Extruded Ruminant Feed from Crop Residues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current animal feed products for ruminants and equines are often not extruded, lack fiber from crop residues, and are economically unfeasible, failing to provide efficient nutritional value and digestibility.
Innovation Solution
A fully extruded animal feed formulation based on crop haystacks and culture residues, using a combination of energy sources, proteins, minerals, and additives, specifically incorporating fiber-rich materials like sugar cane and grass, to enhance nutritional efficacy and reduce costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional non-extruded feed formulations are used, then manufacturing costs are lower, but digestibility and nutritional efficiency are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies extrusion processing which fundamentally changes the physical and chemical parameters of the feed material. The extrusion process subjects the mixture to high temperature, pressure, and mechanical shear forces, then rapidly depressurizes it, creating porous structures and gelatinizing starches that dramatically improve digestibility while maintaining cost-effectiveness through efficient processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite feed formulation combining multiple ingredients including crop residues (sugarcane bagasse, corn stover), energy sources (corn, sorghum), protein sources (soybean meal, cottonseed meal), and additives (phosphates, salts). This composite approach maximizes nutritional efficiency by combining complementary materials that work synergistically during extrusion and in the animal's digestive system
2Productivity
If feed formulations include fiber products and culture residues, then nutritional efficacy improves, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes abundant, low-cost agricultural residues and byproducts such as sugarcane bagasse, corn stover, and other crop wastes that would otherwise be discarded or underutilized. These inexpensive fiber-rich materials serve as effective bulk feed components that improve nutritional efficacy without significantly increasing manufacturing costs
Solution Approach 2:
The extrusion process transforms the physical properties of fiber-rich agricultural residues, making them more palatable and digestible. The high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion gelatinizes starches, denatures proteins, and creates porous structures in the fiber materials, thereby improving nutritional efficacy of these otherwise low-cost ingredients
3Productivity
If extrusion process is applied to improve nutritional value, then digestibility increases, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The extrusion process is divided into distinct functional zones within the extruder: feeding zone, compression zone, cooking zone, and discharge zone. Each zone performs a specific function (material introduction, moisture removal and heating, starch gelatinization and protein denaturation, and product ejection), allowing the complex transformation to be achieved through a series of manageable, standardized steps
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The formulation improves digestibility and nutritional efficiency for ruminants and equines, offering a cost-effective solution with significant gains in production efficiency and economic benefits for cattle raisers, while also providing a viable option for equine nutrition.
Implementation Method 1
Extruded feed is a food which is processed under high temperature, pressure, dragging force and for a short period of time, followed by an abrupt change in pressure
Implementation Method 2
processed under high temperature, pressure, dragging force and for a short period of time, followed by an abrupt change in pressure
Data Source
AI summary
The present patent application refers to a nutritional formulation presented as animal feed, concentrate and supplement, with extruded characteristic, based on crop haystacks or culture residues, with the object to complement or provide nutritional requirements for ruminants and/or equines, disclosing a product with considerable reduction of the final cost, due to the abundance of the raw material as used being originated from annual crop haystacks, improving the utilization of the food contained in the final product, with gains of digestibility, consequently improving the effectiveness of the rational use of nutritional resources with those species.