Method for producing oil cake powder, oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer, feed, and fertilizer

Abstract

To provide: a technique for producing an oil cake powder using livestock by-products as raw materials; a livestock-derived oil cake powder that can be used as a raw material for feed and / or fertilizer; feed and fertilizer containing the oil cake powder.SOLUTION: A method for producing an oil cake powder includes a step S2 of obtaining an oil cake raw material by eluting and removing oil components through heating and stirring treatment using livestock by-products as raw materials, a step S3 of compressing the oil cake raw material to further remove oil components to obtain pressed oil cake, and a step S5 of pulverizing the pressed oil cake into a powder to obtain the oil cake powder.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for producing oil cake flour for use in feed or fertilizer, oil cake flour for use in feed or fertilizer, and feed and fertilizer. [Background technology]

[0002] Livestock by-products are known to be useful as ingredients for fertilizer and feed. The Act on Assurance of Fertilizer Quality was revised in December 2021. This revision makes it possible to sell oil cake, which is made by processing livestock by-products remaining after producing meat from livestock, as fertilizer and feed. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] In order to use livestock by-products as fertilizer or feed ingredients, the processed oil cake must be powdered. Livestock by-products include, for example, mixtures of livestock hair and livestock hides with hair. However, it is difficult to powder raw materials containing livestock hair and livestock hides with hair, and to the inventor's knowledge, there is no suitable method for powdering livestock by-products that can be used as fertilizer or feed ingredients.

[0004] An object of one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a technology for producing livestock-derived oil cake flour that can be used as a raw material for at least one of feed and fertilizer.An object of another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide livestock-derived oil cake flour that can be used as a raw material for at least one of feed and fertilizer. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is a method for producing at least one of oil cake flour for use as feed or fertilizer. One aspect of the present disclosure includes at least one or a combination of a leaching step, a compression-squeezing step, and a powdering step. However, the method is not limited to these steps and may further include other steps. The leaching step is a step of obtaining an oil cake raw material from a raw material containing livestock hair. Specifically, the raw material containing livestock hair is subjected to a heating and pressure treatment to obtain an oil cake raw material by leaching and removing oil. The compression-squeezing step is a step of obtaining pressed oil cake from the oil cake raw material. Specifically, the oil cake raw material is fed into a compressor to obtain pressed oil cake by further removing oil. The powdering step is a step of obtaining oil cake powder from the pressed oil cake. Specifically, the pressed oil cake is pulverized into powder using a grinder to obtain oil cake powder.

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure may further include a separation process in which the oil removed by the compressor is centrifuged to obtain an oil cake raw material for re-introduction into the compressor.

[0007] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the powdering step may include a first step. The first step may be a step for pulverizing the livestock hair contained in the pressed oil cake from a length of 30 mm to 50 mm to a length of 5 mm to 10 mm. In the first step, a first pulverizer for pulverizing the material to be pulverized may be used. The first pulverizer may be, for example, a wood pulverizer or other pulverizer, but is not limited thereto. As long as it is an apparatus capable of shortening the length of livestock hair in the material to be treated, it may be another apparatus that uses a treatment method other than pulverization or another apparatus that combines pulverization with another treatment method. In this case, the treatment method may be at least one of physical treatment, chemical treatment, and electrical treatment, or a combination of multiple types of treatment.

[0008] Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the powdering step may include a second step. The second step may be a step of pulverizing the oil cake powder so that the length of the livestock hair contained in the oil cake powder is less than 1 mm. In the second step, a second pulverizer may be used to pulverize the material to be pulverized. The second pulverizer may be, for example, an impact pulverizer or other pulverizer, but is not limited thereto. As long as the second pulverizer can further shorten the length of the livestock hair in the material to be processed, it may be another device that uses a processing method other than pulverization or another device that combines pulverization with another processing method. In this case, the processing method may be at least one of physical treatment, chemical treatment, and electrical treatment, or a combination of multiple types of treatment.

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the raw materials may include inedible raw materials including the skin of the livestock, and the method may further include a crushing step of mincing the raw materials including the inedible raw materials to obtain crushed raw materials for use in the leaching step.

[0010] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the livestock hair may be at least one of pig hair and cow hair.

[0011] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the raw materials may further include at least one of pig claws, pig skin, pig kidney, and cow skin.

[0012] One aspect of the present disclosure is a method for producing oil cake flour for use as feed or fertilizer, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining an oil cake raw material by heating and pressurizing a raw material containing livestock hair to dissolve and remove oil; obtaining pressed oil cake by further removing oil from the oil cake raw material; and pulverizing the pressed oil cake into a powder to obtain oil cake flour in which 90% of the sample volume is composed of particles with a particle size of 1073 μm or less.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the step of obtaining the oil cake flour may include at least one of a first step and a second step. The first step may be configured as a step of pulverizing the livestock hair contained in the pressed oil cake from a length of 30 mm to 50 mm to a length of 5 mm to 10 mm. The second step may be configured as a step of pulverizing the pressed oil cake obtained in the first step into oil cake flour in which 90% of the sample volume is composed of particles with a particle diameter of 1073 μm or less.

[0014] According to any one of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure, it is possible to realize a technique for producing livestock-derived oil cake flour that can be used as a feed or fertilizer raw material. Also, it is possible to realize a technique for producing porcine-derived or bovine-derived oil cake flour.

[0015] One aspect of the present disclosure is a powder containing hair from a slaughtered livestock, wherein the hair is pulverized to a length of less than 1 mm.

[0016] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the bristles may be at least one of pig bristles and cow bristles.

[0017] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the powder may further include a powder of at least one of pig skin with hair, pig skin (hairless), pig claw, pig kidney, and cow skin with hair.

[0018] One aspect of the present disclosure is a powder containing hair from a slaughtered livestock, wherein 90% of the sample volume is pulverized to a particle size of 1073 μm or less.

[0019] According to any one of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide livestock-derived oil cake powder or pig-derived or cow-derived oil cake powder that can be used as a feed or fertilizer raw material.

[0020] One aspect of the present disclosure is an agricultural and livestock material containing any of the above-described oil cake flours as a raw material. Another aspect of the present disclosure is a feed containing any of the above-described oil cake flours as a raw material. Still another aspect of the present disclosure is a fertilizer containing any of the above-described oil cake flours as a raw material.

[0021] This will make it possible to reduce the amount of livestock by-products, including inedible parts of livestock, that are discarded, and they can be effectively used as agricultural and livestock materials, feed, fertilizer, etc.

[0022] One aspect of the present disclosure is a method for producing oil cake flour for use as feed or fertilizer, comprising a powdering step of obtaining oil cake flour by powdering pressed oil cake derived from raw materials including livestock hair. The powdering step may be a step of pulverizing the pressed oil cake so that the length of the hair contained in the oil cake flour is less than 1 mm. The powdering step may be a step of pulverizing the pressed oil cake into a powder to obtain oil cake flour in which 90% of the sample volume is composed of particles with a particle size of 1073 μm or less. [Effects of the Invention]

[0023] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a technology for producing livestock-derived oil cake flour that can be used as at least one of feed or fertilizer raw materials can be provided. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a technology for producing porcine- or bovine-derived oil cake flour that can be used as feed or fertilizer raw materials can be provided. According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, livestock-derived oil cake flour that can be used as feed or fertilizer raw materials can be provided. According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, feed and fertilizers containing livestock-derived oil cake flour as raw materials can be provided. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] 1 is a photograph showing a mixture of pig hair and nails, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for use as feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a photograph showing pig skin with bristles, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 is a photograph showing cowhide with bristles, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a configuration diagram showing an apparatus for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 5]1 is a photograph showing the state of primary crushing of pig skin with hair, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a photograph showing a raw material oil cake after oil has been eluted and removed from a mixture of pig hair and nails, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a photograph showing pressed oil cake after compressing a mixture of pig hair and nails, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 8] Photographs showing the oil cake raw material after the oil has been dissolved and removed from a mixture of pig bristles and nails, which is the raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment, and the oil cake raw material (cake) after the pressed oil cake is centrifuged after compressing the mixture of pig bristles and nails. [Figure 9] 1 is a photograph showing oil cake powder after pulverizing a mixture of pig hair and nails, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment, in a first step. [Figure 10] 1 is a photograph showing oil cake powder after pulverizing a mixture of pig hair and nails, which is a raw material for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment, in a second step. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart showing a process for producing oil meal powder for feed or fertilizer according to one embodiment. [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart showing a powdering process of pressed oil cake according to one embodiment. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing a modified example of a process for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer. [Figure 14] This is an SEM image after the first step. [Figure 15] This is an SEM image after the second step. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the particle size distribution on a volume basis of the oil cake powder (powder) obtained in the second step. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the particle number-based particle size distribution of the oil cake powder (powder) obtained in the second step. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] The following provides a detailed description of an "oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer" and a "method for producing oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer" according to one aspect of the present disclosure. However, the following description is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, but should be understood as a description explaining exemplary embodiments. The following description does not unduly limit the scope of the claims, and not all of the configurations described in this embodiment are necessarily essential as solutions.

[0026] In the following description, terms indicating directions such as "upper," "lower," "left," and "right" are used for convenience of explanation and do not indicate a method or mode of use unless the context clearly specifies that the direction is limited. Terms such as "first," "second," "nth (n is any natural number)," etc. used in this specification and claims are used as identifying terms to distinguish different elements and do not indicate a particular order or superiority or inferiority.

[0027] The terms used in the following description are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Elements according to an aspect described in the present specification and claims are intended to include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term "and / or" refers to and is intended to include any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements. The terms "includes," "including," "comprises," and / or "comprising" used in the present specification and claims specify the presence of features, operations, elements, or steps. However, these terms are not intended to exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, operations, elements, steps, and / or groups thereof.

[0028] As used in this specification and claims, a "range" is defined in the form of a lower limit and an upper limit. A given range is defined by selecting one lower limit and one upper limit, and the selected lower and upper limits define the boundaries of the particular range. Such defined ranges may be inclusive or exclusive of the end values ​​and may be arbitrarily combined; i.e., any lower limit may be combined with any upper limit to form a single range. For example, if ranges of 60 to 120 and 80 to 110 are listed for a particular parameter, it is understood that ranges of 60 to 110 and 80 to 120 are also contemplated. In this application, unless otherwise specified, a numerical range "a to b" represents a shorthand representation of any combination of real numbers a to b. For example, the numerical range "0 to 5" represents the entire list of real numbers between "0 and 5" in this specification, and "0 to 5" is an abbreviation for this combination of numbers. Furthermore, expressing that a parameter is an integer ≧2 is equivalent to disclosing that the parameter is, for example, the integers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and so on.

