IFF-Braunschweig [News]

News

11.03.2013 - 16.03.2013:

Review

IFF Intensive Course “Basics of compound-feed production“

From 11 to 16 March 2013 the intensive course “Basics of compound-feed production” took place at the Research Institute of Feed Technology of IFF in German language. For the first time it was reduced from formerly ten days to six. 21 participants representing feed producers and manufacturers from Germany, the Netherlands and Austria attended the course which were not only experts but also newcomers as well as people seeking career changes.

The contents of the six days were mainly characterized by all relevant aspects considering compound-feed production. In this case feed technology covered the classical topics storage, transport, dosing, grinding, mixing, pelleting, hygienisation, cooling as well as steam production at a feed mill.
Further subject areas were quality management and product safety as well as measurement techniques, plant safety, environmental protection and feed law. Also related subject areas such as feed science/animal nutrition and business economics were emphasized. The manifold theory was underlined by exercises and demonstrations at the laboratory and pilot plant.

The test at the end of the week was passed by all participants successfully so that the proof of technical expertise towards authorities could be issued to all of them.

All in all it was a successful course with ambitioned participants who felt themselves “in good hands”.

This course will be repeated in 2014.

20.03.2012 - 21.03.2012:

Review

Practical Course "Pelleting of compound feed"

Also the English performance of the practical course “Pelleting of compound feed” received a good resonance with totally 33 participants from the international feed and machinery industry this year.
Like during the German course, at first the essential basis and influences at pelleting of compound feed were presented in papers. The achieved knowledge on pelleting could be deepened during the practical training at the pilot plant station of the institute.
The course enabled the participants to manage and control the pelleting process better in practice at their company.

14.02.2012:
Review

Technical Seminar "Economising with energy – Potential savings, energy management systems and application according to § 41 of the German Renewable Energy Law”

The considerable rise of energy costs during the last years in the meantime creates high economic stimulations for a reasonable energetic economizing at feed plants. For this reason the director of the institute Dr. Benning could welcome 30 participants and speakers at the IFF Research Institute on 14 February 2012 for deepening their knowledge and discussion of this topical subject.

A wide subject area could be covered with the focal points current legal developments in the energy-tax law, application in the frame of the “special equalization rule” for electricity intensive companies according to § 41 of the German Renewable Energy Law and presentation of precise steps for saving energy in compound-feed plants.

Another focal point of the seminar was sent on the presentation of energy management systems which in future will be an indispensable condition for getting tax reliefs and for a continuous improvement process.

24.01.2012 - 25.01.2012:

Review

Practical Course "Pelleting of compound feed" 2012

The two-day practical course is an inherent and well established part of the seminar programme of the Research Institute. Besides lectures on the basics of pelleting as for example steam generation, conditioning and parameters of the pellet mill, essential influences on formulation and parameters of the pellet mill on quality characteristics are demonstrated in practical tests. 30 participants took place in this year's course.

The English repetition is scheduled for 20 and 21 March 2012.

02.01.2012:
Change in the management of the Research Institute of Feed Technology of IFF

On 1 January 2012, Dr.-Ing. Rainer Benning (49) took over the management of the Research Institute of Feed Technology of the International Research Institute of Feed Technology (IFF) in Braunschweig-Thune, Germany. He is the successor of Dr.-Ing. Alexander Feil (48), who was head of the research institute from October 2002 to December 2011. A. Feil returns to RWTH Aachen where he studied the processing of mineral raw materials.
R. Benning will continue the research activities in the field of compound-feed technology. Reasoned by the long-standing experience of the institute among others in the fields compacting/agglomerating, expanding/extruding, drying, mixing, conveying and storing, the technical extension towards applications in other process engineering areas is strived for.

24.11.2011:

Review

International Workshop “Safe Feed for Healthy Food“

On 24 November 2011, the international workshop “Safe Feed for Healthy Food” took place at the Research Institute which was organised by by Prof. J. Zentek, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, Prof. P. Häggblom, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden, and Dr. Alexander Feil, IFF, Braunschweig, Germany. 23 participants and 11 speakers took active part in the event.

From the view of the compound feed production especially mycotoxins and salmonella represent a significant risk for the animal health and because of the carry over effects also for the human health. Cases of damages may lead to essential economic losings for the compound feed producer. Optimised operative strategies concerning the handling with these contaminants require beside the early identification an efficient decontamination. This assumes an effective system of control and monitoring including suitable methods of analysis, an adapted information management and founded knowledge in procedural possibilities and limits.

