essential oils), which are generally referred to herein as "lipids", has been present as a nutritious feed additive for virtually the entire wildlife

For example, for ruminants such as cows, sheep, giraffes, deer, camels and pigs, zoo animals, horses, poultry, domestic dogs and cats, fish, shrimp, birds and the like. However, these lipids are usually liquid or, in particular at higher temperatures, liquefied oil and / or greasy exudates; therefore, they have unfortunately not prevailed for large-scale feeding and / or use as animal feed supplement. The lipids tend to become rancid on contact with oxidants and spoil, so that the shelf life of such dry feed products containing such lipids is severely limited. In addition, when grain feed and similar dry feed products are mixed in, lipid materials not only become rancid, but are also temperature sensitive and tend to clump, agglomerate and disperse in conventional feeds. Therefore, they pose problems in packaging and handling.

However, considerable effort has been devoted heretofore to applying and / or incorporating lipids onto pelleted feed products. Prior to the present invention and the invention disclosed in the aforementioned related application, these efforts have not been commercially successful. Not only did the lipid-treated pellets tend to turn rancid and spoil unless treated with antioxidants and the added expense and expense of the procedure was accepted. In addition, the propensity of these products to exude lipid exudates, creating a clumping and handling problem, presents the industry with additional difficulties. Furthermore, dietary considerations call for the inclusion of lipid additives in feed rations intended for animal husbandry in amounts of a few percent to 20 percent or more by weight.

The conventional pelleted feed products, however, are incapable of receiving more than about 7% by weight lipid; then they lose their cohesion and begin to break. Apart from the lipid uptake capabilities of animal feed rations disclosed herein and in the cited related application, the feed industry has generally found that the lipid content of commercial dry food products must be limited to a few percent by weight since higher levels of dry fodder result in the formation of lipid exudants which (i) have flowability (ii) in the absence of antioxidants, can rapidly rancid and spoil the product and (iii) cause pelletized feed products to break up quickly when the lipid level reaches and exceeds about 7% by weight.

One approach which has been attempted has employed spaghetti-type extrusion devices for making animal feed rations in granular form - rotations which desirably contain a lipid additive. These attempts to add substantial amounts of lipids to the components incorporated in the squeezing device have been unsuccessful for several reasons. Thus, the heat generated during the extrusion process liquefies the lipid, which is then squeezed out of the dry feed ingredients during the squeezing process. When a portion of the lipid is extruded into a kernel ("kibble") with the feed ingredients, the lipid portion tends to form a highly undesirable liquid lipid exudate - especially when the feed product is packed in sacks and several bags are stacked on top of each other, and the net weight of the feed product squeezes To eliminate the problem of extruding the lipid from the feed ingredients during the extrusion process, attempts have been made to spray the lipid materials onto the outer surfaces of the product granules only after extrusion, but in both cases the lipid component remains unbound and forms an oily or greasy outer layer on the surface of the particle, not only rancid and spoiling, but also causes the extruded particles to agglomerate and affect the flowability of the consumer, penetrating sacks Res packaging material, affect its appearance and its strength and lead to other undesirable handling problems and health hazards, because they attract rodents, vermin and the like. The aforementioned related application describes many earlier efforts to provide an effective marketable lipid-added food product; however, all of these efforts have been unsuccessful commercially because either they were not inexpensive enough, the lipid content of the product was too low and / or the lipid material was liable to swell out of the product, causing the product to clump, compromise its handling properties and / or it got rancid and spoiled. However, these problems are now overcome by the methods disclosed in the related application for preparing dry unitary feed pellets in which the lipid material forms an integral and generally homogeneous constituent of the pellet component both before and after pelletization.

Nevertheless, there has been a continuing need for a simple and cost effective method of adding dietary lipid supplement in useful proportions by weight to existing dry pellets and / or particles such that the various nutritional requirements can be met in a wide range of animal husbandry while maintaining the fluidity and / or ease of delivery Treatment of commercial dry pellets and / or particles is not affected and the product is not perishable.

As already mentioned, prior to the invention disclosed and claimed in the aforementioned related application, the problems in question posed considerable problems for the industry, despite considerable expenditure of time and money in attempts to solve them and to provide a system suitable for the industry widespread and large-scale administration of lipid supplements was appropriate. Research aimed at finding solutions to these problems has been carried out and / or supported by numerous institutions including, for example, the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, Inc., Des Plains, Illinois, V St. Α., And numerous research institutions ( mainly in the field of agriculture) at the universities. Thus, it has been known for years that lipids are absorbed by a wide variety of edible carriers or base materials-for example, rice. Puffed rice or wheat, wheat semolina, wheat seedlings, beet mash, alfalfa meal, corncobs, bees wings, edible clays or soils, etc. See, for example, U.S. Patent No. 1,997,083 (Robinson, oil-treated bird seed and other cereal products), 2991178 (Clayton; oil-treated beans and seeds), 3257209 (Lewis; soybean oil flour), 3340065 (Pruskner) and 3620755 (Hoffman; soybean meal soaked in edible oil and boiled in boiling water). which has been around an edible carrier drench, has not been adopted for a number of reasons, or has been unsuccessful commercially on a broader scale, thus making the carrier itself very limited and highly species-specific, the problems of stability, rancidity, temperature sensitivity, and messy handling as a result of exudates have remained Räger himself often does

significantly more than 50% of the weight and mass of the feed product so treated, so that not only is the proportion of nutritional lipid values limited to the different species of animals limited, but also the administration costs are significantly increased. The resulting soaked carriers often have wet or oily layers on the surface and generally do not flow freely. In addition, many of these carriers, for example rice, are far too expensive to permit widespread use as animal feed.