[0029] Numerical values ​​modified by the terms "about," "approximately," "nearly," and "substantially" used in this specification and claims are understood to include the numerical value and any numerical values ​​before and after that numerical value. For example, when describing "about 3," "3" and subsequent numerical values ​​can be included in "about 3" as long as they have the technical features of the invention according to the present disclosure. Furthermore, when describing "B that is substantially identical to A," B can be completely identical to A, and even if there are differences, B can be included in the "substantially" range as long as they share the technical features of the invention according to the present disclosure.

[0030] Manufacturing equipment for oil cake powder for use as raw material, feed or fertilizer (Fig. 1-Fig. 10)

[0031] The oil cake flour manufacturing apparatus 10 as the "apparatus for manufacturing oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer" of the present disclosure is an apparatus for manufacturing oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer from "livestock by-products" as a raw material.

[0032] Oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer is an example of an application, and can include any of feed oil cake flour, fertilizer oil cake flour, and both feed and fertilizer oil cake flour. Here, "feed" refers to food consumed by living organisms such as animals and fish, and examples include pet food, fish feed for farmed fish, and animal feed. "Feed oil cake flour" refers to oil cake flour used as a feed ingredient, and can be used, for example, as a pet food ingredient, fish feed ingredient, or animal feed ingredient. "Fertilizer" refers to a fertilizer used, for example, for soil improvement and soil eutrophication, and oil cake flour for fertilizer can be used, for example, as a soil conditioner ingredient or a eutrophication agent ingredient. These applications are examples only, and are not limited thereto; the product can also be used as an ingredient for applications other than feed and fertilizer.

[0033] Oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer can be made from livestock by-products. Examples of livestock include pigs, cows, wild boars, horses, sheep, goats, and other livestock, and these livestock by-products can be used as the raw material. While the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the case where livestock by-products from pigs or cows are used as the raw material, the present invention is not limited to this. Pork by-products include pig bristles and pig skin with bristles. Pork by-products may further include a mixture of pig bristles and claws, pig skin (hairless), and pig kidneys. Bovine by-products include cow hair and cow skin with bristles. Fertilizer oil cake flour is produced from at least one of these livestock by-products. Feed oil cake flour is produced from a combination of two or more of these livestock by-products.

[0034] Here, "a combination of two or more types" may refer to a combination of different parts derived from a single livestock species (e.g., only pigs or only cattle), or a combination of parts derived from multiple livestock species (e.g., pigs and cattle). That is, an oil cake meal for feed using only pig livestock by-products or an oil cake meal for feed using only cattle livestock by-products are also included in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] The raw materials can be broadly divided into "first raw materials" and "second raw materials." When producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer from the "first raw materials" and "second raw materials," they may be processed separately or both may be processed together. The "first raw materials" are inedible raw materials containing skin, and may include, for example, pig skin with hair, pig skin without hair, and cow skin with hair. The "second raw materials" are inedible raw materials not containing skin, and may include, for example, pig bristles, pig claws, pig kidneys, and cow hair.

[0036] As shown in Figure 1, the pig hair and nail mixture is a mixture of pig hair and pig nails. The pig hair and nail mixture used as the raw material can be one that has not been subjected to pre-processing such as crushing. Pig hair is hair obtained by cutting from pig skin obtained by slaughtering and butchering. The pig hair used as the raw material is one that has not been subjected to pre-processing such as crushing, and its length is, for example, about 30 to 50 mm.

[0037] As shown in Figure 2, pigskin with bristles is obtained by slaughtering and butchering pigs. The pigskin with bristles used as a raw material is obtained by cutting pigskin after slaughtering and butchering, and is not particularly pre-treated. Its size varies depending on the manner of butchering, but for ease of understanding, it is exemplified as having a length of approximately 600 to 1200 mm and a width of approximately 1000 to 1300 mm.

[0038] Pig skin (hairless) is obtained by slaughtering and butchering pigs. The pig skin (hairless) used as a raw material is obtained by cutting pigs after slaughtering and butchering, and is not particularly pre-treated. Its size varies depending on the method of butchering, but for ease of understanding, it is approximately 300 to 400 mm in length and width, as an example. Pig kidney is obtained by slaughtering and butchering pigs, and is not particularly pre-treated.

[0039] As shown in Figure 3, the haired cowhide is cowhide with hair obtained by slaughtering and butchering. The haired cowhide used as raw material is obtained by cutting the cowhide after slaughtering and butchering, and is not subjected to any particular pre-processing. Its size varies depending on the manner of butchering, but for ease of understanding, it is exemplified as having a length of approximately 1800 to 2200 mm, a width of approximately 1800 to 2500 mm, and a thickness of 20 mm or less.

[0040] As described above, all raw materials are by-products of slaughtering and butchering, and oil cake powder of the quality described below can be produced without any pre-treatment before producing oil cake powder according to this embodiment. Note that the above raw materials (pig bristles, pig skin with bristles, a mixture of pig bristles and nails, pig skin (hairless), pig kidney, cow hair, and cow skin with bristles) are examples, and other pig or cow body tissues obtained as by-products of slaughtering and butchering can also be included as raw materials.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 4, the oil cake powder manufacturing apparatus 10 has a crusher 11, a chopper 12, a pressure vessel 13, a compressor 14, a centrifuge 15, a first crusher 16, and a second crusher 17.

[0042] The crusher 11 is a device that performs primary crushing on raw materials as a pre-processing step for finely chopping the raw materials. As the raw materials, a "first raw material" is particularly used. The raw materials may also include a "second raw material."

[0043] The shredder 11 may be, for example, a twin-shaft shredder, but is not limited thereto and other shredders may also be used. In this embodiment, the following twin-shaft shredder will be used as an example of the shredder 11. The twin-shaft shredder has two screws. Each of the two screws is axially shaped and has a rotary blade attached to its outer periphery. The two screws are adjacently arranged so that their axial directions are parallel. The two screws are configured to be independently rotatable about their respective axes. This allows the twin-shaft shredder to pass the raw material between the two screws while entraining it. The twin-shaft shredder shreds the raw material by tearing with the rotary blades and by shearing when passing between the two screws. As shown in FIG. 5, the twin-shaft shredder can shred the raw material to a size that can be processed by the chopper 12 used in the next process. As long as the raw material can be crushed to a size that can be processed by the chopper 12, the crusher 11 is not limited to the exemplified two-shaft crusher, and various other devices can be used.

[0044] The chopper 12 is a device that performs secondary crushing of the raw material into even finer particles than the primary crushing. The chopper 12 is used to obtain crushed raw material by mincing the raw material. The raw material is particularly a "first raw material" that has been primarily crushed. The raw material may also include a "second raw material."

[0045] The chopper 12 may be, for example, a meat chopper, but is not limited thereto and other choppers may be used. In this embodiment, an example in which the following meat chopper is used as the chopper 12 will be described. The meat chopper has a body, a roll, a knife, a plate, and a fixing ring.

[0046] The body has a hollow cylindrical shape. The body is configured to be able to accommodate rolls, knives, plates, and raw materials inside the hollow interior. The meat chopper is configured so that the first end in the cylindrical axial direction (axial direction) of the body is upstream and sends raw materials toward the second end in the axial direction of the body, which is downstream. The rolls, knives, and plates are arranged in this order inside the body from upstream to downstream. The rolls, knives, and plates are arranged coaxially inside the body, with the axis running from upstream to downstream. The rolls and knives are configured so that they can both be rotated around their axes.

[0047] The roll functions as a feed rod that feeds the raw material from the upstream side to the downstream side. The roll is axially shaped and has spiral protrusions that protrude radially outward from its outer circumferential surface. As the roll rotates, the spiral protrusions push the raw material axially from upstream to downstream.

[0048] The knife functions to cut the raw material by pairing with the plate. The knife has multiple blades that extend radially outward from the center of the axis. The knife may be, for example, cross-shaped with four blades, or star-shaped with five or six blades. The knife functions as a rotary blade with the blades rotating around the axis.

[0049] The plate has the function of setting the coarseness with which the raw materials are ground (minced). The plate is circular. A plurality of holes are formed in the plate, penetrating the thickness direction (upstream-downstream direction) of the disc. The diameter of the holes is, for example, 30 mm. The edges of the plate surface and the holes are sharp. The plate functions as a fixed blade. The plate is placed so that the blade of a knife lightly touches the circular surface of the plate.

[0050] The meat chopper is a combination of the above-mentioned components, and is configured to finely grind (mince) raw materials that are pushed by the spiral protrusions of the roll and pass through the holes in the plate with a knife. The meat chopper is configured to process the raw materials into crushed raw materials with a larger surface area through secondary crushing. Therefore, the meat chopper can produce crushed raw materials that will more efficiently release oils and fats in the pressure vessel 13 used in the next process. As long as it is possible to produce crushed raw materials that will more efficiently release oils and fats in the pressure vessel 13, various devices can be used for the chopper 12, not limited to the illustrated meat chopper.

[0051] The pressure vessel 13 has a predetermined internal volume and body dimensions, and is a device that creates a pressurized environment by storing gas therein at a predetermined gauge pressure or higher. The pressure vessel 13 is used to heat and pressurize the raw material to dissolve and remove liquid oil, thereby obtaining the oil cake raw material shown in FIG. 6. The raw material may be, for example, at least one of a "first raw material" that has been subjected to secondary crushing and a "second raw material" that includes pig bristles and pig knuckles as shown in FIG. 1. The pressure vessel 13 may be, for example, a pressure vessel 13 with a double-boiler structure, but is not limited to this, and other pressure vessels may also be used. In this embodiment, an example of using a pressure vessel 13 with the following double-boiler structure will be described as an example of the pressure vessel 13. The pressure vessel 13 has an outer pot, an inner pot, a high-pressure gas inlet, a stirrer, a hopper, and a ball valve.

[0052] The pressure vessel 13 has a double-layer structure with an inner pot housed inside an outer pot. The pressure vessel 13 is configured so that the space formed between the outer pot and the inner pot, and the inner pot, can each be sealed from the outside air, making it pressure-resistant. The inner pot has a predetermined internal volume and is configured to accommodate materials to be processed, such as solids and liquids. The inner pot has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 1500 mm and a height of 2200 mm, for example. A high-pressure gas inlet is provided in the outer pot. The high-pressure gas inlet is located, for example, 1345 mm from the bottom end of the outer pot. High-pressure gas is introduced between the outer pot and the inner pot. The agitator is a device for agitating the materials to be processed housed in the inner pot. The agitator has an agitator. The agitator is located within the inner pot.

[0053] A hopper is disposed above the inner pot. This hopper has a structure capable of containing raw materials. The hopper may be integral with the pressure vessel 13 or may be separate. A ball valve is attached to the lower end at the radial center of the inner pot. By opening the ball valve, the liquid contained in the inner pot can be discharged to the outside of the pressure vessel 13. The oil cake raw material shown in Figure 6 can be obtained from the inner pot after the liquid has been discharged. As shown in Figure 6, the oil cake raw material contains numerous oil cake lumps of approximately 30 mm to 50 mm. The oil cake lumps are formed as lumps containing a mixture of hair and skin.