The workshop includes the following findings of the FP6 research project “BIOTRACER IP”, presented by international accepted experts:

•   Hazard assessment for imported and local raw materials concerning the contamination by aflatoxines, ochratoxines and salmonella
•   Improved measures of sampling and analytics during the process for these contaminants.
•   Development of a simulation tool for salmonella.

The workshop was supplemented by the experiences of the Research Institute of Feed Technology concerning the effects of technological decontamination methods including the acid application.

The participants were especially impressed by the video “Sampling For Contaminants In Animal Feed” which was established in the frame of the research project. It illustrates the latest findings on the sampling of mycotoxins and salmonellae. The video can be found at YouTube.

Besides the presentation of the newest scientific knowledge the workshop offers the opportunity of important and informative networking and exchanging of ideas between industry, monitoring devices and science.

29.09.2011:

Review

IFF Workshop "Appropriate storage and use of liquids in the compound-feed production”

On 27 September 2011 the IFF Workshop concerning the subject “Storage and use of liquids” took place. Because of the various common but also alternative liquids as well as different process and plant parameters, it arises a wide range of subjects and applications concerning the use of liquids in the compound feed production: Beginning with the receipt and storage of liquids and ending with their application on finished products.
Furthermore, measures are required to ensure the quality in the production of liquid single feed stuff. These measures should guarantee a traceable documentation of purchase of the raw materials, the production and processing until dispatch and vice versa.
To cover this range of subjects, the workshop had been designed by contributions of well-respected speakers of the economy, who gave important advices of the daily work to the 34 participants about the following subjects:

•   Planning and building of plants for storage purposes
•   Dosing of liquids
•   Material properties
•   Management of production and quality
•   Technological aspects of applications of liquids in mixers
•   Possible applications of a continuous vaccum coater

The workshop was completed by the presentation of the results of the IFF-research project regarding the addition of liquids in the main mixer as well as the property of glycerin concerning the technological handling in compound-feed formulations.
Additionally, the Fraunhofer Institut for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV presented their research results concerning use of emulsions in alternative applications.

18.05.2011:
IFF Colloquium VICTAM-Review “Progresses in the plant and machine technique for the feed industry”

At the occasion of VICTAM INTERNATIONAL taking place at Cologne in the beginning of May, a number of technological developments for the feed production were presented which were illustrated by delegates from the machinery and plant as well as supplier industry and discussed of the audience at the IFF colloquium on 18 May 2011 at the Research Institute.
26 participants from the compound-feed and mineral-feed production and the machinery and plant industry attended the colloquium which covered a wide range with the presentation of technological developments and new machines in the field of pelleting, expanding and milling, dosing and steam boiling equipment as well as new measurement technology for the feed production.
These technological innovations illustrate important and necessary supplements for the production of compound feed, especially in order to meet the high requirements for product quality and safety, flexibility and plant safety.

12.10.2010:
In-house training courses, seminars and colloquia

For many years, IFF collaborates with single firms for organising specialised in-house courses, seminars and colloquia. Of course, this service is valid for all of our members. It is irrelevant if you need a one-day training with a speaker at your premises on a special topic, e.g. explosion protection or other subjects you are interested in. As already described in our article “BASF special course”, we can offer training courses especially for your company at our institute. The contents can be coordinated with. Also the supplementation of in-house specific themes or a social programme is possible. We can support you organising hotel accommodation and social programmes if necessary. Please order our offer and do not hesitate to contact Mr. Blume for further questions.

18.11.2009 - 31.12.2009:
Does the addition of a surfactant affect the pelleting process?
Rainer Löwe, IFF and Richard Oldman, ANITOX Corp.

In times of increasing costs for raw materials and electric energy and declining margins numbers of feed millers have commented that they are in search of cost saving options especially regarding pelleting. Of major concern are specific energy demand (kWh/t) and moisture losses in finished pelleted feeds because this means immediate mass loss. Trials at IFF Research Institute of Feed Technology, Braunschweig, Germany should give respond to the question if pelleting aids like surfactants can make a contribution to solve the problem. Read the whole article of Rainer Löwe and Richard Oldman.