Another approach has employed relatively expensive and highly complex processes to convert fats or similar lipids to dry powder.

Typical of this approach are US Pat. Nos. 3,514,297 (Campell, Jr. et al.), 3,892,880 (Grolitsch) and 4,273,052 (Nappen). However, such lipid products in powder form are so expensive that their use as a feed additive is prohibited. In the mid-1970s, intensive research and experimentation at the time led to the alleged "solution" of US Patent Nos. 3925560 (Scott et al.) And 4042718 (Rawlings et al.) In these patents, the patentees disclose systems in which the lipids are protective While the efforts of Scott et al., As well as Rawlings et al., For the first and only time prior to the invention disclosed and claimed in the aforementioned related application, "dry pellets Unfortunately, even if for no other reason, these systems had no commercial success, since the aldehyde component was and is known to be carcinogenic, and consequently the resulting product is feed sentence was not accepted and could not be.

U.S. Patent No. 4,216,234 (Rawlings et al.) Discloses a particulate composition formed from a dispersion or emulsion of droplets of nutriprimed lipids in an aqueous albuminous medium and thereafter formed into a gel and dried to product; this arrangement is characterized by a relatively low lipid content in the particulate product. U.S. Patent No. 4,217,370 to Rawlings et al. Discloses a process for preparing lipid-containing liners which comprises solubilizing a particulate proteinaceous material, admixing a lipid material to form an emulsion, and containing the emulsion with an effective amount of a pH adjuster In order to bring the pH to the isoelectric point, to form protein accumulations and at the same time to encapsulate the lipid. Again, the fat content of the resulting product is relatively low. In addition, both processes are technically complicated and too expensive and raise significant bacterial problems; they too can continue to cause carcinogenic products.

Numerous prior patents can be found which generally relate to the formation of gelatinous feed products through the interaction of alginates with various metal salts, and particularly with calcium salts such as calcium carbonate. Typical of these patents are US Pat. Nos. 2,441,729 (Steiner), 2,918,375 (Gibson), 3,344,079 (Freedman), and 3,341,079 (Miller et al.). Generally, these patents disclose relatively slow gelation processes in which the calcium solution generally takes about ten minutes for the alginate to form a soft gel. A similar disclosure is contained in an article by TR Andrew and WC MacLeod "Application and Control of Algin-Calcium Reaction" in Food Product Development, August-September 1970, pp. 99, 101, 102 and 104. In this article, the authors discuss the formation of various art food products using a sodium alginate solution which is rapidly gelatinized by dispersing in an aqueous calcium salt solution or by dispersing in a 10% calcium chloride solution It is stated that a mixture of an alginic syrup with sugar, dyes, flavors, etc., can be incorporated into a calcium chloride bath and forming spheres that look like pieces of fruit or vegetables or caviar (p.104), but none of the cited publications relate to systems that are designed or capable of pelleting lipids themselves and / or lipids with a coagulant to bind them to "dry" and stable un d essentially to make temperature sensitive.

It is proposed in US Patent 2403547 (Peschardt) to prepare a viscous solution of 100 parts by weight of water, 20 parts by weight of glucose and 1 to 2% by weight (of the final solution) of alginate, to which desired coloring or flavoring agents can be added. In order to produce spherically shaped articles such as "cherries", the patent suggests extruding the aforesaid starting material as separate "detached blobs" from extrusion dies into an aqueous calcium chloride solution as little as 1% or 3% or up to 10% or more 2,11, 44-46) The patent also contains indications that other than spherical shapes can be obtained by introducing the alginate starting material into molds and then the preformed bodies from the viscous However, said US patent does not contain any indication of the use of lipids as constituents of the product.

Although the use of alginate coagulants to form dry stable discrete solid pellets or high lipid concentration particles has not been contemplated prior to the invention disclosed and claimed in the aforementioned related application, it has long been known that algins are suitable for use as Barrier layers in the formation of gel lipid emulsions which can be used as part of a complex mixing system in a wide range of food analogues Such systems are disclosed, for example, in US Patent 3658550 (Hawley), after which an artificial adipose tissue is produced is reacted by an aqueous solution of an alkali salt of alginic acid and a retarding agent with a fat dispersion of an alkaline earth metal salt and an alginate gel base material is formed in which the liquid fat is enclosed in small discrete droplets, which then by slowly releasing the wall surrounding the droplets in the cooking treatment to dribble a simulated meat substitute product with fat - i. The alginate meat base material has a honeycomb-like structure, in the interior of which the liquid fat is trapped.

Similarly, US Pat. No. 3,919,435 (Feldbrugge et al.) Discloses a meat substitute formed from a vegetable protein gel precursor containing an animal adipose tissue and / or vegetable oil with a thermally stable polymeric carbohydrate gel. In this publication, as in the referenced Hawley patent, fat is simply used as part of a total meat replacement system. It is neither disclosed nor intended to make uniform discrete dry solid lipid particles or pellets themselves and / or lipid-coated particles or pellets themselves. The algin forms there only a barrier layer between the protein and fat fractions in a meat substitute containing only about 5 to 30 wt .-% fat and / or vegetable oil.

