Preparation process of healthy and environment-friendly starch cat litter with high water absorption

Abstract

The invention relates to a preparation process of healthy and environment-friendly starch cat litter with high water absorbability, which comprises the following preparation steps: taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water into the corn starch, and uniformly stirring to form powder, the water adding amount being 30-40% of the mass of the taken corn starch; the stirred powder is pre-pressed by adopting a screw granulator, the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator is regulated and controlled to be 500-600 MPa, the heating temperature is regulated and controlled to be 70-120 DEG C, and the temperature and the pressure are kept so that the powder can be completely gelatinized; carrying out tabletting molding on the gelatinized powder by adopting a tabletting machine; and performing low-speed crushing treatment on the flaky material by adopting a crusher to obtain the formed starch cat litter. The cat litter product produced by the preparation process is purely prepared from the corn starch, does not contain any auxiliary glue, is non-toxic and harmless, healthy and environment-friendly, has very high water absorption, water retention, viscosity and viscoelasticity, does not generate dust during use, and is good in caking property.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of cat litter preparation, in particular to a preparation process of a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter. Background Art

[0002] As people's living standards improve, the number of people who keep pets is increasing, and the requirements for pet products are also getting higher and higher. Cats are one of the most common pets. Cat litter is essential for keeping cats at home. Cat litter is a pet product specially designed for cats to absorb and bury their urine and feces.

[0003] At present, cat litter products on the market can be roughly divided into bentonite cat litter, pine cat litter, paper cat litter, crystal cat litter, tofu cat litter, etc. according to their material types. Bentonite cat litter is mainly made by adding water and glue to montmorillonite powder and then granulating it. Although bentonite cat litter is relatively cheap, it often causes large dust and easy sticking to the bottom due to the difference in its mineral soil and different glue content in actual use. The raised dust not only affects the cat's respiratory system, but also pollutes the indoor environment. Pine cat litter has a certain water absorption, but has a certain smell, and like paper cat litter, it has poor agglomeration, which is troublesome to clean, resulting in increased usage. Crystal cat litter is generally synthesized from acid and alkali substances. Although it has good water absorption, it is not easy to agglomerate, has poor wrapping, is easy to emit odor, and is easy to pollute the environment during production and processing. Tofu cat litter is mostly made of a mixture of raw materials such as bean dregs, corn starch, and straw. Although it has a certain water absorption, it is easy to fall off after absorbing water and agglomerating, which leads to invasion of the cat's urethra, causing urinary tract infection and affecting the health of pets. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a preparation process of a starch cat litter with high water absorption, health and environmental protection, so as to produce a cat litter product which does not contain auxiliary glue, is non-toxic and harmless, has high water absorption, does not raise dust when used, has good agglomeration, and is healthy and environmental protection, thereby overcoming the shortcomings of the existing products of this type as pointed out in the background technology.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the technical problem is: a preparation process of a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter, comprising the following preparation steps:

[0006] (1) taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water to the corn starch and stirring the mixture uniformly by a mixer to form a powder, wherein the amount of water added is 30% to 40% by weight of the corn starch;

[0007] (2) Pre-pressing and degassing the stirred powder by a screw granulator, adjusting the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator at 500 MPa to 600 MPa, adjusting the heating temperature at 70° C. to 120° C., and maintaining the temperature and pressure to completely gelatinize the powder;

[0008] (3) tabletting the gelatinized powder using a tablet press;

[0009] (4) adopting a pulverizer to carry out low-speed pulverization processing on the shaped sheet material to obtain a shaped starch cat litter.

[0010] The invention has the beneficial effects of: adopting the preparation process of the invention to produce cat litter, no pollution to the environment is generated during the production process, the produced cat litter product is made purely of corn starch, does not contain any auxiliary glue, is non-toxic and harmless to humans and animals, has high water absorption, water retention, viscosity and viscoelasticity, does not generate dust when used, has good agglomeration, is not easy to break after agglomeration, is easy to store, is degradable, and has good environmental protection. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] The present invention is further described below by means of several embodiments, which are only partial embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments.

[0012] Example 1

[0013] A preparation process of a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter, the preparation steps are as follows:

[0014] (1) taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water to the corn starch and stirring it evenly by a mixer to form a powder, wherein the amount of water added is 30% by weight of the corn starch;

[0015] (2) Pre-pressing and degassing the mixed powder using a screw granulator. The extrusion pressure of the screw granulator is controlled at 500 MPa, and the heating temperature is controlled at 70° C. The heat and pressure are maintained to completely gelatinize the powder.

[0016] (3) tabletting the gelatinized powder using a tablet press;

[0017] (4) adopting a pulverizer to carry out low-speed pulverization processing on the shaped sheet material, the pulverizer speed is 2500 rev / min, and obtains a shaped starch cat litter.