[0054] As described above, the pressure vessel 13 can place the raw material to be treated in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment while it is placed in a liquid of oils and fats. Furthermore, by placing the raw material in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment, the pressure vessel 13 can leach oil from the raw material. The pressure vessel 13 can then separate the heated and pressurized raw material into oils and fats and the oil cake raw material.

[0055] The compressor 14 is a device that separates liquid from the liquid-solid mixture, which is the raw material, and concentrates the solids. The compressor 14 is used to remove the liquid oil from the oil cake raw material, which is a liquid-solid mixture. Furthermore, the compressor 14 is used to remove the liquid oil from the oil cake raw material (cake) (Figure 8) after the oil has been removed in the centrifuge 15 described below. The compressor 14 can be, for example, an expeller that performs continuous compression by rotating a screw shaft, but is not limited to this and other compressors can also be used. In this embodiment, an example using the following expeller will be described as an example of the compressor 14. The compressor 14 is not limited to an expeller and can be another type of device, such as a ball press, as long as it can remove the oil contained in the oil cake raw material until it is below a predetermined amount.

[0056] The expeller has a cage, a worm, a raw material inlet, a liquid discharge hole, and a compressed material discharge outlet. The cage is cylindrical and hollow inside. The expeller is installed so that the cage's cylindrical axis extends horizontally. The cage is configured to accommodate the worm and oil cake raw material in its hollow interior. The expeller is configured to send the oil cake raw material from a first end in the cage's cylindrical axis direction (axial direction) as upstream to a second end in the cage's axial direction as downstream. A raw material inlet is provided at the first end of the cage. The raw material inlet extends upward along a vertical line from the first end of the cage. Therefore, the expeller is configured so that the oil cake raw material fed into the raw material inlet is continuously supplied to the first end of the cage.

[0057] The worm functions as a pressure rod that sends the oil cake raw material from the upstream side to the downstream side and pressurizes the oil cake raw material toward the second end of the cage. The worm has an axial shape that extends in the axial direction of the cage, and is provided with spiral protrusions (screw blades) that protrude radially outward from its outer circumferential surface. The worm is configured to be rotatable around its axis. Therefore, the expeller is configured so that, as the worm rotates, the oil cake raw material travels along the spiral protrusions and is displaced in the axial direction of the cage and worm from the upstream end to the downstream end.

[0058] The diameter of the worm shaft is larger downstream than upstream. In contrast, the diameter of the screw blades is the same on the upstream and downstream sides. Therefore, the length of the gap between the cage and the worm shaft, in other words, the depth of the groove from the outer circumferential end of the screw blade to the outer circumferential surface of the worm shaft, decreases from the upstream side to the downstream side. Furthermore, the spacing between adjacent screw blades in the axial direction is narrower downstream than upstream. The expeller is configured to crush the oil cake raw material using this worm shape, gradually increasing the compression ratio of the oil cake raw material from the upstream side to the downstream side.

[0059] The cage is formed with a liquid discharge hole. The liquid discharge hole is a number of through-holes that penetrate the bottom wall of the cage between the outside and the inside of the cage. The liquid discharge hole is configured to pass through and discharge to the outside the oil content of the liquid that is separated from the oil cake raw material by being compressed by the worm. A pressed product discharge outlet is formed at the second end of the cage. The pressed product discharge outlet is configured to discharge to the outside the pressed oil cake shown in FIG. 7, which is a solid (cake) that remains after the oil content is removed from the oil cake raw material inside the cage. The pressed oil cake is in the shape of a rice cracker (disk). Pressed oil cake can be used both without and with livestock bones. Pressed oil cake that does not contain livestock bones is also called livestock processing by-product, especially for pigs. Pressed oil cake that contains livestock bones is also called meat and bone meal.

[0060] If the oil content of the pressed oil cake is not sufficiently removed, the oil may seep out during crushing by the first crusher 16 and the second crusher 17 described below, and the materials being crushed inside the device (pressed oil cake and crushed oil cake powder) may adhere to each other and stick together (clog). However, because the compressor 14 properly removes the oil content of the pressed oil cake, efficient crushing is possible in the first crusher 16 and the second crusher 17.

[0061] As described above, the compressor 14 can extract liquid oil not only from the oil cake raw material but also from the oil cake raw material (cake) (FIG. 8) after the oil has been removed in the centrifuge 15 described below. The compressor 14 can obtain squeezed oil cake from which the oil has been removed, particularly from the oil cake raw material (cake) after centrifugation. Therefore, since the apparatus for producing oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment includes the compressor 14, the yield of oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer can be increased.

[0062] The centrifuge 15 is a device that separates liquid from solid particles suspended in the liquid using centrifugal force. The centrifuge 15 is used to extract a raw oil cake (cake) (FIG. 8) from the liquid discharged from the pressure vessel 13. Furthermore, the centrifuge 15 is used to extract a raw oil cake (cake) from the oil in the liquid removed by the compressor 14. The centrifuge 15 may be, for example, a decanter centrifuge that performs continuous solid-liquid separation by a slight difference in rotation between an outer bowl and an inner screw conveyor. However, other centrifuges may also be used. In this embodiment, the following decanter centrifuge is used as an example of the centrifuge 15. The centrifuge 15 may be any type that can extract a raw oil cake containing meat pieces, fat chunks, protein, etc. from the liquid discharged from the pressure vessel 13 and the oil in the liquid removed by the compressor 14 (hereinafter referred to as the liquid). The centrifuge 15 is not limited to a decanter centrifuge, but may be another type of device, such as a cylindrical, disc, or vertical type.

[0063] The decanter centrifuge has an outer bowl, an inner screw conveyor, a supernatant liquid outlet, a sediment discharge outlet, and a raw liquid supply pipe.

[0064] The outer body bowl has a hollow cylindrical shape. The outer body bowl has a shape, for example, a combination of a cylindrical shape and a truncated cone. The decanter centrifuge is installed so that the cylindrical axis of the outer body bowl extends horizontally. The outer body bowl is configured to accommodate the inner body screw conveyor and liquid material, etc., in its hollow interior. The decanter centrifuge has a first end on one side of the cylindrical axis (axial direction) of the outer body bowl and a second end on the other side of the axial direction of the outer body bowl. The outer body bowl has, for example, a truncated cone shape disposed on the second end side. A supernatant liquid discharge outlet is formed at a position radially away from the cylindrical peripheral wall of the outer body bowl at the first end and toward the center. A sediment discharge outlet is formed on, for example, the truncated cone-shaped peripheral wall on the second end side of the outer body bowl.

[0065] The inner body screw conveyor has an axial shape extending in the axial direction of the outer body bowl. The inner body screw conveyor is arranged coaxially with the outer body bowl. A raw material supply pipe is formed inside the inner body screw conveyor. Therefore, one side of the inner body screw conveyor in the axial direction is hollow cylindrical, and the other side is solid columnar. The inner body screw conveyor has a through hole formed therein that penetrates from, for example, the first end side of the outer body bowl to a middle position in the axial direction of the inner body screw conveyor. The through hole opens radially outward from the inner body screw conveyor at the boundary between the hollow and solid parts of the inner body screw conveyor.

[0066] In this way, the raw material supply pipe is formed by a through-hole that passes through the interior of the inner body screw conveyor. The raw material supply pipe is configured to supply a liquid material, such as a raw material, from the outside of the decanter centrifuge to the interior of the outer body bowl. The raw material supply pipe only needs to be able to supply a liquid material, such as a raw material, to the interior of the outer body bowl, and may be configured to introduce the liquid material from the second end side of the outer body bowl.

[0067] The outer bowl has a mechanism that allows it to rotate around its axis. This allows the outer bowl to apply centrifugal force to the liquid or other materials inside. When centrifugal force acts on the liquid or other materials, solid particle sediments are deposited on the inner wall of the outer bowl, and the supernatant oil of the liquid or other materials collects toward the radial center of the outer bowl. For this reason, the decanter centrifuge is configured so that the supernatant oil passes through a supernatant outlet at the first end of the outer bowl and is discharged to the outside.

[0068] The inner screw conveyor has spiral protrusions (screw blades) on the outer periphery of its shaft. The inner screw conveyor is configured to be rotatable around its axis. The inner screw conveyor has a mechanism that rotates at a slightly slower speed than the outer bowl. Therefore, the decanter centrifuge is configured so that, as the inner screw conveyor rotates, the sediment of solid particles accumulated on the inner wall of the outer bowl travels along the spiral protrusions in the axial direction of the outer bowl from the first end to the second end of the outer bowl. The decanter centrifuge is configured so that the sediment of solid particles passes through the truncated cone-shaped peripheral wall, where it is dewatered and discharged from the sediment discharge port. That is, the sediment discharge port is configured to discharge the oil cake raw material (cake) shown in Figure 8 to the outside after oil has been removed from the liquid, etc. The oil cake raw material (cake) is formed as a mass of lint and husk, as shown in Figure 8. The size is variable depending on the amount of solids contained in the input material.

[0069] As described above, the decanter centrifuge can separate not only the liquid discharged from the pressure vessel 13 but also the oil content of the liquid removed by the compressor 14 into a supernatant oil liquid and a solid particle sediment. The decanter centrifuge can particularly extract the oil cake raw material (cake) remaining in the oil content of the liquid from the oil content of the liquid. Because the apparatus for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment includes a decanter centrifuge, the yield of oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer can be increased. Furthermore, because the apparatus for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer includes a decanter centrifuge, the purity of the oil content as a by-product can be increased, improving the quality of the feed oils and fats that can be used as products.

[0070] The first crusher 16 is a device that crushes materials to a predetermined particle size. The first crusher 16 has a crushing function that can effectively cut elongated hair-like bodies. The first crusher 16 is used to primarily crush pressed oil cake into fragments to obtain the oil cake powder shown in FIG. 9. The first crusher 16 may be, for example, a chipper-type wood crusher, but is not limited to this. Other crushers may also be used. Furthermore, the first crusher 16 may be a device that uses a processing method other than crushing or a device that combines crushing with other processing methods, as long as it is capable of shortening the length of livestock hair in the processing target. In this case, the processing method may be at least one of physical processing, chemical processing, and electrical processing, or a combination of multiple types of processing. In this embodiment, an example using a chipper-type wood crusher will be described as the first crusher 16. A chipper-type wood crusher is a device that crushes wood-based raw materials, particularly softwood, into flakes using blades to produce wood chips (cutting chips). The wood chipper is not limited to a chipper type (knife type), and may be a shredder type, chipper shredder type, or other device. Furthermore, the first crusher 16 is not limited to a wood chipper, and various devices can be used as long as they are capable of crushing the livestock hair contained in the pressed oil cake to a length of at least 5 mm to 10 mm. The wood chipper has a hopper, a crushing chamber, a crushing rotor, a screen (punched metal), and a discharge outlet.