Other similar disclosures can be found in U.S. Patent No. 3,863,336 (Kofsky et al.) Which teaches an animal feed product containing a dry proteinaceous feed, an aqueous base material with a water soluble colloidal binder and gelling agent, and a water soluble low molecular weight solid liquid or mixture thereof may have relatively low fat concentrations. Furthermore, U.S. Patent 4,098,913 (Baugher) provides for the formation of regularly formed gelled fat particles which are formed by mixing a triglyceride fat or oil with a gelling agent, heating and cooling with agitation to gelled particles which can be incorporated into meat substitutes. Other patents of general interest are i.a. U.S. Patent No. 3,991,224 (Strums et al., Wheat Feed Product and Method of Making the same), U.S. Patent No. 4,007,248 (Goryaev et al., Dry Fat Emulsion Concentrate), U.S. Patent No. 4,027,043 (Schroeder et al., Solid Block Animal Feed Supplement allegedly containing fats). GB 586157 (method of making simulated fruit and the like from alginates), FR 873977 (alginate-based gel emulsion for forming spreadable edible substitutes) and FR 2087852 (alginate-based fruit bowl substitute and encapsulated oil-in-oil). Water emulsion, ie a liquid emulsion with an external algae capsule - suitable for ripping meat by tearing it).

Other patents of rather incidental interest concerning the alginate-based compositions as well as methods of making food products and the like but which, if any, do not intend to have any substantial lipid content, are among others. U.S. Patent Nos. 2,965,498 (Hartwig et al.), 2,898,993 (Poarch et al.), 2,973,274 (Langmaack), 3,086,032 (Glicksman), 3,362,831 (Szezesniak), and 3,650,766 (Smadar).

Generally, it has been found that, despite the efforts of a large number of researchers for a long period of time, as is apparent from the above-mentioned publications and patents, prior to the present invention and the invention disclosed in the aforementioned related application, no simple and economical system is developed to deliver a lipid per se or particles of high lipid concentration in the dry, solid, highly concentrated and stable form of use, where the lipid can be uniformly added to animal feed of virtually any kind in any desired proportion, or where otherwise conventional pelleted feed rations from grain feed, etc., or also feed directly to the animals to meet the nutritional requirements of the animal concerned. In addition to the protein / lipid / aldehyde encapsulated disclosures, U.S. Patent Nos. 3,925,560 (Scott et al.) And 4,041,718 (Rawlings et al.), Whose products are not suitable or approved as feed additives because the aldehydes they contain are known to cause cancer None of the earlier attempts specifically addressed the need to provide a highly concentrated, uniform, solid, dry lipid or lipid coated pellet or particle by itself which offers the potential to deliver lipids to use in stable, dry form and inexpensively. Thus, despite all previous attempts, the prior art filing date of the aforementioned related application is perhaps best described by the Director's Digest, a paper by JD Schroder, Technical Director of the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, Inc. (Despain) in Des Piaines , Illinois, Issue No. 152, September 1982, states (in translation):

"... So far there has been no breakthrough in the development of a low cost dry fat product. We continued with the work Dr. Boehmes is employed to identify suitable carriers and to receive cost estimates that will aid the decision on the product (s) to be made.

The number of suitable carriers for fat is very limited because the absorption properties are not the same as for water-based substances such as molasses. The situation is further complicated by the fact that some products may be suitable for certain markets but unsuitable for others.

The potential fat carriers with whom we have worked or are familiar can be classified as nutrients or as non-nutrients. They are listed below with their fat absorbency, their price and the applications.

component Price FOB fat intake market (S / cwt). ability nutrient puffed rice or wheat 50,00 75-80% alleTierarten wheat semolina 4.50 30-35% all species, except grilled chicken wheat seedlings 4.50 40% Cows and sows beet pulp 6.50 30-40% cows alfalfa 4.00 to 7.50 30% alleTierarten, (valued) except grilled chicken not nutrients Verxit (blown mica 21,00 70% cows Corncob meal 5.50 50% Cows and possibly pigs bentonite 2:50 20% cows

The said FPRF publication also points to the numerous disadvantages of these substances - high transport costs, low fat content, very high costs for carriers with higher fat contents and a species-specific application. Despite all efforts and expenditure of time and money during the last two decades and more, the state of the art in November 1985 regarding the administration of lipid feed additives for animals consisted of soaking a carrier which may or may not have a nutritional value Weight and the administration costs of the feed impaired. The rancidity and handling issues persisted.

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Object of the invention

The invention provides improved lipid pelletization methods, devices and products that can be used in or as feed supplement and / or feed ration.

Explanation of the essence of the invention

The object of the invention is to develop improved lipid pelletization processes, devices and products.

The invention relates to the application of controlled amounts of lipids to a variety of otherwise conventional and commercial animal feeds such as corn, alfalfa and feed mixtures, encapsulating the conventional pelleted dry food and / or its ingredients in a lipid emulsion which is allowed to set to dry to form stabilized edible pelleted feed products in which the pellets or pellets sometimes used to form pellets have a protective lipid coat which can account for any desired and preselected proportion of the total weight of the composite feed, for example in the range of several percent to 20 percent If desired, the conventional feed may be preheated prior to application of the lipid emulsion to bring its proportion of hydrated water to a desired value below equilibrium so that the water content of the feed is reduced to less than or equal to 25% the emulsion can reach equilibrium with that of the overheated feed; then the need for a subsequent dry treatment is reduced and in some cases even completely eliminated. In accordance with the present invention, solid lipid pellets having lipid concentrations of from 65% to 95% or more are provided which are suitable for use in or as feed supplement and / or feed rations. To this end, a mixture containing at least water and an edible alginic coagulant is prepared in a mixing chamber, a liquefied lipid is added to prepare a gel-like lipid coagulant-water emulsion, and the emulsion is added in discrete amounts to a metal ion bath so that the emulsion is added A lipid pellet sets, which is uniform and solid throughout its entire structure. The lipid pellets may be packaged for transport at the point of use and / or mixed with other feeds to high nutritional value feed rations. Small amounts of ammonia and / or bentonite can be added to the aqueous mixture to increase its lipid receptivity. The said related application describes various exemplary systems for producing such solid, uniform lipid pellets.

