GB2416474A

GB2416474A - Drying animal feed

Info

Publication number: GB2416474A
Application number: GB0416578A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Colin Russell Dean
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-07-24
Filing date: 2004-07-24
Publication date: 2006-02-01
Also published as: GB0416578D0

Abstract

Apparatus for drying animal feed, such as grasses, for storage throughout the winter comprises a radiation source 20 and a cavity 12 in which the radiation e.g. microwaves is applied to the animal feed in order to dry it. Preferably the animal feed is compressed before entering the cavity 12 and the cavity 12 has an input and an output choke 22 and 24 in order to limit the amount of radiation which is able to escape from the cavity 12. Additionally, the apparatus may have a discharge area 26 that the animal feed enters once it has been exposed to radiation. In the discharge area 26 air is moved through the processed animal feed removing any moist air present and therefore preventing any reabsorption of water by the animal feed.

Description

24 1 6474

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING FOODSTUFFS

This invention relates to an apparatus for processing animal feed comprising an input for the animal feed, a radiation source, an area where radiation is applied to the animal feed and an output for the processed animal feed. The invention is applicable to use for drying animal feed, particularly crops for horse feed.

It is commonplace for animals, such as horses, to be fed using dried foodstuffs during the winter months. The food has to be dried to prevent it from rotting whilst it is being stored.

Originally, in order to ensure crops to be stored were dry the crops were only harvested during dry weather periods. However, this meant that farmers could not predict when the crop would be harvested, as this was weather dependent. Furthermore, in addition to this uncertainty if the period of harvest was wet then the farmer may not have been able to harvest the crop at the optimum time. In a worst case scenario this may result in the crop

rotting in the fields before it is harvested.

For these reasons artificial means for drying crops have been developed over the years.

The traditional methods of artificially drying crops include burning coal or diesel fuel to produce heat to dry the harvested crop. Using either of these fuels inevitably results in the drying crop being exposed to smoke and/or fumes impairing the dried crop's taste. This method of drying the crop also results in the crop losing its colour and excessive loss of nutrients. Hence the dried crop becomes less nutritious for the animals to which it is being fed as well as less attractive.

Finally, most artificial drying methods employ a drum, much like the one that is found in a tumble dryer, to rotate the crops in order to speed up the drying process and ensure that the harvested crop is evenly dried. However, use a drum in this way degrades the quality of the dried crop. For example, grasses dried using this method tend to lose leaves and a large amount of dust is generated. This dust can be a fire hazard and, may also irritate the airways of people involved in the processing and any animals eating the dried product.

Hence, whilst the quicker drying preserves nutrients the overall quality of the product is impaired.

For these reasons, drying the crop so as to retain the maximum amount of nutrition and retain its aesthetic qualities remains a problem.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for processing a animal feed comprising an input for the animal feed, a radiation source, an area where radiation is applied to the animal feed and an output for the processed animal feed. This results in less time being required to process the animal feed resulting in the animal feed retaining more of its nutrients.

Preferably, the area where radiation is applied has an output and an input choke, thereby limiting the amount of radiation which is able to escape from the area. Preferably, the input and output chokes have sensors to detect any radiation escaping from the cavity, thereby allowing any user to switch off the radiation source if too much radiation is escaping from the area.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a discharge area for the crop once it has had radiation applied to it. Preferably, the discharge area has an air inlet and an air outlet allowing air to be drawn across the processed animal feed removing moisture from around the animal feed, preventing any wafer from being reabsorbed.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, and with reference to the drawing which illustrates a cross section of the apparatus.

As shown in the drawing, the animal feed to be processed is introduced to the machine using a hopper 10. Once introduced the animal feed is transported to the area where radiation is to be applied to it, the cavity 12. Preferably, this transportation is carried out using conveyor belts 14 situated above and below the transport route of the animal feed.

The conveyor belts 14 preferably both move in the same direction 16, away from the input hopper 1 0.

Prior to reaching the cavity 12 the animal feed travels through a compression area 18 between the input hopper 10 and the input to the cavity. The compression of the animal feed reduces the amount of radiation which will escape from the cavity 12, as discussed below. Additionally, the compression of the crop increases the effect of the radiation on the crop, thereby increasing the amount of water loss from the crop. The compression area 18 preferably also has the conveyor belts 14 moving in direction 16 along its upper and lower sides, in order to move the animal feed from the input hopper 10 into the cavity input.