[0071] The hopper is an inlet for supplying the pressed oil cake, which is the material to be crushed, to the crushing chamber. The crushing chamber is configured to accommodate the crushing rotor and the pressed oil cake. The crushing rotor has the function of crushing the pressed oil cake into fragments by rotating. The crushing rotor is cylindrical in shape. The crushing rotor is arranged so that its cylindrical axis extends perpendicular to the direction in which the pressed oil cake is supplied and horizontal to the ground. A chipper knife is fixed to the outer periphery of the crushing rotor, extending along the cylindrical axis across the entire width of the crushing rotor. The chipper knife functions to cut, scrape, and crush the pressed oil cake as the crushing rotor rotates. The crushed oil cake powder produced by the chipper knife crushing the pressed oil cake is placed in the crushing chamber.

[0072] The screen has a filtering function that allows only the oil cake powder that has been crushed into pieces of a predetermined particle size or less to pass through after the pressed oil cake is crushed. The screen is installed below the crushing rotor. The screen is formed in a plate shape. The screen has a plurality of through holes that penetrate through the screen in the plate thickness direction.

[0073] The diameter of the through-hole is, for example, 3.0 mm to 3.5 mm. In the wood grinder used in this embodiment as an example of the first grinder 16, when the material to be ground is wood, the diameter of the through-hole is, for example, 7-8 mm. This is designed to suit the fiber structure and hardness of wood. However, unlike wood, hair-like materials such as pig bristles and cow bristles have high elasticity and flexibility, and simply deform under compressive or impact forces, making them less likely to be cut. Furthermore, due to their elongated shape, hair-like materials pass through through-holes more easily than wood fibers. For this reason, through-holes of 7-8 mm, which are the design value for a typical wood grinder, hair-like materials pass through without being sufficiently cut, making efficient grinding difficult. If the diameter of the through-hole is too large, when the material to be ground is livestock by-products, there is the problem that pig bristles, cow bristles, and nails are difficult to grind, making it difficult to efficiently achieve the desired grinding effect. On the other hand, if the diameter of the through-holes is too small, a load is placed on the first crusher 16, which may slow down the processing and reduce the efficiency of crushing the livestock by-products.

[0074] Therefore, when the object to be crushed is a livestock by-product, by setting the diameter of the through-holes to, for example, 3.0 mm or more and 3.5 mm or less, the problem of pig hair, cow hair, and nails being difficult to crush is avoided, and the desired crushing effect can be easily achieved efficiently. In particular, when the diameter of the through-holes is 3.0 mm, pig hair, cow hair, and nails are crushed more reliably without reducing the crushing efficiency of the livestock by-products, which is preferable.

[0075] The first crusher 16 has a mechanism for continuously crushing pressed oil cake that is too large to pass through the through-holes of the screen in the crushing chamber. That is, the first crusher 16 is configured to repeatedly crush the pressed oil cake with a chipper knife rotating at high speed and by colliding at high speed with the walls of the crushing chamber, thereby turning the pressed oil cake into crushed oil cake powder of a particle size smaller than that which can pass through the through-holes of the screen. The first crusher 16 is also configured to discharge the pressed oil cake powder that has passed through the through-holes of the screen from a discharge outlet.

[0076] Here, it is also possible to consider a configuration in which the apparatus for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment does not have the first crusher 16.

[0077] However, the livestock by-products used as raw materials for the feed or fertilizer oil cake powder of this embodiment include hair-like bodies such as pig hair and cow hair. The hair-like bodies have an elongated shape with a diameter that is significantly shorter than the length. Furthermore, because the hair-like bodies are elongated and flexible, they have the characteristic of simply deforming and being difficult to cut by the compressive or impact force of an impact crusher such as the second crusher 17.

[0078] These characteristics of the hairs pose problems during the crushing process. The through-holes of the screen of the second crusher 17, which will be described later, have a diameter of, for example, 2.5 mm to 3.0 mm. In contrast, the thickness of the hairs is thin, for example, 0.25 mm. Therefore, if the hairs are oriented longitudinally relative to the through-holes, they will pass through the through-holes even if they are long. Furthermore, the hairs are flexible and deform under compression, allowing them to enter the through-holes. As a result, there is a risk that the hairs will pass through the through-holes without being cut.

[0079] Furthermore, due to their elasticity, the hairs may simply bend or be crushed inside the second crusher 17, and may not be effectively cut. Therefore, if the pressed oil cake is directly fed into the second crusher 17 without undergoing primary crushing by the first crusher 16, the pressed oil cake may not be crushed to a size equal to or smaller than the desired particle size. On the other hand, if the diameter of the through holes in the screen of the second crusher 17 is made smaller, it becomes difficult for the oil cake powder to pass through the through holes, which may result in a decrease in production efficiency and clogging.

[0080] In contrast, the apparatus for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to this embodiment includes the first pulverizer 16, which allows elongated hair-like bodies in the extracted oil cake to be pre-pulverized into shorter pieces in the longitudinal direction. The first pulverizer 16 uses a device with a strong cutting force, such as a wood pulverizer, to effectively cut soft and elastic hair-like bodies. As a result, the oil cake powder fed to the second pulverizer 17 does not contain extremely elongated hair-like bodies. Therefore, the first pulverizer 16 can align the oil cake powder fed to the second pulverizer 17 to a size range suitable for pulverization by the second pulverizer 17. This improves the processing efficiency of the second pulverizer 17.

[0081] The first pulverizer 16 can be provided with a dust collector that collects powder scattered when the pressed oil cake is fed into the hopper. The powder collected by the dust collector is filled, for example, into a flexible container bag. The powder filled into the flexible container bag is mixed with the oil cake powder discharged from the discharge port of the first pulverizer 16. In this way, by providing a dust collector in the apparatus for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment, the yield of oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer can be increased.

[0082] As described above, the first crusher 16 can crush the pressed oil cake, which is the material to be crushed, to a predetermined particle size or less. The first crusher 16 can also crush the pressed oil cake to a size that can be processed by the second crusher 17 used in the next step.

[0083] The second pulverizer 17 is a device for secondarily pulverizing the primarily pulverized oil cake powder into a finer powder to obtain the oil cake powder shown in FIG. 10. The second pulverizer 17 has the function of pulverizing the material to be pulverized into a fine powder by applying a complex mechanical action, such as impact force and shear force, to the material to be pulverized. The second pulverizer 17 may be, for example, an impact pulverizer, but is not limited to this. Other pulverizers may also be used. Furthermore, the second pulverizer 17 may be any device that uses a processing method other than pulverization or that combines pulverization with other processing methods, as long as it can further shorten the length of livestock hair in the material to be processed. In this case, the processing method may be at least one of physical, chemical, and electrical treatment, or a combination of multiple types of treatments. The impact pulverizer is a device that pulverizes the material to be pulverized by applying an impact force. Examples of impact pulverizers that can be used include pulverizers, atomizers, and pin mills. If the second pulverizer 17 is a pulverizer, atomizer, or pin mill, it is preferable because it can efficiently pulverize the oil cake powder. However, the second pulverizer 17 is not limited to a pulverizer, atomizer, or pin mill, and other mechanical pulverizers can be used. In this embodiment, an example in which the following pulverizer is used as the second pulverizer 17 will be described. The pulverizer has a hopper, a screw feeder, a pulverizing chamber, a rotor, pulverizing hammers, a liner, a screen, and a discharge port.

[0084] The hopper is an inlet for the primarily crushed oil cake powder, which is the material to be crushed. The screw feeder functions as a feed rod that sends the primarily crushed oil cake powder from the lower end of the hopper toward the crushing chamber. The screw feeder is axially shaped and has spiral protrusions that protrude radially outward from its outer periphery. The pulverizer is installed so that the shaft of the screw feeder extends horizontally. As the screw feeder rotates, the spiral protrusions push the primarily crushed oil cake powder axially from the lower end of the hopper into the crushing chamber.

[0085] The crushing chamber is configured to accommodate the rotor, crushing hammers, liner, screen, and the primarily crushed oil cake powder. The rotor is cylindrical. The rotor is arranged so that its cylindrical axis extends perpendicular to the direction in which the primarily crushed oil cake powder is supplied and horizontally to the ground.

[0086] Comminuting hammers are attached to the outer periphery of the rotor. The comminuting hammers are U-shaped (stirrup-shaped). The two legs of the U-shaped comminuting hammers are attached to the rotor so that they can swing relative to the rotor, with the axis extending along the cylindrical axis of the rotor. A plurality of comminuting hammers are provided in parallel in the axial direction of the rotor. The number of comminuting hammers may be, for example, four, or a smaller or larger number, and there is no limit to the number. A plurality of comminuting hammers are provided spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the rotor. The number of comminuting hammers may be, for example, 16, or a smaller or larger number, and there is no limit to the number. The rotor is configured to be rotatable around its axis. The rotor is configured to rotate at a peripheral speed of, for example, 100 m / s. The peripheral speed of the rotor may be configured to exceed, for example, 110 m / s, 130 m / s, or 150 m / s.

[0087] A liner is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the grinding chamber, facing the upper half of the rotor. The liner has a plurality of concave and convex shapes extending along the axial direction of the rotor. The oil cake powder that has undergone primary grinding is subjected to secondary grinding between the liner and the grinding hammer that rotates around the rotor axis. That is, the grinding hammer rotating at high speed applies an impact force to the hair-like bodies. The oil cake powder that has been struck by the grinding hammer is subjected to further impact force when it collides with the liner. A strong shear force is generated in the narrow area between the grinding hammer and the liner. The vortex flow generated by the concave and convex shapes of the liner generates shear forces from multiple directions. In this way, the pulverizer as the second pulverizer 17 functions to secondarily pulverize the primarily pulverized oil cake powder by these combined mechanical actions.

[0088] One of the reasons why cutting hair-like bodies has been difficult with conventional technology is that when a force is applied from a single direction, the hair-like bodies simply deform and are difficult to cut. In this embodiment, this problem is solved by using a compound force, making it possible to cut hair-like bodies efficiently.

[0089] The screen has a filtering function that allows only the powdered oil cake powder that has been crushed after the secondary crushing to a predetermined particle size or less to pass through. The screen is installed below the rotor. The screen is formed in a thin plate shape. The screen has a plurality of through holes that penetrate through the screen in the plate thickness direction.