The present invention now differs from that described in the aforementioned related application in that the gelatinous lipid / coagulant / water emulsion is now not cured into integral, generally homogeneous lipid pellets before or after mixing with the ingredients which form the dry feedlant for coating the outer surface of conventional commercial "dry" animal feeds and / or feed pellets and thus for producing a "dry" stable and bound lipid coagulant coating which encases the dry feed ration, with a portion of the lipid in the fabric of the dry food Ingredients and / or pellets can immigrate and the amount of lipid added to the dry feed ration can range from a few percent by weight of lipid to any percentages by weight - usually in the range of up to 20 or 25 percent by weight of lipids or more. In one of the preferred embodiments, the scope of the invention preheats the conventional commercial dry food to lower its hydrate water level below the normal equilibrium level (typically in the range of 10 to 13% water of hydration) prior to application of the lipid coagulant water emulsion. As a result of this arrangement, the water content of the emulsion, while it "sets", and the water content of the animal feed ration equilibrate, so that the product becomes "self-drying". In fact, in some cases, the moisture content of the overheated dry feed ration and the water content in the emulsion (in% by weight) can be chosen so that the total moisture content of the product reaches an equilibrium in the range between 10 and 15% by weight of water. ie about the normal proportion of hydrated water of the composite product. In these cases, no further drying is required or desirable. In other cases, where the moisture content of the final composite pellets exceeds 13%, the pellets may be additionally dried if desired. In one of its main aspects, it is therefore an object of the invention to overcome the drawbacks inherent in previous approaches and to provide a method for applying lipids, desirably in predetermined and / or controlled amounts, to the surface of conventional commercial "dry" animal feed products To encase and / or encapsulate feed products with an outer lipid coagulant-water emulsion which is thereafter "set" to form lipid-feed composite pellets containing either (a) an internal structure substantially as well as having a "dry" stable bound lipid coagulant coat wherein a portion of the lipid in the emulsion is free to migrate into the pores of the dry feed product, or (b) has a texture, in which the feed particles before pelletization with the lipid coag but the lipid / feed composite rations (i) are substantially "dry" (with the exception of the water of hydration), (ii) the lipid component is bound with the coagulant and thus stabilized so as to prevent rancidity and / or spoilage and promote a relatively long shelf life, and (ii) do not tend to form lipid precipitates, as a result of which the pellets tend to clump so that the packaging, handling and administration properties of these feed rations are significantly improved become.

A further and more detailed object of the present invention is to provide a method of the aforesaid type in which the "dry" animal feeds may optionally be preheated prior to or after pelletization to reduce their moisture content below the normal hydrate water level so that the overdried particles of the water Pellets can assume a state of equilibrium with the moisture content of the lipid coagulant-water emulsion so that the lipid / feed composite rations become substantially "self-drying". In this regard, it is an object of the invention to provide a method of encasing lipids for dry animal feed pellets that utilizes the heat generated in the pellets in the conventional pelletizing process to assist in drying the product.

Another important object of the invention is to provide lipid-coated animal feed rations in particulate and / or pellet form that are substantially temperature sensitive, the bound lipid coagulant ingredients being pressurized and / or elevated in temperature as is conventional in storage and / or during transport, do not expectorate liquid lipid.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a high chart and block diagram of an exemplary system for encasing "dry" pelleted animal feed rations with a lipid Coagulant-water emulsion, which is then "tied off" to form a substantially "dry" lipid-feed composite pellet, whose internal structure is formed by the components of the dry feed pellets and whose outer coating consists of the bound lipid Coagulant layer which is substantially "dry" and oil-free and characterized by the lack of any tendency to sweat, agglutinate and / or rancid lipids.

While the invention is capable of modification and alternative use in numerous places, certain embodiments are shown herein by way of example in the drawings; they should be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention should not be limited to the specific embodiments described. Rather, the invention is intended to embrace all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives, which are within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Before describing the particularities of the present invention, it is intended that certain of the terms used herein and in the appended claims be defined first.

The terms "animal feed", "feed product" and / or "feed ration" are used interchangeably herein to refer to any desired feedable material that has nutritional value when fed to animals, such as for ruminants such as cows, sheep, giraffes, deer, camels and pigs, zoo animals, horses, poultry, domestic dogs and cats, fish, shrimp, birds, etc. Such materials may be, for example, grain forage, alfalfa, corn and soy flour, cottonseed meal, minerals, vitamins and the like and mixtures thereof.

The terms "pellets", "pelletize" and the like are not intended to mean articles of a particular size and / or shape but, in their most general sense, articles of varying sizes and / or shapes - for example, tablets, sticks or flattened, globular, capsular, regular or irregular designating molded articles wherein the nutritive feed ingredients have been compacted into discrete and integral forms, generally by the application of pressure (to generate internal heat) by means of suitable and conventional and known excentration devices, pelletizing mills or the like.

