petfoodpro 3/2023

PROCESSING
Sustainability in Pet Food
Production? Important Steps and
Solutions!
by Marc Hutter, responsible for Petfood at Zeppelin Systems in Rödermark
Sustainably manufacture high quality food? This is the goal of many pet food manufacturers. For this, equipment and
components are required that are specially adapted to the needs and requirements of manufacturers. This ensures not
only high volumes, but also the highest quality levels. They should also aim to reduce material rejects. How is this possible?
With the help of plant engineering solutions from Zeppelin Systems! We Create Solutions!
The demand for animal food is constantly
increasing: In Germany, more than 34
million pets of different species now live
in 46 percent of all households. In 2007,
it was 23.2 million – with most pets being
cats and dogs. Their owners have very
specific ideas about the appearance and
composition of the food for their beloved
companions: pet food should be round
or square, red or brown. Apart from color
and shape, one thing stands out above all:
No harmful additives! For manufacturers,
this product variety means frequent
batch changes and high cleaning costs.
As a result, large quantities of production
waste is generated, which plant operators
have to transport away and dispose of
at great expense. This not only drives
up costs, it is also unsustainable. For
this reason, specialists from Zeppelin
Systems developed a special procedure
to reprocess discarded material and
return it to the production process. A
great example of a functioning circular
economy in the pet food production
process! We Create Solutions!
An important step towards
sustainability
Pet food manufacturers have long been
aware that sustainable technologies are
worthwhile. Systems and components
should therefore be designed in such a
way that they can avoid waste and save
resources. And this is precisely where
the new process from Zeppelin Systems
comes in – the same one that has
already won over customers in the food
industry. The rejects produced during
frequent batch and product changes are
first put into an aqueous solution in a
separate tank with an agitator. When the
suspension has reached the appropriate
viscosity and correct temperature, the
plant operator can return this mixture to
the actual process. This saves on disposal
and transport costs, uses fewer raw
materials and also improves the carbon
footprint.
Zeppelin Systems supports pet food
manufacturers in this process as well
as many other processing stages. This
starts with raw material intake, extends
to silo filling and grinding technology,
right through to formulation-specific
dosing and pneumatic conveying. In
addition, there are inline screening
machines upstream of the mixers, as well
as components that dedust and temper.
Quality assurance measures and concepts
for explosion protection are also part of
the scope of supply of the experienced
plant manufacturer.
Notable developments in recent years:
The customer receives their customized
system with the required performance
combined with the highest level of
accuracy. This can only be achieved if
those responsible keep an eye on the
entire raw material handling process. The
experts at Zeppelin Systems master all
process steps and the respective process
and measurement technology down to
the last detail. This means that the system
builders can offer perfectly coordinated
complete solutions from a single source.
Tailor-made solutions
At first glance, the individual technologies
do not appear complicated; however,
the processes are still changing. Gentle
pneumatic transport is now playing an
increasingly important role – after all,
neither animal lovers nor producers are
happy with crumbs in their dry food.
Dense phase conveying (Dense-Tec)
achieves this feat without destroying the
structure of the feed. The process is now
state-of-the-art and replaces mechanical
conveyor technology. It is more flexible,
prevents contamination and ensures
high quality results. The pet food industry
mainly employs Dense-Tec continuously
between the individual process steps of
drying, cooling and coating.
For example, when weighing and dosing
small quantities, plant operators must
evenly distribute small amounts of
vitamin powder in mixtures of several
tons. Zeppelin has developed manual and
automated solutions specifically for these
small components. These are customized
systems for batch weighing or differential
scales including control. For liquids,
volumetric and gravimetric components
such as liquid scales and mass flow meters
are available. The focus here is on ensuring
that users can dose and weigh accurately
Figure 1: Dense phase conveying Dense-Tec: gentle conveying for sensitive bulk materials
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Technology & Marketing