[0090] The diameter of the through holes is, for example, 2.5 mm or more and 3.0 mm or less. Generally, impact crushers are used to grind materials into powder, and the diameter of the through holes in the screen is, for example, 1 mm. However, when the material to be ground is a livestock by-product, there is a problem in that pig hair is not ground and short hair remains, making it difficult to efficiently achieve the desired grinding effect. On the other hand, if the diameter of the through holes is too small, a load is placed on the pulverizer, which slows down the processing and may reduce the grinding efficiency of the livestock by-product. Furthermore, if the diameter of the through holes is too small, there is a risk that the material to be ground may clog the through holes in the pulverizer screen. Therefore, when the material to be ground is a livestock by-product, by setting the diameter of the through holes to, for example, 2.5 mm or more and 3.0 mm or less, the problem of pig hair or cow hair remaining can be avoided and the desired grinding effect can be easily achieved efficiently.

[0091] The pulverizer is configured to further pulverize the pressed oil cake that cannot pass through the through-holes of the screen in the pulverization chamber. That is, the pulverizer is configured to repeatedly pulverize the primarily pulverized oil cake powder by the impact of the pulverizing hammers rotating at high speed, and by pulverizing by shear between the pulverizing hammers and the liner, thereby turning the primary pulverized oil cake powder into powder-like oil cake powder with a particle size smaller than that which can pass through the through-holes of the screen. The pulverizer is also configured to discharge the oil cake powder that has passed through the through-holes of the screen from a discharge port.

[0092] As described above, the pulverizer as the second pulverizer 17 can pulverize the oil cake powder that has been primarily pulverized by the first pulverizer 16, which is the material to be pulverized, to a predetermined particle size or less. The pulverizer as the second pulverizer 17 can pulverize the oil cake powder that has been primarily pulverized by the first pulverizer 16 to a size suitable for use as a feed ingredient (pet food).

[0093] As described above, according to this embodiment, a technology for producing pig-derived or cow-derived oil cake powder that can be used as a raw material for at least either feed or fertilizer can be provided.

[0094] Manufacturing method for oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer (Fig. 11-Fig. 13)

[0095] First embodiment (Figs. 11-12)

[0096] The method for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer in this embodiment includes a crushing process (step S1), a dissolution process (step S2), a compression and squeezing process (step S3), a separation process (step S4), and a powdering process (step S5), as shown in Figure 11.

[0097] The crushing process is a process in which a raw material containing a "first raw material" as a "livestock by-product" obtained by slaughtering and butchering is minced to obtain crushed raw material to be subjected to the leaching process (Step S1). The length of the crushed raw material cut in the crushing process affects the efficiency of oil leaching in the subsequent leaching process. Therefore, the crushing process is significant in that it processes the raw material into crushed raw material with a larger surface area, thereby forming crushed raw material that can leach oils and fats more efficiently.

[0098] In the crushing process, the raw material is first crushed primarily. For example, as shown in Figure 2, pig skin with bristles, measuring 1200 mm in length and 1300 mm in width, is used as the raw material. For example, the "second raw material" containing pig bristles and pig claws, as shown in Figure 1, can also be used as the raw material. A two-shaft crusher is used as the crusher 11 for the primary crushing. The raw material is wound around the two screws of the two-shaft crusher and crushed to a size that can be processed by the chopper 12 used in the next process (Figure 5). By performing the primary crushing, the secondary crushing of the raw material can be carried out effectively.

[0099] When using livestock by-products from cattle as the raw material, for example, cowhide with hair measuring 1800 to 2200 mm in length and 1800 to 2500 mm in width is used, as shown in Figure 3. For the primary crushing, a crusher 11 is used, just as when pigs are used as the raw material, and the raw material is crushed to a size that can be processed in the next process.

[0100] The raw material may be poured over a lump of raw material in hot water to soften it, then dried in a dryer to break it into individual pieces before being fed into the crusher 11, or may be fed all at once into the crusher 11 without any pre-treatment.

[0101] In the crushing process, the raw material is then subjected to secondary crushing. For example, as shown in Figure 5, pig skin with bristles, measuring 800 mm in length and 200 mm in width, is used as the raw material. For example, the "second raw material" including pig bristles and pig claws, as shown in Figure 1, can also be used as the raw material. A meat chopper is used as the chopper 12 for secondary crushing. The raw material is pushed toward the plate by the spiral protrusions of the meat chopper's roll, and is cut by the rotating knife as it is pushed out through the holes in the plate. The raw material is cut into crushed raw material in lengths of approximately 50 mm or less.

[0102] In the secondary crushing of cattle by-products, the raw material after the primary crushing (for example, cowhide with hair measuring 1300 to 1500 mm in length and 400 to 800 mm in width) is processed by a chopper 12. The crushed raw material after the processing is cut into lengths of approximately 60 mm or less.

[0103] The leaching process is a process for obtaining an oil cake raw material from a raw material containing livestock hair (step S2). Specifically, this process involves heating and pressurizing the raw material containing livestock hair to leach and remove the oil, thereby obtaining an oil cake raw material. The amount of oil and fat leached from the crushed raw material in the leaching process affects the yield of the oil cake powder finally obtained in the subsequent powdering process. Therefore, the leaching process is significant in that it processes the crushed raw material into an oil cake raw material from which the oil and fat have been appropriately removed, thereby forming an oil cake raw material that can increase the yield of oil cake powder.

[0104] In the leaching process, a pressure vessel 13 with a double-walled structure is used, for example. Feed oil is placed in the inner vessel. If the amount of feed oil is too small, it will be difficult for the oil to be leached from the raw material. Conversely, if the amount of feed oil is too large, the relative amount of raw material to be leached will be small, and the efficiency of the leaching process will decrease. For this reason, the amount of feed oil to be placed is set at, for example, 1 m 3 By appropriately adjusting the amount of feed oil and fat charged into the inner pot in this way, the oil and fat can be reliably eluted from the raw material, and the elution process can be carried out with high efficiency.

[0105] The raw material is fed into the feed oil liquid from a hopper above the inner pot, for example, by a screw. The raw material may be, for example, at least one of a secondarily crushed "first raw material" and a "second raw material" containing pig bristles and pig claws as shown in Figure 1. The amount of raw material fed is, for example, 300 kg. An agitator of a mixing device is placed in the feed oil liquid. The rotation of the agitator moves the raw material so as not to be unevenly distributed in the feed oil liquid. The rotation speed (agitation speed) of the agitator is, for example, 100 revolutions per minute.

[0106] With the raw materials and feed oils and fats placed in the inner pot, high-temperature, high-pressure gas is introduced between the outer and inner pots through the high-pressure gas inlet. Steam, for example, is used as the gas introduced into the pressure vessel 13. The steam introduced between the outer and inner pots is at a gauge pressure (positive pressure) of, for example, 6 atmospheres. When the high-temperature, high-pressure steam comes into contact with the outer surface of the inner pot, the temperature of the raw materials and feed oil and fat increase, and the internal pressure of the inner pot also increases. The raw materials are processed by placing them in a temperature environment of, for example, 120°C for 30 minutes or more. The raw materials become oil cake raw material as the oil and fat dissolve into the feed oil and fat liquid. As shown in Figure 6, when the raw material is derived from pigs, the crushed raw material becomes oil cake raw material, for example, 30 mm to 50 mm after the oil and fat have been dissolved. When the raw material is derived from cattle, the crushed raw material becomes oil cake raw material, for example, 30 mm to 60 mm after the oil and fat have been dissolved.

[0107] The oil and fat dissolved in the pressure vessel 13 is discharged to the outside of the pressure vessel 13 by opening a ball valve below the inner pot. When discharging the oil and fat from the inner pot to the outside, the stirring speed of the stirrer is gradually reduced. The stirring speed of the stirrer is set to, for example, 100 rpm in the initial stage of discharging the oil and fat, and to, for example, 80 rpm in the final stage of discharging the oil and fat.

[0108] When the stirring speed of the agitator in the feed oil / fat liquid is reduced, the centrifugal force acting on the oil cake raw material in the feed oil / fat liquid is weakened. As the centrifugal force acting on the oil cake raw material weakens, the oil cake raw material moves toward the radial center of the inner pot. In this case, if the deceleration (negative acceleration) of the agitator's stirring speed is large, for example, if the agitator's stirring speed is reduced in a step function manner from 100 rpm to 80 rpm, the oil cake raw material may move toward the radial center of the inner pot all at once, potentially clogging the ball valve. This may result in the oil / fat eluted in the pressure vessel 13 not being discharged outside the pressure vessel 13. For this reason, it is preferable to reduce the agitator's stirring speed in a ramp function or sigmoid function manner. This prevents the oil / fat raw material from concentrating in the radial center of the inner pot, allowing the oil / fat to be efficiently discharged outside the pressure vessel 13.

[0109] The compression and squeezing process is a process for obtaining squeezed oil cake from the oil cake raw material (step S3). Specifically, this process involves feeding the oil cake raw material into a compressor 14 to obtain squeezed oil cake from which the oil has been further removed. The elution process and the compression and squeezing process together are also referred to as a rendering process. The residual oil rate of the squeezed oil cake from which the oil has been further removed in the compression and squeezing process is directly related to the pulverization efficiency and prevention of clogging in the subsequent powderization process. Therefore, the compression and squeezing process is significant in that it processes the oil cake raw material into squeezed oil cake from which the oil has been appropriately removed, thereby forming squeezed oil cake that is less likely to clog and can be efficiently pulverized.

[0110] In the compression and squeezing process, an expeller is used as a compressor 14. The oil cake raw material obtained in the leaching process (Figure 6), i.e., the oil cake raw material remaining after the oils and fats have been discharged from the pressure vessel 13, is fed into the raw material inlet of the expeller. The oil cake raw material is pushed from the upstream side to the downstream side by the screw blades of the worm of the expeller. The compression ratio of the oil cake raw material is gradually increased by gradually narrowing the gap between the cage and the worm shaft, gradually narrowing the distance between adjacent screw blades in the axial direction, and by the oil cake raw material being fed one after another. In this way, the oil cake raw material is squeezed and the oil is removed. After the oil is removed, the oil cake raw material becomes squeezed oil cake as shown in Figure 7.

[0111] If the oil cake raw material is compressed too much in the compression and squeezing process, it may be difficult to discharge the squeezed oil cake from the squeezed product outlet. On the other hand, if the oil cake raw material is not compressed enough in the compression and squeezing process, it may be difficult to effectively remove oil from the oil cake raw material. However, since the oil cake raw material is appropriately compressed in the compression and squeezing process, the squeezed oil cake from which the oil has been effectively removed can be smoothly discharged from the squeezed product outlet.

[0112] Furthermore, if the oil content of the pressed oil cake is insufficient in the compression-squeezing step, the oil remaining in the pressed oil cake may stick to the through-holes of the screen and clog the holes when the pressed oil cake is pulverized in the powdering step described below, which may prevent the pressed oil cake from being pulverized. However, since the oil content of the pressed oil cake is appropriately removed in the compression-squeezing step, the pressed oil cake can be efficiently pulverized in the powdering step.