The term "lipid" is used in its most general sense to refer to fats, oils (with the exception of essential oils) and lubricants (with the exception of hydrocarbons and / or petroleum-based materials.) The term "lipid-like coagulant" Seaweed or algae extracts such as algin and "holdfast" include not only low viscosity algins (for example, an algin having a viscosity of the order of about 10OcP) but also highly viscous algins having viscosities of the order of 100OcP or more, as well as further, materials having coagulating properties capable of forming a gelatinous emulsion when mixed with water and lipids - for example, extracts of okra or aloe vera, pectins, chitosan (a mushroom spore produced from the shells of shellfish such as crabs, shrimp, and the like and the like formed coagulation agent Each of these substances can be dissolved in a liquid and, in this solution state, becomes calcium (or other suitable metal ion) acting in the same way as algin, so that cross binding of calcium (or the other metal ion) and algin (or the other coagulant) is formed, so that the hitherto water-soluble coagulant becomes water insoluble.

The term "metting agent" is intended to include edible metal-containing metal compounds that release metal ions dissolved in water that can cross link with an alginate coagulant so that, in general, the coagulant becomes water-insoluble. for example, calcium chloride, hydroxide, lactate, phosphate, citrate, etc., as well as compounds of other edible metals such as iron, aluminum (which should be used with care depending on the species to be fed, for example some birds are sensitive to the aluminum content in feed or copper (must also be used with caution, as many animals are susceptible to high concentrations of copper.) In the case of fish baits borax can also be used with particular advantage because, while boron ions "bind" the alginate coagulant in an interaction, coagulation may occur The bait dissolves slowly as it is drawn through the water, gradually releasing the feed particles and lipids acting as attractants.

Finally, the terms "casing" and / or "encapsulating" are used indiscriminately herein to mean a pelleted lipid feed system in which the pelleted dry feed preferably but not necessarily on at least a substantial portion of the outer surface Lipid coagulant-water emulsion, although some portions of the emulsion may migrate into the dry feed pellets or other feed ingredient present.

Considering the meanings of the terms used above, reference is now made to FIG. 1, which shows an exemplary system for wrapping a pelleted dry food with lipid material, shown at 10 in greatly simplified perspective and having features of the present invention. As shown, the "dry" feed ingredients (not shown) are fed either directly, as indicated by solid line 12, or optionally along dashed lines 14, to a conventional pelletizing mill 11 via an oven or other suitable and conventional heat source 15 As will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, following the description, the term "dry" shall mean a feed ingredient which inherently contains a normal proportion of hydrated water of about 10 to 13% by weight. The pelletizing mill 11 is, as already stated, quite conventional and not part of the present invention, since the devices used to make the compacted dry feed pellets in a particular case may be of different types; it may, for example, be a conventional commercial pelletizing mill, extrusion equipment (spaghetti extruder or the like), molding equipment or the like.

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It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that the lipid coating method of the present invention may find advantageous use in processing packaged feed pellets prepared elsewhere and in a completely separate process. However, where the pellets are coated with lipids as part of, or in addition to, a pelletizing process, pelletizing mills 11 and / or extrusion devices have been found to be particularly advantageous since they generally produce relatively dense feed pellets by applying pressure, and in the art during molding Pellets heat is created. As will be explained in more detail below, this resulting heat allows to benefit the uniformity of the lipid coating and the drying of the coated pellets. In the exemplary system 10 shown in Figure 1, the pelletizing mill 11 dispenses discrete dense feed pellets, shown generally at 16; In the illustration of Figure 1, they fall under gravity onto a conventional conveyor belt 18. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1 and in accordance with the important aspects of the present invention, the individual feed pellets 16 are externally coated with a suitable and desired lipid Coagulant-water emulsion coated. This coating can be applied in a variety of ways, for example batchwise by immersing the pellets 16 in a lipid coagulant-water emulsion in a suitable tank (not shown). However, the embodiment of the invention shown herein contemplates the use of a priming system, generally shown at 19, wherein the emulsion is prepared and stored in a suitable mixing chamber 20 and metered by a pump 21 through one or more nozzles 22 onto the falling pellets 16 is sprayed. If desired, the nozzles 22 may face each other as shown, and / or they may also be rotated about or moved relative to the falling pellets to improve the uniformity of applying the emulsion to the outer surfaces of the falling pellets.

In order to promote a uniform application of the lipid coagulant-water emulsion to the pellets 16 and to assist their drying, but at the same time to prevent clumping of the thus coated pellets, the conveyor belt 18 may typically be present as a conventional vibratory material, which ensures that the Pellets deposited on it move continually. Also not working with straps conventional vibrating or Rüttelförderer can be used. This continued movement of the pellets can be further promoted by continuously blowing cool or recirculating air from a perforated top chamber shown here at 24 through the upper conveyor run 18 '. The arrangement is thus such that the moving pellets 16 are exposed to and coated by the lipid coagulant-water emulsion coming from the nozzles 22, while the pellets 16 in the pelletizing process are compacted in the pelletizing mill, extruder, etc. generated heat together with the continuously flowing from the device 24 through the mass of air flowing through jarring pellets promote the formation of uniform surface layers on the pellets.

