Improving Product Purity in Meat Rendering and Pet Food Processing

Sources of Metal Contamination in Meat Rendering

In the meat rendering industry, the sources of metal contamination vary depending on the part of the process and type of product. The objective of a magnetic separator is to prevent an unacceptable amount of contamination generated in a milling process being transferred to the client to deal with.

For example, many ovine meal processors face a challenge with removing slow-release capsule springs from rendered meat, which get ground-up within the product. Having a magnetic separator to extract these fine metals is an excellent way to increase the quality controls and solve this issue.

A common source of contamination found in poultry processing are magnetic stones, which originate from the gut of the poultry and are ingested from the ground while feeding. The magnetic stones can be removed by utilising powerful magnetic separation equipment.

Another very common source of metal contamination in meat rendering is the hammer mill. As the hammer mill materials slowly wear away, these metal fragments (coarse and fines) are introduced into the product. Effectively extracting these fragments can only be done with a strategically positioned, high-intensity magnetic separator.

To reduce machine protection issues in the meat rendering industry, these types of magnetic contamination need to be removed from the process. Factors such as screen breakage, downtime, loss of production, and tramp iron contamination causing fires/explosions in the hammer mill can all be drastically reduced by placing correct metal fragment controls in place. This means less downgraded products, reduced quarantined shipments, prevention of brand name damage, and satisfied clients!

Many rendering industry professionals state that they were not aware of the levels of fine metal fragments within their meat and bone meal until installing a magnetic separator and seeing the vast amount of magnetic fines extracted. A great way to discover the levels of metal contamination in your finished meat meal is through utilising a certified Lab Test Magnet Probe. The magnetic probe is placed into the bag of finished meal and swirled around to collect magnetic fragments and provide an indication of the metal contamination levels.

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Sources of Metal Contamination in Pet Food Processing

Predominantly, metal contamination comes from bulk ingredients and is then distributed throughout the product lines. The remainder of contamination is generated in the process and varies greatly depending on the type of impact machinery that is used for sizing and screening ingredients and the longevity and wear of conveying systems.

The objective of magnets in pet food is to control contamination on bulk intakes and to also act as a final control prior to packing areas and metal detection. Magnetic separators play a crucial role in retaining the magnetic fines contaminants that are below sensitivity threshold of metal detection before they reach the CCP. An efficient magnet will drastically reduce waste from metal detectors and improve product purity from magnetic fines contamination.

Magnetic Separation Solutions for Meat Rendering & Pet Food Processing:
 

Mag-Ram® Automatic Self-Cleaning Magnet
The Mag-Ram® Automatic Self-Cleaning Magnet has proven to be one of the best performing and successful magnets as it can be programmed to automatically clean itself and therefore save operator time, as well as reduce safety risks. Typically installed at incoming dry materials locations (such as MBM or grain) and final dry product/bulk out-loading locations.
 

Mag-Ram® Self-Cleaning Magnet in meat rendering

In some applications, the contamination is so high that manually cleaning conventional grate magnets is neither practical nor convenient. Once contamination builds up over the magnetic bars, the magnet's strength is 'cancelled out', meaning that further contaminants passing over the magnet just keep flowing down the product stream and remain in the finished product. 

The modular design of the Mag-Ram® allows it to handle anywhere between 3T to 90T per hour! This self-cleaning magnet can clean one ram at a time or all at once, and a wear equalization feature is incorporated to prevent flat spots on the magnet and uneven wear on the seals. This means more reliability for a longer period of time.

The Mag-Ram® magnetic bars/rams are engineered to rotate with each cleaning cycle, and short bursts of air are directed at the magnets also help remove the pyramid of excess material from being carried over to the reject side. This means a lean contaminant sample is achieved, easy to analyse for more accurate traceability of risks and less product wastage.

Spherical Inline Pneumatic Transfer Magnet
Where a gravity-feed magnet, such as the Mag-Ram®, is not feasible and the product is pneumatically conveyed via blow, vacuum, or pneumatic transfer line, a Spherical Inline Pneumatic Transfer Magnet is a very effective solution. These aerodynamic magnetic separators are very resilient in high-flow and abrasive applications and enable efficient extraction and retention of metal from high-velocity powder lines without experiencing bulk density problems.
 

Spherical Inline Pneumatic Transfer Magnet

Dual Round Nose Plate Magnet
For difficult-to-flow applications with products such as cakes (or crax), or applications processing chicken frames, whole muscle products, poultry, beef, lamb, venison, etc, a Dual Round Nose Plate Magnet is an efficient solution. For pet food processing applications, these units can be installed prior to expensive processing machineries, such as grinders, shredders, dicers, and emulsifiers, to remove metal fragments to avoid costly damage, downtime for repair/maintenance, and loss of production. Dual Round Nose Plate Magnets easily pick up chunky contaminants such as nails and bolts from the product and protect machinery without an unacceptable restriction to the product flow.
 

Dual Round Nose Plate Magnet in a rendering application

Rapidclean® Grate Magnet
The Rapidclean® Grate Magnet is an effective grate-in-housing system designed for dry ingredients such as meals and powders. With easy-cleaning operations conducted wholly outside of the product zone and the absence of stainless steel sleeves, the Rapidclean® is a hygienic alternative to conventional sleeved grate magnets and pull-through wiper-style magnets. Plant operators can also fully inspect magnet bars before they are returned to the product flow. 
 

Contamination collected on Rapidclean® Bars

Emulsion & Slurry Pipeline Separator
For viscous meat emulsions, slurries, and liquids, from which it is often difficult to extract weakly magnetic fragments, a hydro-dynamic Emulsion & Slurry Pipeline Separator provides superior product-to-magnet contact and more efficient magnetic separation. 

The Emulsion & Pipeline Separator features powerful, high-intensity +11,000 gauss Acutex® Probe Magnets. These patented magnets intercept the flow of product and extract physical metal fragments including work hardened stainless steel (originating from equipment wear) and magnetic stone particles.
 

Emulsion & Slurry Pipeline Separator installed in a pet food application

Improve your foreign metal fragment controls, product purity and value, and reduce risks with powerful magnetic separation equipment. Contact Magnattack® and talk to experienced metal fragment control specialists about the right solution to integrate into your process.


By Magnattack

Source: All Pet Food Magazine