Benefits of Pre-Grinding
August 1, 2019
Many customers ask us if they should crack the soy before extrusion because they have been told by other extruder manufacturers that with “their extruder” they don’t need…
Category: Engineering & Maintenance
Learn About the Latest Trends & Technologies
New vertical counterflow cooler
July 11, 2019
Cooling is a very important step in the processing of oilseeds & grains. Sometimes, a customer might not appreciate how critical it is to the total process. In…
Continuous Improvement
June 13, 2019
Great companies are always finding ways to better themselves to improve their product, process or their services. Commonly known as continuous improvement, it can be broken down into…
Calculating boiler horsepower requirements
February 14, 2019
In some feedmills, steam is required for various cooking processes. Our high shear dry extrusion generally does not require steam, although some processes do such as fish and…
Principles of steam exhausting
February 7, 2019
A topic of importance for plant cleanliness is exhausting the steam released during the extrusion process. As material is processed within the extruder, the sudden drop to atmospheric…
Wet collectors for steam exhaust
January 10, 2019
In a previous blog, we mentioned the various principles of steam exhausting. One of those was how to handle the discharged vapor. Most places can allow this vapor…
Types of screw conveyor flighting
December 27, 2018
In our industry, the screw conveyor is a pretty common method of conveying. They’re simple, inexpensive and relatively universal. We tend to use a “U-trough” style of conveyor…
You Can Save Your Company How Much!?
August 16, 2018
What if investing in initial training at Start-Up and followed up by annual scheduled training and maintenance visits could save you money and help assist you in reaching…
Vented conveyor length
June 21, 2018
When designing an ExPress® line, there are many things to consider. It’s a little like putting together a Lego® set where you can build pretty much whatever you…
Screw Elevators versus Bucket Elevators
June 7, 2018
There are many ways to transport materials horizontally, but what if you need to go vertically? Pneumatics and cable-type methods are options, but the most common ones you’ll…
Extruder and Auxiliary Panel Equipment Layouts
May 24, 2018
This past year, I’ve had the opportunity to view extruder/press lines with various auxiliary equipment at various locations in multiple countries. Many of them are very well thought-out,…
Vented conveyor diverter valves
May 10, 2018
One feature that we put onto our vented conveyors is a diverter valve. Depending on the design, these can sometimes be called “Y” or “K” valves due to…
Particalizer vs Cutterhead: What’s the Difference?
May 3, 2018
When it comes to extruding materials with higher starch content, such as corn, pet food or fish feed; some type of cutting device is necessary. As these start…
Evolving the R&D Department
April 19, 2018
The last three months have been a whirlwind of activity with the move to our new facility in Grimes, Iowa. This was no small undertaking considering we moved…
Practical Uses of 3D Engineering
April 5, 2018
A previous blog topic discussed the advantages of using 3D software for engineering and other applications. We here at Insta-Pro have been taking advantage of this technology for…
Quality Controls: Self-Evaluation Can Be Tough, Do It Anyway – Here’s Why
March 8, 2018
I’ve worked in various settings where quality controls were used. I’ve also developed diagnostic tests that would be used in quality control testing protocols. As a result, I…
Maintain Ingredient Consistency & Optimize Your ExPress® Process with the Portable Ingredient Analyzer (PIA) NIR
January 11, 2018
Our Portable Ingredient Analyzer (PIA) tool uses NIR technology to provide on-the-spot quick analysis of soy products. Additionally, units can be calibrated to add other grains. Our inventoried…
How does a cleaner work?
January 10, 2018
In a previous blog, we discussed the topic of how a destoner works. In this blog, we touch on why it is important to prepare materials prior to…