[0113] In the compression and squeezing process, in order to efficiently pulverize the squeezed oil cake in the powdering process, it is preferable to compress the squeezed oil cake until the residual oil content is, for example, less than 12.7%. Furthermore, in order to prevent the squeezed oil cake from solidifying during the compression and squeezing process, making it difficult to discharge from the compressor 14, and to efficiently pulverize the squeezed oil cake in the powdering process, it is preferable to compress the squeezed oil cake until the residual oil content is, for example, 10.2% to 12.7%, and from the perspective of achieving the highest quality processing, it is particularly preferable to compress the squeezed oil cake until the residual oil content is 10.2% to 10.9%. The residual oil content is applied in the field of organic fertilizers and can be determined by a diethyl ether extraction method based on feed analysis standards.

[0114] The raw material inlet of the compressor 14 can also be fed with the oil-removed oil cake (cake) (FIG. 8) from which the oil has been removed in the separation process described below. This allows the compressed squeezing process to obtain squeezed oil cake from the oil cake raw material (cake) after centrifugation. As described above, the method for producing oil cake meal for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment includes the compressed squeezing process, which can increase the yield of oil cake meal for feed or fertilizer.

[0115] The separation process is a process in which the oil removed by the compressor 14 is centrifuged to obtain a raw oil cake to be re-introduced into the compressor 14 (step S4). In the separation process, the raw oil cake (cake) separated from the oil, which would not normally be used as a raw material for the oil cake flour, becomes an additional raw material in the subsequent compression and squeezing process, which affects the processing efficiency of the compression and squeezing process. Therefore, the separation process is significant in that it efficiently separates and recovers solid particles contained in the oil, thereby providing a raw material from which additional oil can be removed in the compression and squeezing process.

[0116] In the separation process, a decanter centrifuge is used as the centrifugal separator 15. The oil removed in the squeezing process is supplied to the inside of the outer bowl of the centrifuge 15 from the raw liquid supply pipe. The oil is separated into a solid particle sediment and a supernatant oil liquid by the rotation of the outer bowl of the decanter centrifuge. At this time, the solid particle sediment is deposited on the inner wall of the outer bowl. The solid particle sediment is transported toward the sediment discharge outlet by the screw blades of the rotating inner screw conveyor of the decanter centrifuge. The liquid oil removed in the squeezing process is turned into a raw oil cake (cake) as shown in Figure 8 by recovering the solid particles remaining in the oil. This raw oil cake (cake) is used as the raw material for the squeezing process.

[0117] In many cases, the centrifuge 15 is used to obtain the oil cake material remaining in the liquid from the oils and fats eluted in the elution step. However, in the method for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment, the oil removed in the compression and squeezing step is also used as the raw material for the separation step. As a result, in the separation step, the oil cake material remaining in the oil removed in the compression and squeezing step can be obtained. Therefore, since the method for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment includes the separation step, the yield of oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer can be increased.

[0118] The powdering step is a step of obtaining oil cake powder from the pressed oil cake (step S5). Specifically, it is a step of obtaining oil cake powder by pulverizing the pressed oil cake into a powder form using a pulverizer.

[0119] In the powdering step, a powdering device 20 is used (FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 4, the powdering device 20 is, for example, a first crusher 16, a second crusher 17, etc. The pressed oil cake shown in FIG. 7 is supplied to the powdering device 20. The pressed oil cake is crushed by the powdering device 20. The pressed oil cake is crushed to a predetermined particle size or less, thereby becoming oil cake powder for use as feed or fertilizer, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0120] The process of the present disclosure includes at least one of a dissolution process, a compression-squeezing process, and a powdering process, or a combination of multiple processes. However, the process is not limited to these processes and may further include other processes. Each process can be performed independently, and the order of the processes can be changed or some processes can be omitted as necessary.

[0121] According to this embodiment, a technology for producing pig-derived or cow-derived oil cake powder that can be used as a raw material for at least one of feed and fertilizer can be provided.

[0122] As shown in FIG. 12, the pulverization process can include a first step and a second step. In other words, the pulverization process of this embodiment can obtain oil cake powder by pulverizing the material to be pulverized in stages. The first step can be a step for pulverizing hair-like bodies, such as livestock hair, contained in the pressed oil cake to lengths of 5 mm to 10 mm, starting from 30 mm to 50 mm if the raw material is swine-derived, or from 30 mm to 60 mm if the raw material is cattle-derived (step S51). The length of the hair-like bodies cut in the first step affects the improvement of the pulverization efficiency in the subsequent second step. Therefore, the first step is significant in that it precuts hair-like bodies, which have a long, slender shape and elasticity that are difficult to pulverize in the second step alone, to a predetermined length, thereby adjusting them to a size range that allows efficient pulverization in the second step. The second step can be a step for pulverizing hair-like bodies, such as pig hair or cow hair, to lengths of less than 1 mm (step S52). The particle size of the oil cake powder pulverized in the second step directly affects the quality of the oil cake powder. Therefore, the second step is significant in that it applies a combination of mechanical forces, such as impact and shear forces, to the pulverized material, resulting in a product that is easy to use as oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer. Furthermore, the second step may be a step for pulverizing the pressed oil cake obtained in the first step into oil cake powder in which 90% of the sample volume is composed of particles with a particle size of 1073 μm or less.

[0123] The first step can be primary pulverization using a first pulverizer 16 that pulverizes the pressed oil cake. A plurality of first pulverizers 16 can be provided depending on the amount of powdered pressed oil cake to be processed. A chipper-type wood pulverizer is used as the first pulverizer 16 here.

[0124] The hopper of a chipper-type wood chipper receives, for example, disk-shaped oil cake (Figure 7) obtained through the compression and squeezing process. The oil cake is then fed into the grinding chamber of the chipper-type wood chipper. In the grinding chamber, the oil cake is pressed against the grinding rotor. The oil cake is then scraped by knives fixed to the outer periphery of the rotating grinding rotor. The oil cake is then crushed into pieces by the chipper knife, and the resulting oil cake powder is then placed in the grinding chamber. The grinding chamber is equipped with a screen with multiple through-holes. The diameter of the through-holes is set, for example, in the range of 3.0 mm to 3.5 mm. If the crushed oil cake powder cannot pass through the through-holes in the screen, it is repeatedly crushed by the rapidly rotating chipper knife and by colliding at high speed with the walls of the grinding chamber. The crushed oil cake powder becomes smaller in particle size than can pass through the holes in the screen (Figure 9), and is discharged from the outlet after passing through the holes in the screen.

[0125] At this time, for example, the hair-like bodies contained in squeezed oil cake derived from pigs are crushed from a length of 30 mm to 50 mm to a length of 5 mm to 10 mm, and the hair-like bodies contained in squeezed oil cake derived from cows are crushed from a length of 30 mm to 60 mm to a length of 5 mm to 10 mm.

[0126] The powdering process includes the first step, which allows the elongated hair-like bodies in the pressed oil cake to be crushed into shorter pieces in the longitudinal direction in advance. As a result, the oil cake powder (Figure 9) added in the second step does not contain extremely elongated hair-like bodies. Therefore, in the first step, the oil cake powder added in the second step can be aligned to a size range suitable for crushing in the second step.

[0127] In the first step, powder scattered when the pressed oil cake is poured into the hopper can be collected by a dust collector. The powder collected by the dust collector is filled, for example, into a flexible container bag. The powder filled into the flexible container bag is mixed with the oil cake powder discharged from the discharge port of the first crusher 16. In this way, in the method for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer of this embodiment, the use of a dust collector can increase the yield of oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer.

[0128] As described above, in the first step, the pressed oil cake, which is the material to be crushed, can be crushed to a predetermined particle size or less. In the first step, the pressed oil cake can be crushed to a size that can be processed in the next second step.

[0129] The oil cake powder produced by the method of the first step from livestock by-products, such as a mixture of pig bristles and claws, pig skin with bristles, pig skin (hairless), and pig kidneys (inedible pig parts), is high in nitrogen and can be used as fertilizer. Furthermore, the oil cake powder produced by the method of the first step from livestock by-products, such as a mixture of pig bristles and claws, pig skin with bristles, pig skin (hairless), and pig kidneys (inedible pig parts), is high in protein and can be used as feed. By including at least one of livestock hair and claws as raw materials, the processed product (finished product), oil cake powder, can contain, for example, more than 70% protein as an ingredient.

[0130] These characteristics are not limited to pig-derived livestock by-products, but are also exhibited in oil cake meal produced from inedible parts of cattle, such as cow hair and cowhide with hair. In other words, cow oil cake meal also has a high protein and nitrogen content and is suitable for both fertilizer and feed. Furthermore, these properties are not limited to pig-derived or cow-derived by-products, but also apply to oil cake meal produced from inedible parts of other livestock, such as sheep and goats.

[0131] The second step can be secondary grinding using an impact grinder as the second grinder 17, which grinds the oil cake powder obtained in the first step to a particle size smaller than that of the first grinder 16. For example, the second step can be a step of grinding hair-like bodies from a length of 5 mm to 10 mm in the case of porcine origin, and from a length of 5 mm to 10 mm in the case of bovine origin, to a length of less than 1 mm in both cases.

[0132] The oil cake powder (Fig. 9) that has been primarily pulverized in the first process is fed into the hopper of the impact pulverizer. The pulverizer's screw feeder sends the oil cake powder to the pulverizer's crushing chamber. In the crushing chamber, the oil cake powder collides with crushing hammers attached to the outer periphery of the rotating rotor, which rotates at a speed of, for example, 4,200 revolutions per minute. The crushing chamber is equipped with a screen with multiple through-holes. If the powdered oil cake powder cannot pass through the through-holes of the screen, it is crushed by collisions between the crushing hammers, the liner, and the oil cake powder particles, and by the shear force of vortices generated by the gap between the crushing hammers and the liner and the uneven shape of the liner. The powdered oil cake powder becomes smaller in particle size than can pass through the through-holes of the screen (Fig. 10) and is discharged from the discharge outlet after passing through the through-holes of the screen. For both porcine and bovine sources, this process reduces hairs to less than 1 mm in length.

[0133] As described above, in the second step, the oil cake powder that was primarily pulverized in the first step, which is the material to be pulverized, can be pulverized to a predetermined particle size or less. In the second step, the oil cake powder that was primarily pulverized in the first step can be pulverized to a size suitable for use as a feed ingredient.

