Last year, African swine fever (ASF) spread rapidly, affecting many feed factories. Everyone realised that the ASF virus has a great impact on feed companies.

As a source of all nutrients for animal growth, feed is inextricably linked to ASF. Research from internationally renowned feed expert Dr. Scot shows that the virus can remain active in feed ingredients for a long time. In particular, the ASF virus can survive in soymeal for more than 30 days.

Therefore, the removal of ASF virus carried in feed through feed processing technology has become an important subject in the feed industry. The industry has provided many solutions for this, among which Zhengchang's expansion process can kill germs from the source, and it is also the most effective in actual use by customers.

① The birth and principle of expanding technology

In Norway, in the early stage, there was a multi-process comparative analysis of the impact of the expansion process on the nutritional value of ruminant protein and amino acids. At first, it was thought that the application range of the process might be relatively narrow. However, the puffing process quickly spread to all parts of the world (Pipa and Frank, 1989; Peisker, 1992, 1992 b, 1993). One reason was the upgrading of the starch gelatinisation process.

However, the gelatinisation degree of starch was still not optimal, and was affected by the choice of feed processing plan, and the species and feeding stage of animals. As we all know, excessive heat treatment will reduce the potency of certain nutrients. For example, the Maillard reaction of lysine with reducing sugars (Broderick et al., 1991).

In practice, we more widely use common terms (expansion, expanding, expander-processing, expander treatment or high-pressure conditioning) to describe feed materials subjected to high pressure and constant temperature in a short time. Therefore, an important success factor for the popularity of the Shuhua process in Europe and the United States is that the improved process allows for higher yields at higher temperatures and lower processing costs. Hygiene is another factor for the rapid promotion of expanding technology, which can effectively kill harmful pathogens of particular concern, such as ASF virus and salmonella, and is more conducive to improving feed quality.

The expansion pre-treatment process of raw materials can significantly improve pellet PDI (feed durability index) and increase pelletising production capacity. The Shuhua process flexibly allows an increase in the amount of liquid (such as fat and molasses) and other feed components. Expansion is one of the effective ways to produce biscuit material. This process is more attractive in swine and poultry feed (such as chicken feed, duck feed, quail feed, goose feed, etc.).

The raw materials are imparted with higher energy under the conditions of high shear, high pressure, and steam supply in the expander. Through the annulus discharging mould, the raw material is rapidly decompressed and water evaporates naturally, which causes the volume of the feed material to expand and the temperature to drop rapidly.

Although the temperature rises quickly in the expander, the entire process is usually completed within 2 to 10 seconds. The process is usually called HTST-process (HTST = high temperature short time). In the annulus discharging expander, the raw material discharging resistance comes from the conical piston mechanism that is hydraulically adjusted, and the hydraulic pump pressure (bar) needs to be kept in a fully monitored state.

As the pioneer of the green and safe "expansion process technology" revolution, Zhengchang has finally achieved great success after six years of research, testing, and improvement since 2003.

Zhengchang's R&D has enabled diarrhoea-free suckling pigs, greener and safer production, making 7 to 11 days old suckling pigs eat 1 kg more by 31 days, and making large pigs 10 kg heavier. Not only has survival rate of suckling pigs reached 99%, but also labour costs have been reduced. Zhengcheng won the 2011 China Feed Industry Major Technological Progress Project Award for these achievements.

Since the launch of Zhengchang's fourth-generation high-end suckling pig teaching trough material expansion process in 2014, the expanded material produced has been welcomed by swine feed companies, especially breeding companies, with described characteristics of "fragrant, sweet, crisp and nutritious". At present, the expanded material has been used by well-known domestic feed companies such as Zhengda Group, Wen's Group, Jinxinnong Co., Ltd., Zhengda Kangdi Group, Aonong Group, COFCO Group, Zhenghong Group, Hunan Weiye, China Kangdi, Hubei Xiangda, Huanshan Group, etc.

② Strict standards for equipment technology

The expander is made of the best materials. Diesel case body is used to increase the service life of the equipment, together with high-quality gears with a gear life of more than 30,000h. The surface of the large and small gears adopts special heat treatment technology. Heat treatment is an important part of mechanical processing, including aging treatment, which can control various properties of the workpiece such as wear resistance, corrosion resistance, magnetic properties, etc. It can also improve the structure and stress state of the blank to facilitate various cold and hot processing. The use of these technologies improves the strength of the gear and increases the lifetime of the gear, making the transmission system of Zhengchang expansion equipment more reliable. Zhengchang focuses on creating high-efficiency and low-energy host equipment comparable to the best in Europe and America for customers, creating benefits and increasing value for customers.

At the same time, every process detail is reviewed with the most stringent standards. Each expansion project is tailor-made by Zhengchang. Through three-dimensional digital factory design, precise planning, one-step implementation, standardised modular design of prefabricated parts, and on-site assembly, the installation cycle is greatly shortened and project quality is improved. Real-time monitoring of ERP throughout the project installation ensures project progress. Each component of the production line is strictly reviewed according to the specifications, and every detail is considered in place, so as to truly consider the customer.

③ Comprehensively enhancing the competitiveness of customers

The use of Zhengchang's expansion process can not only kill ASF virus from the source, but also increase the survival rate of suckling pigs in the 7-31-day training trough by 99%, and reduce the feed-to-meat ratio of piglets by 0.1%, so that farmers can be rest assured of its use.

Swine feed produced by Zhengchang's expansion process has these differentiated competitive advantages:

◆ It can completely kill ASF virus from the source, allowing the baby pig to grow up healthily;

◆ It can eliminate the anti-nutritional factors in the raw materials and reduce the urease in soymeal. The suckling pig will not have diarrhoea after eating, and the survival rate is high;

◆ Medium temperature expansion (90~130 degrees) along with low temperature granulation process retains the activity of functional substances in the raw materials, improves the digestibility of feed, and realises the formula value of nutritionists. The produced swine feed is fragrant, sweet, crisp, and nutritious. Pigs eat comfortably, grow fast, and reproduce quickly;

◆ In the teaching trough stage, the feed intake can be increased, and the total feed intake can reach 525-700 grams, which improves the absorption capacity of the suckling pig's digestive tract. Generally, the weight of the suckling pig increases by 1 kg during the training trough, and the weight can increase by 10 kg.

Zhengchang specialises in creating stable, reliable and long-lasting expansion process production lines for swine feed companies to kill ASF virus in feed materials, improving feed quality and intake, enabling pigs to grow quickly, and creating benefits for customers.

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Article made possible through the contribution of Zhengchang

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