In the practice of the invention, provisions are made to "ligate" the lipid coagulant-water emulsion layer from the pellets 16 to stabilize the lipid and provide discrete lipid-coated pellets through a "dry" non-oil-bound lipid / Coagulant coat which shows no tendency to exudate liquid lipid. For this purpose, a stored in a tank 25 aqueous metal ion solution - for example of calcium chloride (CaCl ₂ ) - withdrawn from this with a suitable pump 26 and applied by means of one or more suitable spray heads (nozzles) 28 on the continuously passing oscillating emulsion coated pellets 16. The arrangement is thus such that when the conveyor belt 18 and the device 24 cooperate, the pellets 16 coated with the lipid coagulant-water emulsion remain in continuous motion as they pass through the metal ion injection station formed by the nozzles 28 the pellets are uniformly coated with the aqueous diluting solution which serves to release metal ions which react with the coagulant in the lipid coagulant-water emulsion to "bind" the lipid to a relatively solid "dry" coating which is the discrete one dry pellets 16 surrounds and / or encapsulates. In the case of the metal ion / coagulant reaction, a cross-bonding of the metal (for example calcium in a calcium chloride solution) with the coagulating agent (for example algin) is formed so that the hitherto water-soluble coagulant becomes water-insoluble (except when borax is used in the preparation of water-soluble lipid-coated bait products where the bound lipid coagulant layer remains water-soluble). This binds the lipid and the coagulant to stabilize the lipid in a substantially dry state so that there is no longer any tendency to exude lipids in liquid form.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the rapidity of the aforementioned cross-linking reaction between metal ions and coagulants depends largely on the metal ion concentration of the aqueous solution in the tank 25. It has been found that when using, for example, calcium chloride, an aqueous calcium chloride solution containing as little as 0.1% by weight of calcium is generally sufficient to "bind" the lipid coagulant-water emulsion within a few minutes, while stronger Solutions (eg, 10, 15, 20, 25, or more percent) allow the emulsion to "set" almost instantaneously. At this point in the process, although the components lipid and coagulants are bound together, the pellets 16 show a wet appearance mainly due to the excess of water in the aqueous calcium chloride (CaCl ₂ ) or other metal ion solution. In carrying out the present invention, therefore, the individual lipid-coated pellets 16 are preferably passed through the conveyor belt 18, which keeps them in constant motion relative to each other, through another drying station, for example in the form of a furnace (not shown) or the pellets, as shown here are passed through a hot air dryer 29 for heat exchange, which sends a plurality of hot air streams through the continuous pellet bed. At the end of the drying cycle, the pellets 16 may be filled into suitable storage containers or the like (not shown) or alternatively fed to another conveyor 30, which feeds them to a suitable fully or semi-automatic or hand-operated bag filling station (not shown).

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 and described above, the pellets 16 are sprayed with the lipid coagulant water emulsion as they fall under gravity from the pelletizing mills to the conveyor belt 18. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to this exemplary arrangement. Thus, the pellets 16 can be provided with the emulsion alternatively and / or additionally after application to the conveyor belt 18. In some pelletizing mills of conventional type, it is still possible to spray the pellets after shaping but before dispensing.

In its most general aspects, the invention does in fact permit spraying or otherwise coating the dry feed ingredients themselves prior to pelletization. It is therefore within the scope of the invention to (i) preferably spray or otherwise coat the dry feed particles fed to the pelletizing mill 11 on line 12 (e.g. after passing through the heat source 15 on line 14) while the particles are being fed (Ii) spraying or otherwise coating the emulsion particles sprayed with the emulsion with an aqueous setting agent such as a calcium chloride solution; and (iii) then introducing the thus lipid-coated feed particles into the pelletizing mill 11 or other suitable pelletizer which receives the particles compacted dense pellets, wherein the feed cores are lipidummantelt in the pellets, in contrast to the example of FIG. 1, where the pellets 16 are themselves lipid coated. In those instances where the invention is used to lipid-coat the feed particles themselves, the lipid-coated particles will pack and disperse even without pelletization since the lipid is in dry, stable, temperature-sensitive form and bound by the coagulant, so that the product will pass without difficulty to handle the danger of clutter and rancidity.

One of the main advantages of the present invention is the ease and flexibility of the process, which does not require substantially high investment costs. Thus, to apply a continuous production line, apart from some spray nozzles for the stations where the emulsion and the calcium chloride are applied, as well as the means by which the coated feed particles and / or pellets are set in motion, before the lipid Coagulant coating "sets", requiring little additional equipment The coated particles or pellets dispensed by the system can be carefully adjusted to produce an animal feed with virtually any lipid content that meets the requirements of animal husbandry, with a few percent lipid content For example, in a continuous jacketing process where χ kg of "dry" particles or pellets per unit time are to be coated into feed grades with 10 wt% lipid content, the exemplary system 10 of Figure 1 would be used adjust so that the lipid content of the lipid coagulants ungsmittel-water emulsion in mixing chamber 20 and the lipid application system 10 0.1 χ kg apply lipid to the particles or pellets per unit time. If, on the other hand, the particles or pellets have 15% by weight of lipids, only the running speed of the conveyor belt 18, the lipid content of the emulsion and / or the amount of lipid sprayed per unit of time need to be adjusted so that the χ kg of dry feed particles or pellets per unit time 0 , 15 χ kg of lipid are applied. Thereafter, the lipid-coated particles or pellets may be sorted and packaged according to the amount of lipid in the final pelleted or particulate feed for distribution to consumers.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is within the scope of the invention to adjust the process parameters so that little, in some cases no, additional energy is needed to effectively provide the lipid-coated particles or pellets with only 10 to 13 wt% moisture to dry - ie to a level that is substantially in equilibrium with the water of hydration of the dry lining. For example, if the manufacturer wishes to prepare dry feed particles or pellets with 10 wt% lipid content of mixed grain and alfalfa or similar nutritious feeds, and for the lipid coagulant water emulsion, add about 66 wt% lipid, 33% water and 1% Coagulant, then all that is required is to heat the dry feed ingredients in a heat source 15 before, during or after pelletization to lower the hydrate water content below the normal equilibrium level to about 8% and then 15 wt% emulsion To give 85 wt .-% dry feed ingredients. Then surrender

85% dry ingredients with 8% moisture + 15% emulsion with 33% moisture content

and the resulting rations then contain about 10% by weight of lipids, 78% by weight of dry material, and a total of 12% by weight of moisture. Thus, the 8% moisture content of the dry feed ingredients, along with the 33% moisture of the emulsion, gives an equilibrium in which the lipid-coated rations have a total moisture content of about 12%.