[0018] Example 2

[0019] A preparation process of a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter comprises the following preparation steps:

[0020] (1) taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water to the corn starch and stirring the mixture uniformly by a mixer to form a powder, wherein the amount of water added is 34% by weight of the corn starch;

[0021] (2) Pre-pressing and degassing the mixed powder using a screw granulator, with the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator controlled at 550 MPa and the heating temperature controlled at 85° C. The heat and pressure are maintained to completely gelatinize the powder;

[0022] (3) tabletting the gelatinized powder using a tablet press;

[0023] (4) adopting a pulverizer to carry out low-speed pulverization processing on the shaped sheet material, the pulverizer speed is 2500 rev / min, and obtains a shaped starch cat litter.

[0024] Example 3

[0025] A preparation process of a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter comprises the following preparation steps:

[0026] (1) taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water to the corn starch and stirring the mixture uniformly by a mixer to form a powder, wherein the amount of water added is 37% by weight of the corn starch;

[0027] (2) Pre-pressing and degassing the mixed powder using a screw granulator, with the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator controlled at 580 MPa and the heating temperature controlled at 100° C. The heat and pressure are maintained to completely gelatinize the powder;

[0028] (3) tabletting the gelatinized powder using a tablet press;

[0029] (4) adopting a pulverizer to carry out low-speed pulverization processing on the shaped sheet material, the pulverizer speed is 2500 rev / min, and obtains a shaped starch cat litter.

[0030] Example 4

[0031] A preparation process of a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter comprises the following preparation steps:

[0032] (1) taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water to the corn starch and stirring the mixture uniformly by a mixer to form a powder, wherein the amount of water added is 40% by weight of the corn starch;

[0033] (2) Pre-pressing and degassing the mixed powder using a screw granulator, with the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator controlled at 600 MPa and the heating temperature controlled at 120° C. The heat and pressure are maintained to completely gelatinize the powder;

[0034] (3) tabletting the gelatinized powder using a tablet press;

[0035] (4) adopting a pulverizer to carry out low-speed pulverization processing on the shaped sheet material, the pulverizer speed is 2500 rev / min, and obtains a shaped starch cat litter.

[0036] The screw granulator, tablet press and pulverizer used in the preparation process of the present invention are all mature technology products currently available on the market.

[0037] During the experiment, it was found that when the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator is lower than 100MPa, the corn starch cannot be completely gelatinized no matter how long the holding time is. However, when the extrusion pressure is between 500MPa and 600MPa, the corn starch can be completely gelatinized within a certain holding time.

[0038] The gelatinization degree of starch depends on the pressure, which can be explained as follows: starch granules are composed of crystalline and amorphous regions. Gelatinization starts from the amorphous region with poor stability. The swelling of the amorphous region can cause the instability of the crystalline region. Under low pressure, the energy provided can only make the starch swell and hydrate in the amorphous region, causing instability in the amorphous region, but it is difficult to affect the highly stable crystalline region. In this way, although the gelatinization degree of starch can be improved by extending the holding time, it is still impossible for the starch to be completely gelatinized. When the pressure is high enough, the energy provided to the starch aqueous solution makes the amorphous region highly swollen and hydrated, and the distortion and deformation of the starch molecules under the action of shear stress is enough to destroy the hydrogen bonds between the starch molecules in the highly stable crystalline region and make the starch completely gelatinized. Therefore, the gelatinization of the non-crystalline region can also be considered as a promoter of the gelatinization of the crystalline region.

[0039] In addition to pressure factors, temperature factors also affect the gelatinization degree of starch. Through experiments, it was found that when the heating temperature is within the range of 70℃ to 120℃, the gelatinization degree of corn starch is the best, and the starch will appear crystalline, become transparent and have high viscosity. If the heating temperature is lower than 70℃, the powder density is lower; if the heating temperature is higher than 120℃, the powder density is higher. Too high or too low a powder density will affect its gelatinization degree.

[0040] In addition, the water content of the powder also has an important influence on the preparation process: when the water content of the powder is less than 30%, the semi-finished starch cat litter produced has low toughness, is brittle and easy to break, is not convenient for subsequent processing, and has a low yield rate; and if the water content of the powder is higher than 40%, the roller of the tablet press will slip when the powder is tableted, and the powder cannot be successfully tableted. Therefore, it is advisable to control the amount of water added to corn starch to 30% to 40% of the starch mass.

[0041] The above embodiments are only used to explain the present invention, rather than to limit the protection of the rights of the present invention. Any non-substantial changes made on the basis of the essential scheme of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A preparation process for a highly water-absorbent, healthy and environmentally friendly starch cat litter, characterized in that The method comprises the following preparation steps: (1) taking a certain amount of corn starch, adding water to the corn starch and stirring the mixture uniformly by a mixer to form a powder, wherein the amount of water added is 30% to 40% by weight of the corn starch; (2) Pre-pressing and degassing the stirred powder by a screw granulator, adjusting the extrusion pressure of the screw granulator at 500 MPa to 600 MPa, adjusting the heating temperature at 70° C. to 120° C., and maintaining the temperature and pressure to completely gelatinize the powder; (3) tabletting the gelatinized powder using a tablet press; (4) adopting a pulverizer to carry out low-speed pulverization processing on the shaped sheet material to obtain a shaped starch cat litter.