[0134] The oil cake powder produced by the method of the second step from livestock by-products, such as a mixture of pig bristles and claws, pig skin with bristles, pig skin (hairless), and pig kidneys (inedible pig parts), has a high nitrogen content and can be used as a suitable raw material for fertilizer. Furthermore, the oil cake powder produced by the method of the second step from livestock by-products, such as a mixture of pig bristles and claws, pig skin with bristles, pig skin (hairless), and pig kidneys (inedible pig parts), has a high protein content and can be used as a suitable raw material for feed. By including at least one of livestock hair and claws as the raw material, the processed product (finished product), oil cake powder, can be composed of, for example, more than 70% protein as an ingredient.

[0135] Furthermore, these characteristics are not limited to pig-derived livestock by-products, but are also exhibited in oil cake flour produced from inedible parts of cattle, such as cow hair and cowhide with hair. In other words, cow oil cake flour also has a high protein and nitrogen content and is suitable as both a fertilizer and a feed ingredient. Furthermore, these properties are not limited to pig-derived or cow-derived by-products, but are also applicable to oil cake flour produced from inedible parts of other livestock, such as sheep and goats.

[0136] In the oil cake meal produced by the method of the first step (Fig. 9), most of the hairs are about 1 mm long. However, when using the oil cake meal as animal feed, a higher level of fineness may be required. In contrast, the oil cake meal produced by the method of the second step (Fig. 10) is easily usable as animal feed, as the hairs are particularly short and pulverized.

[0137] As described above, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a technology for producing pig-derived or cow-derived oil cake powder that can be used as a raw material for at least one of feed and fertilizer can be provided.

[0138] Modified Example (Fig. 13)

[0139] A modification of the above embodiment will be described. Explanation of the same parts as the above embodiment will be omitted, and only parts that can be modified and implemented will be described.

[0140] In the method for producing oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer according to the above embodiment, the separation step (step S4) can be omitted, as shown in FIG. 13 . By omitting the separation step, the time, effort, and cost required for the separation step can be reduced. That is, by omitting the separation step, the oil cake raw material can be quickly advanced to the next step, the compression and squeezing step. Similarly, by omitting the separation step, the squeezed oil cake can be quickly advanced to the next step, the powdering step. Furthermore, if the purity of the oil removed from the oil cake raw material in the compression and squeezing step is high, there is a risk that almost no solid particles will be separated from the oil in the separation step. In such cases, omitting the separation step can avoid a decrease in cost-effectiveness. Therefore, according to this modification, oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer can be produced more quickly, simply, and inexpensively.

[0141] Oil cake powder for feed or fertilizer (Figure 10)

[0142] The oil cake powder of this embodiment is a powder containing hair from a slaughtered livestock, the hair being pulverized to a length of less than 1 mm. Furthermore, the oil cake powder may be a powder containing hair from a slaughtered livestock, the powder being pulverized to a particle size of 1073 μm or less in 90% of the sample volume.

[0143] Such oil cake flour can provide oil cake flour derived from livestock that can be used as a raw material for at least one of feed and fertilizer.

[0144] The hair contained in the powder may be at least one of pig hair and cow hair.

[0145] The powder may further include powder of at least one of pig skin with hair, pig skin (hairless), pig claw, pig kidney, and cow skin.

[0146] The oil cake powder of this embodiment can be provided as pig-derived or cow-derived oil cake powder that can be used as a raw material for at least either feed or fertilizer.

[0147] According to this embodiment, it is possible to provide agricultural and livestock materials containing any of the above-mentioned oil cake flours as a raw material. It is also possible to provide feed containing any of the above-mentioned oil cake flours as a raw material. Furthermore, it is possible to provide fertilizer containing any of the above-mentioned oil cake flours as a raw material.

[0148] This will reduce the amount of livestock by-products, including inedible parts of livestock, that are discarded, and allow them to be effectively used as agricultural and livestock materials, feed, fertilizer, etc.

[0149] The oil cake flours obtained as described above and usable for at least one of feed and fertilizer according to this embodiment include those produced using inedible parts of livestock as raw materials, and those produced using inedible and edible parts of livestock as raw materials. There is also oil cake flour obtained by producing oil cake flour using inedible parts and oil cake flour using edible parts as raw materials, and then mixing them.

[0150] As a result, the feed or fertilizer of this embodiment may include a form containing oil cake flour derived from inedible parts of livestock as a raw material, a form containing oil cake flour produced from both inedible and edible parts of livestock as raw materials, or a form containing a mixed flour produced from an oil cake flour produced from inedible parts and an oil cake flour produced from edible parts as raw materials. [Example]

[0151] The following examples are provided to more specifically explain the method for producing oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer according to the present embodiment, and the oil cake flour for feed or fertilizer. These examples are intended to demonstrate specific implementations of the above-described embodiments and to objectively demonstrate the technical effects of the present disclosure. However, the present embodiment is not limited to the following examples.

[0152] Example 1 Observation of the surface shape of oil cake powder (Fig. 7, Fig. 9-Fig. 10, Fig. 14-Fig. 15)

[0153] The shape and particle size of the oil cake powder were observed with the naked eye (visual observation) and by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Visual observation was conducted on samples at three stages: the pressed oil cake, which is the stage before the powdering process, the oil cake powder obtained in the first process, and the oil cake powder obtained in the second process. SEM observation was conducted on samples at two stages: the oil cake powder obtained in the first process and the oil cake powder obtained in the second process. SEM observation was conducted at 150x magnification. Each sample was coated with a gold film for SEM observation.

[0154] As shown in Figure 7, hair-like bodies such as pig hairs with lengths of 30 mm to 50 mm were observed in the pressed oil cake, which is the first stage of the powdering process. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, nails were observed in the pressed oil cake at the location indicated by the arrow in the image.

[0155] As shown in Figure 9, hair-like bodies such as pig bristles with lengths of 5 mm to 10 mm were observed in the oil cake powder obtained by the first step. As shown in Figure 14, in the SEM image of the oil cake powder obtained by the first step, elongated particles (with a large aspect ratio) were observed at the locations indicated by the arrows. These were presumed to be hair-like bodies that had not been crushed and remained. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 9, almost no claws were observed in the oil cake powder obtained by the first step.

[0156] As shown in Figure 10, almost no hair or claws were found in the oil cake powder obtained by the second step. As shown in Figure 15, even in the SEM image, the oil cake powder obtained by the second step contained particles that were nearly circular (spherical) in shape and had small, uniform particle sizes. It was confirmed that the oil cake powder produced by the method according to the second step of the present disclosure is easy to use as feed, especially since the length of hairs and the like are short and they are pulverized.

[0157] Example 2 Measurement of particle size distribution of oil cake powder (Fig. 16-Fig. 17)

[0158] The volumetric particle size distribution of oil cake powder was measured. The measurement sample was the oil cake powder (powder) obtained in the second process, as shown in Figure 10. A laser diffraction / scattering particle size analyzer (LMS-2000e, Seishin Enterprise) was used to measure the particle diameter d (μm) of the oil cake powder. The laser diffraction / scattering particle size analyzer irradiates particles with laser light to cause diffraction, and the particle size distribution (particle size distribution) can be determined by analyzing the diameter and light intensity distribution of the resulting diffraction rings using the Fraunhofer optical diffraction method. The oil cake powder was dispersed into individual particles by dry dispersion, and then the particle diameter d was measured. The ultrasonic level was set to 0. The particle diameter d of the oil cake powder was measured in the range of 0.020 μm to 2000 μm.

[0159] The range of particle diameter d in the particle size distribution was expressed as a logarithmic scale obtained by logarithmically transforming particle diameter d. One section of the range of particle diameter d (μm) is the logarithm p (common logarithm, i.e., p = log 10 The value was set to 100 equal parts between 0.010 μm and 10,000 μm so that d) was constant at 0.06.

[0160] The particle diameter d of each particle of the oil cake powder measured by a laser diffraction scattering particle size distribution analyzer was classified into one of the above-mentioned particle diameter d ranges according to the measured value. The midpoint between the lower and upper limits of each range was then regarded as the representative particle diameter dr, and the volume of a sphere with the representative particle diameter dr as its diameter was calculated.

[0161] The particle diameter d of the oil cake powder was measured three times for the same sample. The three measurement results of the particle diameter d were almost the same. The frequency (%) of the particle size distribution was taken as the average value of the particle diameter d measured three times.

[0162] FIG. 16 shows the volumetric particle size distribution of the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second step. FIG. 16 shows both the frequency distribution and cumulative distribution of the particle diameter d of the oil cake powder. The horizontal axis of the figure shows the particle diameter d (μm) in logarithm (common logarithm). The vertical axis of the figure shows the relative frequency (%) of oil cake powder with the particle diameter d (representative particle diameter dr) on the first axis on the left, and the cumulative relative frequency (%) of oil cake powder with a particle diameter of d or less (undersieve) on the second axis on the right. In FIG. 16, a line with two consecutive upwardly convex peaks, i.e., a bimodal line with two distribution peaks, represents the frequency distribution. On the other hand, a monotonically increasing line in FIG. 16 represents the cumulative distribution. When measuring the particle diameter d of the oil cake powder, particles with a particle diameter d ranging from 5.754 μm to 2188 μm were significantly detected.

[0163] First, looking at the cumulative distribution, it is possible to directly read from the cumulative distribution the percentage of particles with a specific particle diameter d or less in the total volume. Among these, specific cumulative values ​​d0.1, d0.5, and d0.9 are widely used as indicators. d0.1, d0.5, and d0.9 are the 10% volume particle diameter, 50% volume particle diameter, and 90% volume particle diameter, respectively. These are sometimes commonly expressed as D10, D50, and D90, respectively.

[0164] d0.1 refers to the particle diameter d at which the cumulative relative frequency of the volume distribution reaches 10% as the particle diameter d accumulates from the smaller particle. From another perspective, d0.1 refers to the maximum particle diameter at which 10% of the sample volume is present. Similarly, d0.9 refers to the particle diameter d at which the cumulative relative frequency of the volume distribution reaches 90% as the particle diameter d accumulates from the smaller particle. From another perspective, d0.9 refers to the maximum particle diameter at which 90% of the sample volume is present. Similarly, d0.5 refers to the particle diameter d at which the cumulative relative frequency of the volume distribution reaches 50% as the particle diameter d accumulates from the smaller particle. From another perspective, d0.5 refers to the maximum particle diameter at which 50% of the sample volume is present. Furthermore, d0.5 refers to the median of particle diameters d (median particle diameter).

[0165] The d0.1, d0.5, and d0.9 of the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second step were 31.86 μm, 130.4 μm, and 1073 μm, respectively. In other words, 10% of the sample volume of the oil cake powder obtained by the second step was composed of particles with a particle diameter d of 31.86 μm or less. Similarly, 50% of the sample volume of the oil cake powder obtained by the second step was composed of particles with a particle diameter d of 130.4 μm or less, and 90% of the sample volume was composed of particles with a particle diameter d of 1073 μm or less. In other words, according to the present application, a raw material containing livestock hair was used, and it was shown that 90% of the sample volume was pulverized to less than 1 mm, despite the difficulty of powdering a raw material containing livestock hair-attached skin.