If it is desired to prepare a lipid-coated particle or pellet containing 15% by weight of lipid, it is possible to heat the same dry feed ingredients to reduce the water of hydration to 6% and then apply the emulsion as follows:

77.5% dry ingredients at 6% moisture + 22.5% emulsion at 33% moisture

and the resulting rations will then contain about 15.1 weight percent lipids, 72.9 weight percent dry material and 12 weight percent moisture.

As already mentioned, various coagulants can be used, of which the most well-known are the algins. It has been found that virtually any algin - regardless of the viscosity and / or purity is used. However, where a lipid emulsion spraying system is to be used, as shown at 19 in Fig. 1, for example, products which have been found to be particularly suitable include the products "Kelco Gel LV" and "Kelgin LV", d. H. refined low viscosity (ca 10OcP) algins from Kelco Division of Merck & Co., Inc., Chicago, III., "Scotone", refined low viscosity algin from Scotia Marine Product, Ltd., Princeton, New Jersey, and "Protatek BF 120 ", an unrefined low- to medium-viscosity algin offered by Multi-Kom Corp. of Ridgefield, New Jersey, also commonly referred to as" Holdfast ".

Desired levels for the lipid coagulant-water emulsion components have been found to be within the following general ranges: Water 25-65%

Lipid 35-75% and

Coagulant 0.25-8.0%.

If necessary, the mixture may be admixed with a suitable emulsifier (for example, ammonium hydroxide (NH ₅ O) offered by numerous companies, for example, VWR Scientific, Seattle, Washington) in any amount up to about 5% by weight of the total formulation ; it supports the formation and maintenance ^{1 of} the desired emulsion.

As for the setting agent (for example, the solution of calcium chloride [CaCl ₂ ] held in tank 5), it may be an aqueous solution of virtually any desired CaCl ₂ concentration of 0.1 to 2% by weight to 25-30% by weight. or more CaCl ₂ , balance water, act. However, where it is undesirable to treat the lipid-coated particles or pellets with a solution having up to 98-99% excess water, it has been found convenient to use a highly concentrated CaCl ₂ solution - for example, 50% by weight calcium chloride or more (or others) soluble metal compounds in a solution from which ions of an edible metal can be released), which except for the calcium chloride contains just enough water to liberate the calcium ions, and this highly concentrated solution then becomes a "setting" with a liquid desiccant such as propylene glycol. Such an arrangement is also advantageous in that it not only keeps the excess of water added to the system as low as possible, in cases where the lipid-coated pellets have a total moisture content of more as the normal level of hydrate water (e.g., 10 to 13%), residence in the bath of concentrated calcium chloride and propylene glycol also serves to remove excess moisture from the pellets produced due to the fact that the propylene glycol is a dehydrating agent. The propylene glycol can be heated in such a moisture removal system from the lipid coated particles, worked up by the addition of high concentration calcium chloride solution, and then re-passed through the lipid coating system to bind the lipid and coagulant applied in subsequent pellet pellets.

Execution example Example I

In the practice of the present invention on a laboratory scale to form discrete dry lipid-coated pelleted feed rations, a stock of Complete Hog Finishing Ration pork feed was prepared as described as "Western Farmers Brand Feed" by Cenex Ag., Inc. Seattle, Washington is heated in a preheat oven for about 20 minutes at 93 ° C until a slight color change shows caramelization on the pellet surface based on weight determinations of the final fattening before and after the heat treatment and the fact that this is not When the heated lining contained about 10% to 12% by weight of moisture, it was determined that the heating process had reduced the moisture content of the pelletized feed to 5% to about 8% For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the aforementioned final feed after the guaranteed analysis is min. 13% protein, at least 2.5% fat and at least 7.5% fibrous matter and is composed of the following: grain products, vegetable protein products, processed grain by-products, pasture feed products, animal protein products, roughage products, cane molasses, lignosulfonate, salt, magnesium oxide, manganese oxide, cobalt carbonate, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, potassium iodide, calcium carbonate , Vitamin A acetate, Deactivated animal sterol (source of Vitamin B3), Di-alphatocopherol acetate (Vitamin E), Vitamin B-12 supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Calcium pentothenate, Choline chloride, Menadlone sodium bisulfite complex, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamine mononitrate, Sodium selenite (Selenium), d-biotin and folic acid.

A lipid-coagulant-water emulsion was prepared as follows: 240g of a 4% acid greasy product named "Yellow Grease" was melted and maintained at a temperature of 51.7 ° C (125 ° F), 2.2g Kelgin LV (low viscosity alginate) mixed separately in a mixer with 120g warm tap water until complete dissolution and then the liquefied yellow grease added to the algin-water mixture so that a total of 362.2 g of lipid-coagulant-water Emulsion resulted, which were added after thorough mixing in a swing-operated spray gun.