As stated above, the conveyor belts 14 move the animal feed from the input hopper 10 to an area 12 where the radiation is to be applied to the animal feed. The speed at which the conveyor belts 14 move is preferably adjustable and may be varied, for example, according to how much water the animal feed to be dried contains. In this example if the water content of the animal feed is high then the conveyor belt speed will be lower to ensure a greater exposure to radiation and therefore a greater drying effect. If the water content of the animal feed is low then the reverse will be true.

Preferably the radiation area comprises a resonant or non-resonant cavity 12 having a radiation source 20, an input choke tunnel 22 and an output choke tunnel 24. The radiation source 20 is preferably a magnetron which emits electromagnetic energy in the microwave spectrum to dry the animal feed. The number of magnetrons 20 present in the cavity 12 may be varied according to how moist the animal feed to be processed is.

The purpose of the choke tunnels 22 and 24 is to limit the amount of radiation that escapes from the cavity 12 when radiation is applied to animal feed within the cavity 12. Preferably input and output choke tunnels 22 and 24 are supplied with detectors which detect the amount of radiation being emitted through the chokes 22 and 24. These detectors may be supplied with a feedback mechanism to allow them to switch off the radiation source(s) 20 attached to the cavity 12 if radiation is leaking from the cavity 12.

Preferably the input and output choke tunnels 22 and 24 are also supplied with detectors which detect when both choke tunnels 22 and 24, and therefore the cavity 12, are full. This allows a user to gauge when the radiation source 20 should be turned on. By only turning the radiation source 20 on when both choke tunnels 22 and 24 are full the amount of radiation likely to leak from the cavity 12 is further reduced.

The cavity 12 may also be supplied with "stirrers" (not shown) in order to mix the animal feed whilst the radiation is being applied to it. The presence of these stirrers means that the animal feed is more evenly exposed to the radiation. Alternatively the conveyor belts 14 may be constructed so that they have a weir type arrangement and, therefore, automatically vary the distribution of the animal feed when it is travailing through the cavity 12.

Once the animal feed has been exposed to radiation in the cavity 12 it is then transported into the output choke 24. Preferably this is done using the conveyor belts 14 described above. The output choke 24 may then carry the animal feed to a discharge area 26. In the discharge area 26 air is drawn from inlet 28 to outlet 30. The flow of air through the animal feed in the discharge area 26 results in any moist air contained amongst the animal feed being drawn from the animal feed and being expelled from the discharge area 26 through air outlet 30.

Once the animal feed has been thoroughly dried it is removed from the discharge area 26.

Preferably this is through a hatch 32. The discharge area may be supplied with humidity or conductivity sensors in order to ensure the animal feed is dry enough before it is removed from the discharge area. If the animal feed is not dry enough to be stored then it can be placed in the input hopper to be re-processed. Alternatively the humidity or conductivity sensors may be placed in the output choke allowing the extent of drying to be analysed and the conveyor belt speed to adjusted according to the moisture content of the animal feed.

This method and apparatus is optimised for the drying of green forage for animal feed. The green forage is preferably either a grass such as meadow, rye or timothys or forage legumes such as clover and Lucerne (alfalfa).

Claims

1. Apparatus for processing animal feed comprising: (i) an input for the animal feed; (ii) a radiation source; (iii) an area where radiation is applied to the animal feed; and (iv) an output for the processed animal feed.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the area is a cavity.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the cavity has an output and an input tunnel of restricted cross-sectional area.

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the cavity has radiation sensors at the input and output tunnelsto detect any radiation escaping from the cavity.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the radiation source is a source of microwave energy.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a conveyor moves the animal feed from the input, through the means for applying radiation to the output.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the output tunnel comprises a sensor to measure the moisture content of the processed animal feed.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the conveyor's speed is variable and is altered according to the moisture content of the processed animal feed.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising sensors to determine when the cavity is filled with the animal feed.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the apparatus further comprises a discharge area.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the discharge area has an air inlet and an air outlet allowing air to be drawn across the processed animal feed.

12. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 wherein the discharge area further comprises sensors to measure the moisture of the processed animal feed.

13. A method for processing animal feed comprising the steps of: (i) inputting animal feed (ii) applying radiation to the animal feed; and (iii) outputting the processed animal feed.

14. Apparatus for processing animal feed substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in any combination of the accompanying drawings.

15. A method for processing a animal feed substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in any combination of the accompanying drawings.