Corn processing

As is known, high consumer properties and market value have corn grits produced with the separation of the germ, i.e. grits with low fat content. Such groats are used for the production of corn sticks, snacks, beer, etc. Two fundamentally different technologies are offered today for the production of corn groats – traditional and relatively new. The traditional technology implies primary crushing of corn kernels in percussion dezherminators, separation of the germ on pneumatic tables and its further use as a food product. The new technology is implemented by means of the impact action dehumidifiers, where as a result of force actions the germ is crushed and removed from the processing process, i.e. it can be used in the crushed form only for fodder purposes as part of the meal.

Much research, experimentation and study of the economics of processing, our company doubted the prospect of the development and introduction into the industry of the new technology.

The reasons for this are the following insurmountable disadvantages.

1. Instead of using 8-10% of the germ for food purposes, it is sent to flour and sold as flour. At the same time, in the markets of Ukraine and Russia the cost of corn germ equals the cost of groats, which is more than twice as expensive as flour.
2. The increased moisture and fat content in the flour due to the processing technology poses a constant threat of spoilage, especially during the warm periods of the year. The rapid development of mold fungi determines the presence of mycotoxins in meal, which causes poisoning and death of animals.
3. Grain of mainly siliceous corn is suitable for processing according to the new technology, which increases the cost of raw materials and significantly narrows the raw material base for production.
4. Dezherminators of the abrasive type are energy-intensive, expensive machines with intensive wear and tear, which require regular replacement of the working bodies.
5. Obviously, the companies offering this technology as a “new generation technology” have not fully and not for all markets tested it with an assessment of the effects of implementation.

At the same time, in the countries of the former Soviet Union most of the corn processing plants implement the traditional technology. Despite its obvious advantages, the problem is that at the time of its introduction this technology was not sufficiently substantiated and a number of methods of its implementation existed at the level of assumptions. The results of the operation of such technology formed the deserved opinion about the necessity of its improvement.

To date, our company has developed and tested effective methods of improving the traditional technology, the basis of which is:

• preliminary husking of grain which allows to reduce impact loads during primary crushing that increases efficiency of groat formation and preserves the germ as a whole;
• elimination of product twists in germ selection systems on pneumatic tables due to control systems;
• use of conditioning and grinding systems for enrichment of small products.

In this way we are ready to create new production facilities and reconstruct existing ones, which will provide you with maximum profitability through the efficient processing of corn grain with the highest possible yield and quality as well as the guarantee of the required level of fat content in the groats.