The preheated final pelleted feed with a moisture content in the range of about 6% to about 8% was removed from the oven and 1000 g of the overheated pelletized feed ration was placed in a flat stainless steel bowl. The pellets were then sprayed alternately until their exposed surfaces were wet, stirred, re-sprayed and stirred, and so on until all of the 362.2 grams of the emulsion had been applied to the 1000 grams of pellets. At this point, the pellets were then sprayed with a 10% aqueous calcium chloride solution with constant stirring until the pellets had a relatively uniform wet appearance. After application of the calcium chloride solution, the pellets were stirred continuously while being cooled by overblowing with convection air until the pellets lost their wet appearance.

This laboratory experiment resulted in a batch of lipid-coated pellets having a total weight of 1 362.2 g. 1 000g superheated pelleted feed ration with about 6% to 8% moisture and 362.2g fat algin water emulsion with a moisture content of 33.130 = 8%. The finished lipid-coated pellets thus had fat = 240 g / l 362.2 g = 17.6%; Dry substance = (929g pellets at 8% moisture or 949g pellets at 6% moisture + 2.2g algin) / 1 362.2g = 67.7 to 69.2%; and water = (80 g [8% water of hydration remaining in the pellets after heating] or 60 g at 6% humidity + 120 g) / 1 362.2 g = 14.7 to 13.2%. The pellets were then subjected to further air drying with pressurized circulating air for two hours, after which the lipid-coated pellets weighed 1 312 g, indicating the disappearance of about 50.2 g of water. These pellets were stable and had about 18.3 wt.% Fat, between 70.3 and 71.8 wt.% Dry matter and algin, and between 9.9 and 11.4 wt.% Moisture, i. a total moisture level that is in the normal or equilibrium water of hydration range for such products. The resulting lipid-coated pellets had a normal appearance, were characterized by their physical strength and showed little or no breakage. The pellets were dry to the touch and had no oily or greasy surface layer, flowed freely and showed no tendency to clump. Together with other lipid-coated pellets,

Those made in the same way with other lipids (e.g., lard, oils, grease from restaurant operations, etc.) were bagged and, although some of the pellets were stored for more than two and a half years, showed no discernible change in appearance, none unpleasant odors were not rancid, showed no inclination, lipids or oils exude and were completely free of spoilage of any kind - in spite of the fact that some of the lipid-coated pellets temperature extremes of 0 ⁰ C (32 ⁰ F) to - in one case a Monthly -48.9 ⁰ C (120 ⁰ F) to 54.4 ⁰ C (13O ⁰ F) were exposed.

Claims (11)

Invention claim: 1. A process for the preparation of an animal feed with a dietary Lipidzusatz, characterized in that (a) preparing a lipid coagulant water emulsion having an alginate coagulant and from about 35 to about 75 weight percent lipid. (b) applying the lipid coagulant-water emulsion prepared in step (a) to the outer surfaces of a plurality of discrete feed particles to expose substantially all of the particle surfaces of the emulsion, and (c) ligating the lipid coagulant-water emulsion to bind the lipid and coagulant to a stable, substantially dry and edible lipid coagulant coating which encases the feed particles, the lipid being up to 20% by weight or more of the total weight of the feed particles. 2. Method according to item 1, wherein the lipid coagulant-water emulsion is prepared, characterized by dissolving an alginic coagulant in water and adding a liquified lipid in a sufficient amount of the coagulant-water mixture to form a lipid Coagulant-water emulsion containing the alginate coagulant. 3. The method according to item 1 or 2, characterized by further pelletizing the lipid-coated feed particles. 4. The method according to item 1 or 2, characterized in that the feed particles are feed pellets. 5. The method according to item 4, characterized in that the feed pellets are prepared by pelleting dry nutrient feed ingredients. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lipid coagulant-water emulsion is cured by applying a setting agent comprising an aqueous metal ion solution - for example calcium ions - in a range from about 0.1 to about 30% by weight. relative to the solution, so that the metal ions liberated in the solution are cross-linked with the coagulant, the coagulant becomes water-insoluble and the lipid and insoluble coagulant are bound to a dry stable form. 7. The method according to item 4 or 5, characterized in that the feed pellets are suitable as fish bait and the lipid coagulant-water emulsion is set by the application of an aqueous solution of borax in the range of, for example, about 0.1 to about 30Gew. -% of the solution to cross-link the boron ions released into the solution with the coagulant so that the lipid and coagulant are bound to a dry, stable, water-insoluble form which will delay release of the feed particles and lipids as the feed passes through a fish-containing Waters allowed. 8. Method according to one of the preceding points, characterized in that the constituents of the lipid coagulant-water emulsion are present in the following percentages by weight: (a) water 25% to 65% (b) Lipid 35% to 75% (c) coagulants 0.25% to 7.0% A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the dry feed ingredients are heated prior to application of the emulsion and the said ingredients serve to evaporate the moisture from the emulsion to make the lipid-coated feed self-drying. 10. The method according to any preceding item, characterized in that the dry feed ingredients are preheated to lower the proportion of hydrated water so far below the equilibrium level that the moisture content of the emulsion applied to the feed components and the overheated components at or near equilibrium Assume equilibrium level of water of hydration for the lipid-coated feed. 11. Method according to one of the preceding points, characterized in that the lipid-coated feed comprises lipids, dry nutritional feed components and a total moisture content in the following ranges: (a) a lipid content of up to or on the order of 20 or more weight percent; (b) dry nutritional feed ingredients in the range of on the order of about 60% to about 85% by weight; (c) a total moisture content of from about 10% to about 13% by weight. For this 1 page drawing