20–22 T/H Chicken Pelletizer System for Feed Factory in Thailand

Why a 500,000 T/Y Feed Factory Added Two SZLH558 Pellet Mills

A feed factory producing around 500,000 tons per year does not rely on one machine or one production section. Its total annual output is distributed across multiple production routes, shifts, formulas and equipment groups.

The two SZLH558 machines in this chicken pelletizer system for feed factory in Thailand form one upgraded pelleting section within the larger facility.

Each SZLH558 has a 185 kW main motor and a reference capacity of approximately 20–22 T/H for suitable feed formulations. With two units operating in parallel, the new section provides approximately 40–44 T/H of reference feed pellet-mill capacity.

This distinction is important when planning a large feed factory.

If two machines operated for 20 hours per day and 300 production days per year, their theoretical pelleting output at 40–44 T/H would be approximately 240,000–264,000 tons per year before downtime, maintenance, formula changeovers and other production losses.

The factory’s approximately 500,000 T/Y figure therefore represents total plant production rather than the annual capacity of these two pellet mills alone.

This arrangement is common in large feed manufacturing operations. Multiple pelleting sections can serve different product groups, provide maintenance flexibility and allow the factory to schedule high-volume products without forcing every formula through the same machine.

For the Saraburi plant, the objective was not to rebuild the factory. It was to modernize one critical poultry-feed pelleting section while continuing to use serviceable upstream and downstream systems.

SZLH558 Configuration for Industrial Chicken Feed Production

The SZLH558 feed pellet machine is positioned for large commercial feed mills where individual production sections require substantially higher throughput than small farm-feed operations.

The variable-speed feeder controls the flow of mixed mash into the conditioner. Stable feeding is important because large fluctuations in mash supply can change conditioner loading, pellet-mill motor load and final output.

The conditioner prepares the mash with controlled steam before it enters the ring die. Temperature, moisture and retention time are adjusted according to the formulation and finished-feed specification.

After conditioning, the mash enters the pelleting chamber. Rollers force the material through the die holes, forming continuous strands that are cut to the required length.

Actual output is influenced by formula composition, fat level, fibre, mash particle distribution, conditioning, die-hole diameter, die working length and the physical quality required from the finished pellet.

For this reason, 20–22 T/H is treated as a reference capacity rather than a guaranteed production rate for every chicken-feed SKU.

Thailand’s Feed Ingredient Market Requires Flexible Pelletizing

Thailand has a large commercial poultry industry and a mature compound-feed sector. A factory of this scale must be able to respond not only to production volume but also to changing raw-material economics.

Maize is an important energy ingredient for poultry feed, but Thai feed mills do not operate with an unlimited fixed supply of domestic maize. Depending on domestic availability and market conditions, the industry also uses imported feed corn and alternative energy ingredients.

Soybean meal remains a major protein source for Thailand’s livestock industry, with imported soybean meal and meal produced domestically from imported soybeans both contributing to supply.

Rice milling by-products and other locally or regionally available ingredients may also enter commercial formulations where nutritional specifications and economics support their use.

This means a large feed factory cannot configure its pelletizer around one permanent recipe.

Broiler starter, grower and finisher feeds differ in nutrient density and physical specification. Layer feeds have another formulation structure and can contain higher mineral levels, particularly where calcium requirements are addressed through ingredients such as limestone.

Changes in maize, soybean meal, oil, bran, mineral ingredients and other components alter mash characteristics before the material even reaches the pellet mill.

RICHI therefore considers the customer’s formula range rather than defining one “Thai chicken feed formula” for the SZLH558.

The ring die, conditioning settings and operating parameters are then matched to the actual SKU being produced.

Starter, Grower, Finisher and Layer Feed Need Different Physical Products

Large poultry feed factories typically produce multiple SKUs, and pellet diameter is only one part of product design.

Broiler starter feed often requires a smaller particle structure that young birds can consume easily. One common industrial route is to produce a suitable pellet first and then use a crumbler downstream of the cooler to reduce it to the required crumble size.

Broiler grower and finisher products can use larger finished pellets according to the feed company’s specification and customer requirements.

Layer feed may be supplied in mash, crumble or pellet form depending on the market and feeding program. A 4 mm layer pellet can therefore be a valid customer SKU, but it is not treated as a universal layer-feed standard.

For a factory producing several products, die selection is based on more than hole diameter.

Die working length, hole geometry, formula characteristics, desired throughput, pellet durability and motor load all interact. A die optimized for one difficult small-diameter product may not provide the same throughput as a die used for a larger and easier-to-pellet formulation.

This is why the two SZLH558 machines give the plant additional scheduling flexibility.

During periods of high broiler-feed demand, both units can support the same major product group. At other times, production can be divided between SKUs, subject to the surrounding line configuration.

The arrangement also allows planned maintenance on one pellet mill without necessarily stopping the entire factory’s poultry-feed production.