16.08.2009 - 11.09.2009:

Mrs. Olivera Djuragic, research assistant at the Institute for Food Technology, Research Center for Feed and Animal Products, Novi Sad, visited IFF

Her short review

As a part of the project “FEED-TO-FOOD” (FP7-REGPOT-2007-3 "Reinforcement of Feed to Food Research Center at Institute for Food Technology of the University of Novi Sad") which includes the exchange of research experience, the first longer visit to IFF was from August 16^th to September 11^th. In the period of the visit, I was introduced with the works and almost all activities of the institute, including laboratory work and some pilot plant work which are carried out under current projects. I felt all the time as a member of the collective because I had opportunity to be present at all institute meetings concerning work at last and future weeks. Also I got an opportunity to present my research work as well as the work of my institute, particularly the department of Feed and Animal Products. All the time, we discussed about possibilities of further cooperation and possible results which can be published in some journals to get references for future European projects. Main topics were methods used in determination of homogeneity and working accuracy, as well as about some investigations in the area of feed pelleting process and liquid addition. We also talked about the contribution in the current FP7 proposal in area of feed safety and quality and made some comments and suggestions. In the period of the stay, I visited the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), their facilities and introduced their field of research and also AGRAVIS, local feed producer, who is a part of the Raiffeisen Company. A one-day visit to Hanover Messe on September 8^th was aimed to meeting with Dr. Steinkamp from the Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik (DIL) and after discussion we established a good base for future cooperation.

Finally, I can say that my visit was successful and fruitful and that our two institutes can do more in future in the field of feed technology not only as a part of the project “FEED-TO-FOOD” but in the other kind of projects.

29.06.2009 - 29.07.2009:

Four young researchers from Novi-Sad (Serbia) visited IFF

Within the project FP7-REGPOT-2007-3 "Reinforcement of Feed to Food Research Center at Institute for Food Technology of the University of Novi Sad" four young researchers visited the Research Institute of Feed Technology of IFF. A short summay of the 14-day stay as well as impressions and experiences of the young scientists are compiled as follows:

With this article we would like to share our impressions about IFF Institute in Braunschweig. We are Bojana Kokic, Radmilo Colovic, Djuro Vukmirovic and Dusica Ivanov, young researchers from Institute for Food Technology in Novi Sad, Serbia, department for Animal Products and Feed Technology. IFF Institute is our associate institute on FEED-TO-FOOD FP7 project, funded by European Commission.

The reason for this two week visit was to participate on basic course “Fundamentals and new developments in feed-compounding technology“, but also introducing with all equipment and physical analysis that are conducted on IFF Institute. The least that we can say is that this visit was useful and that it fulfilled all our expectations.

The course was very well organized. The lectures were focused on practical issues and supported by scientific data that was originally from IFF experiments. We also got some new information about legislations and EU laws, which will help us to understand functioning of European Union better. The lecturers had great knowledge in their areas and they were ready to answer on all of participants´ questions.

In second week we were introduced with all process equipment, such as extruders, expanders, pellet machines, various types of mills, etc. That was especially interesting for us because of the fact that we have the same devices in our pilot plant, and that we are planning cooperation on same frame work projects in future.

We were also shown physical laboratory equipment and methods which will help us to improve our laboratory and to implement some new analysis. A lot of literature and scientific papers that we also got would show us in which direction our experiments should proceed.

At the end, we could not forget visits to the “Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI)”, “Burg Warberg”, “Feed Mill Agravis Braunschweig”, “DMSB” International Technical School for Process Construction and Process Engineering, “MEGA Haldensleben” and “Schaumann Eilsleben”. Not less important are contacts that we made with a lot of our colleagues from areas related to feed production.

We would like to express our gratitude to our hosts for hospitality and well organised visit to Braunschweig and we are inviting them to visit our institute!

09.06.2008 - 23.06.2008:

Substance data base on the dust-formation behaviour of single feeds, additives and feed mixtures

In the frame of the research project “Explosion hazards”, that was made possible with funding from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology via the German Federation of Industrial Cooperative Research Associations “Otto von Guericke” e.V. (AiF), a material data base was developed in which investigation results are made available on the dust-formation behaviour under different conditions on basis of the relevant identification of the substances used in the grain cultivation and feed industry.

The selection of the materials are geared to the already available data base (BIA GESTIS-STAUB-EX data base, BGIA - BG-Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and is a supplementation to the fire and explosion characteristics.

The data base is available with immediate effect and can be supplemented dynamically.