[0166] Next, referring to the frequency distribution, it is possible to directly read from the frequency distribution the proportion of particles with a specific particle diameter d in the total volume. One index that represents the characteristics of a frequency distribution is the mode. The mode is the value that appears most frequently in a particle size distribution (frequency distribution). In other words, the mode is the peak of the particle size distribution (frequency distribution). In a particle size distribution, the particle diameter d corresponding to the mode is called the mode diameter (most frequent diameter). Here, in the particle size distribution, as described above, the center value between the lower limit and upper limit values ​​in each interval of particle diameter d is considered to be the representative particle diameter dr. Therefore, the mode diameter is the center value of a specified interval.

[0167] As shown in Figure 16, the relative frequency of the particle diameter d of the oil cake flour was 4.31% in the range of 79.43 μm to 91.20 μm. This relative frequency was the maximum value, i.e., the mode value, of the entire range. Therefore, it was found that particles with a particle diameter d in this range were most abundant in the particle size distribution of the oil cake flour. The mode diameter of the oil cake flour was 85.32 μm, which is the median value of the particle diameter d in the range of 79.43 μm to 91.20 μm.

[0168] Furthermore, the volume of oil cake flour with a particle diameter d in the range of 34.67 μm to 208.9 μm accounted for over 50% (51.42%) of the total. This result revealed that more than half of the volume of oil cake flour was composed of particles with a particle diameter d in this range.

[0169] As shown in FIG. 16, the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second step exhibited a bimodal distribution with two peaks in the volumetric particle size distribution as described above.

[0170] As shown in Figure 16, the particle diameter d of the oil cake powder showed a large distribution in the range of 5.754 μm to 549.5 μm. The volume of oil cake powder with a particle diameter d in this range accounted for 79.31% of the total. Therefore, it was found that approximately 80% of the volume of the oil cake powder was composed of particles with a particle diameter d in this range.

[0171] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 16, a single distribution was observed in the range of particle diameter d of oil cake flour from 549.5 μm to 2188 μm. Even within this range, the relative frequency of oil cake flour particles, particularly in the section of 1096 μm to 1259 μm, was 2.95%. This relative frequency was the maximum value (local maximum value) within this range, i.e., the mode value. The mode diameter of oil cake flour in this range was 1178 μm, which is the median value of particle diameter d in the section of 1096 μm to 1259 μm.

[0172] It should be noted here that in the volumetric particle size distribution shown in Figure 16, the frequency (%) of oil cake powder with a larger particle diameter d (right side of the figure) is higher than that of oil cake powder with a smaller particle diameter d (left side of the figure) even if the number of particles is the same.

[0173] For example, if the volume-based relative frequency (%) in the particle diameter d range of 1905 μm to 2188 μm and the particle diameter d range of 10.00 μm to 11.48 μm are the same, when the number of particles in the former range is 1, the number of particles in the latter range will be approximately 6.9 million. Therefore, the inclusion of just one particle with a particle diameter d of 2000 μm (2 mm) in oil cake flour will increase the volume by approximately 6.9 million particles, equivalent to that of particles with a particle diameter d of 10.00 μm.

[0174] From the above, although the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second step had a single distribution of particle diameters d in the range of 549.5 μm or more and 2188 μm or less, it would be premature to conclude that the oil cake powder contains a large amount of particles having particle diameters d in this range.

[0175] Therefore, next, we will examine the particle size distribution trends based on particle number rather than volume. Figure 17 shows the particle size distribution based on particle number for the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second step. Similar to Figure 16, Figure 17 also shows both the frequency distribution and cumulative distribution of the particle diameter d of the oil cake powder. The horizontal axis of the figure shows the particle diameter d (representative particle diameter dr) (μm) in logarithmic (common logarithm) scale. The vertical axis of the figure shows the relative frequency (%) of oil cake powder with the particle diameter d (representative particle diameter dr) on the left side, and the cumulative relative frequency (%) of oil cake powder with a particle diameter of d or less (undersize) on the right side. In Figure 17, a line with two consecutive upwardly convex peaks, i.e., a bimodal line with two distribution peaks, represents the frequency distribution. On the other hand, a monotonically increasing line in Figure 17 represents the cumulative distribution.

[0176] When the number-based particle size distribution of the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second process was examined, the particle diameter d was accumulated from the smaller particles, and the cumulative relative frequency exceeded 50% in the range of 13.18 μm to 15.14 μm (representative particle diameter dr = 14.16 μm). Similarly, the particle diameter d was accumulated from the smaller particles, and the cumulative relative frequency exceeded 90% in the range of 30.20 μm to 34.67 μm (representative particle diameter dr = 32.44 μm). Furthermore, the particle diameter d was accumulated from the smaller particles, and the cumulative relative frequency exceeded 95% in the range of 39.81 μm to 45.71 μm (representative particle diameter dr = 42.76 μm). Finally, the particle diameter d was accumulated from the smaller particles, and the cumulative relative frequency exceeded 99% in the range of 69.18 μm to 79.43 μm (representative particle diameter dr = 74.31 μm).

[0177] Furthermore, when the number-based particle size distribution of the oil cake powder (powder) obtained by the second step is examined, the number of particles with a particle diameter d exceeding 631.0 μm (corresponding to a representative particle diameter dr of 677.7 μm) is less than 0.001% of the total number of particles. Similarly, the number of particles with a particle diameter d exceeding 955.0 μm (corresponding to a representative particle diameter dr of 1026 μm) is less than 0.0003% of the total number of particles.

[0178] Thus, in the volume-based particle size distribution (FIG. 16), particles with large particle diameters d are exaggerated, and a single distribution was detected in the range of particle diameters d of 549.5 μm to 2188 μm. However, as shown in the number-based particle size distribution (FIG. 17), particles with particle diameters d in this range were only a small number (0.001%) of the total particles. Furthermore, 99.9997% of the particles had particle diameters d of less than 955.0 μm (corresponding to a representative particle diameter dr of 1026 μm). Therefore, the method of the present disclosure demonstrated that, despite the use of raw materials containing livestock hair and the difficulty of powdering raw materials containing livestock hides with hair, it was possible to grind 99.9997% of the particles to less than 1 mm.

[0179] As described above, the results of this example revealed that the oil cake powder obtained by the manufacturing method of the present disclosure was composed of particles with a particle diameter of 1073 μm or less, with 90% of the sample volume being composed of particles with a particle diameter of less than 955.0 μm, and 99.9997% of the particles being composed of particles with a particle diameter of less than 955.0 μm, based on the number of particles. This indicates that raw materials containing livestock hair, particularly raw materials containing livestock hair-covered hides, which were difficult to achieve with conventional technology, could be effectively pulverized. With conventional technology, it was technically difficult to obtain a uniform, fine powder from such raw materials. However, by combining the first and second steps of the present disclosure, the powdering process made it possible to effectively pulverize hair-like bodies to lengths of less than 1 mm. This demonstrated that oil cake powder can be pulverized to a size suitable for use as a feed ingredient (pet food).

[0180] It was shown that the oil cake flour produced by the method according to the second step of the present disclosure is easily usable as feed, particularly because the hairs and other components are short and pulverized. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the oil cake flour produced by the method according to the second step of the present disclosure has excellent properties as a fertilizer due to its high protein content (over 70%) and nitrogen content. Therefore, it was shown that the present disclosure can provide a technology for producing livestock-derived oil cake flour that can be used as a raw material for at least one of feed and fertilizer.

[0181] Although the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications are possible without substantially departing from the novel features and effects of the present invention. Therefore, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0182] 10. Oil cake powder manufacturing equipment 11 Crusher 12 Chopper 13 Pressure vessels 14 Compressor 15. Centrifuge 16 First Crusher 17 Second Crusher 20 Powdering Unit d particle diameter dr represents particle diameter

Claims

1. A process of obtaining an oil cake raw material by heating and stirring livestock by-products as a raw material to dissolve and remove oil; A step of compressing the oil cake raw material to obtain pressed oil cake by further removing oil; The pressed oil cake is pulverized into a powder to obtain oil cake powder. Method for producing oil cake powder.

2. The livestock by-products include livestock hair. The method for producing the oil cake powder according to claim 1.

3. The method further comprises a step of centrifuging the oil removed in the step of obtaining the pressed oil cake to obtain a raw oil cake material to be reintroduced into the step of obtaining the pressed oil cake. The method for producing the oil cake powder according to claim 1.

4. The step of obtaining the oil cake powder includes a first step, The first step is a step of pulverizing the squeezed oil cake to reduce the length of the livestock hair contained therein to 5 mm or more and 10 mm or less. The method for producing oil cake powder according to claim 2.

5. The step of obtaining the oil cake powder includes a second step, The second step is a step of reducing the length of the livestock hair to less than 1 mm by crushing. The method for producing oil cake powder according to claim 2.

6. The raw materials include inedible raw materials including livestock hides; The method further comprises a step of mincing the raw material including the inedible raw material to obtain crushed raw material to be subjected to the step of obtaining the oil cake raw material, The method for producing the oil cake powder according to claim 1.

7. The raw material is at least one of pig bristles, cow bristles, pig claws, pig skin, pig skin with bristles, pig kidney, cow skin, and cow skin with bristles. The method for producing the oil cake powder according to claim 1.

8. A process of obtaining an oil cake raw material by heating and stirring livestock by-products as a raw material to dissolve and remove oil; and treating the oil cake raw material to obtain oil cake powder. Method for producing oil cake powder.

9. The method includes a step of further removing oil from the oil cake raw material to obtain pressed oil cake. The method for producing oil cake powder according to claim 8.

10. A powder containing at least one of pig hair, cow hair, pig skin with hair, and cow skin with hair that has been subjected to a heating and stirring treatment, or a powder containing at least one of pig skin (hairless), pig claw, pig kidney, and cow skin (hairless) that has been subjected to a heating and stirring treatment in the powder, The hair, which is at least one of pig hair and cow hair, is crushed to less than 1 mm. Oil cake powder for animal feed or fertilizer.

11. The oil content is 10.2% or more and 12.7% or less. The oil cake powder for use as feed or fertilizer according to claim 10.

12. A powder containing at least one of pig bristles, cow bristles, pig skin with bristles, pig skin (hairless), pig claws, pig kidney, cow skin with bristles, and cow skin (hairless) that have been heated and stirred, The powder is a powder in which 90% of the sample volume is pulverized to a particle size of 1073 μm or less. Oil cake powder for animal feed or fertilizer.

13. A feed comprising the oil cake flour according to any one of claims 10 to 12 as a raw material.

14. A fertilizer comprising the oil cake powder according to any one of claims 10 to 12 as a raw material.

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