US
PATENT ISSUED FOR PRODUCT DENSIFICATION UNIT (PDU)
Extru-Tech, Inc. was issued
U.S. Patent No. 5,622,744 on April 22, 1997 for its versatile
Product Densification Unit (PDU).
The PDU is used in
conjunction with a conventional extrusion cooking system to
produce high quality sinking aquatic feeds and animal feeds.
Feed ingredients are gelatinized and expanded using a cooking
extruder to form an intermediate product which is immediately
introduced into the PDU. The PDU is a specially designed low
shear extruder which is adapted to densify and shape the
intermediate product into a final feed product which is dense
enough to sink in water and stable enough to retain its form
for a considerable period of time while either submerged in
water or exposed to weather.
The PDU provides the
advantage of allowing manufacturers to produce high quality
sinking or slow sinking aquatic feeds and animal feeds at
higher capacity rates compared to production systems using a
stand alone cooking extruder. Since the PDU is a low shear
extruder that is used to densify a gelatinized intermediate
product, a consistent flow of sinking products and dense feeds
will be produced without the worry of possible product
expansion which will cause a lighter density product and
floating products when immersed in water.
The PDU is equipped with a
variable speed drive which allows speed adjustment of the
extruder shaft and provides the versatility to produce sinking
and slow sinking products.
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