Conditioning and Ring Die Selection Are Matched to Each Formula

Steam conditioning is one of the most important control points ahead of an industrial poultry feed pellet mill.

The purpose is to prepare the mash for pelleting by changing its thermal and moisture condition before compression through the ring die.

Correct conditioning can support pellet formation, influence throughput and affect the physical properties of the finished feed. But a single temperature, steam percentage or retention time cannot be specified for every broiler and layer formula.

For a large factory, commissioning therefore begins with the actual formulations.

A high-starch broiler formula, a higher-fat formulation and a mineral-rich layer formula may respond differently to the same steam conditions. Mash particle size and incoming moisture add further variation.

The plant needs stable steam pressure and appropriate steam quality so that operators can control the process consistently. Condensate management, pressure regulation and steam-line design are therefore part of the pelletizing-section review.

The same engineering approach applies to die compression.

Rather than assigning one fixed compression ratio to every 3.5 mm, 4.0 mm or 4.5 mm product, RICHI selects the die according to formula resistance, target pellet quality, required capacity and motor loading.

This becomes particularly important on small-diameter products. Smaller die holes can increase resistance and reduce achievable throughput depending on formulation and die design.

Operators therefore monitor feed rate, conditioner conditions, pellet-mill current, die behavior, pellet appearance and screened fines during commissioning. Adjustments are made as a system rather than changing one parameter in isolation.

Integrating 40–44 T/H of Pellet Mill Capacity into an Existing Factory

The customer already had industrial hammer mills, large batching and mixing equipment, coolers, screens, bins and bulk load-out systems. Reusing these assets reduced the scope of the upgrade, but every retained section still had to be checked against the new pelletizing rate.

The material flow for the upgraded poultry-feed section follows this general sequence:

1. Raw materials are ground to the particle distribution required by the formulation and pelleting process.
2. Ingredients are accurately batched and transferred to the existing large-capacity mixers.
3. Mixed mash enters buffer or surge storage ahead of the two pellet mills.
4. Variable-speed feeders meter mash continuously into the SZLH558 conditioners.
5. Controlled steam prepares the mash before ring die pelleting.
6. Hot pellets discharge to appropriately sized counterflow cooling equipment.
7. Cooled product is screened, with fines handled according to the factory’s process design.
8. Starter products can pass through a crumbling section where required, while finished pellets move toward bulk storage or packaging.

The two pellet mills cannot deliver a usable combined 40–44 T/H if the mixer machine, mash bins, steam system, cooler or downstream conveyor can only sustain 25 T/H.

RICHI therefore checks the capacity of the existing system around the new machines.

For a plant using 10-tonne mixers, batch size alone does not prove that the mixing section can continuously feed two SZLH558 pellet mills. Mixer cycle time, filling and discharge time, batching speed and the number of mixers in service determine actual hourly output.

The cooler requires the same attention. It must handle the thermal load and mass flow from the pellet mills while bringing the pellets toward a stable condition for screening, storage and dispatch.

Conveyors, elevators and screens also need enough capacity to avoid excessive recirculation or physical damage to the finished pellets.

Pellet Quality Is Controlled Across the Whole Production Section

Commercial poultry customers expect pellets that can withstand conveying, storage, loading and farm handling without generating excessive fines.

The ring die pellet mill plays an important role, but pellet durability is not created by the pelletizer alone.

Grinding affects particle distribution. Formulation affects binding and friction. Conditioning affects the physical state of the mash. Die geometry affects compression. Cooling stabilizes the hot pellets. Conveying and screening determine how much mechanical handling the product experiences before dispatch.

A large feed factory therefore evaluates pellet quality across the complete production route.

Pellet Durability Index can be used as one quality-control parameter, but the target is established by the feed manufacturer according to its product and test method. A fixed PDI above 94% is not automatically guaranteed by installing an SZLH558.

The same principle applies to fines.

If a newly installed pellet mill produces excessive fines, operators should not immediately assume that the ring die is the only cause. Formula, grinding, conditioning, cooling, pellet handling and screening all need to be reviewed.

Energy performance should also be evaluated as specific energy per tonne of acceptable product under comparable operating conditions rather than simply comparing motor sizes.

For a 185 kW pellet mill, actual electrical demand changes with throughput, formula resistance, die condition and operating load.

These measurements give a factory much more useful information than a generic claim that one pelletizer always consumes a fixed number of kilowatt-hours per tonne.

Maintenance Planning for Two High-Capacity Pellet Mills

At industrial feed-factory scale, maintenance strategy is as important as machine capacity.

Ring dies and roller shells are wear components. Their service life varies significantly with formula, mineral content, foreign material, die specification, operating load, roller adjustment and maintenance practice.

The factory therefore plans spare parts from its production schedule rather than expecting one fixed die life in tonnes or operating hours.

For the two SZLH558 units, routine attention focuses on lubrication, roller and die condition, feeder stability, conditioner cleanliness, transmission condition, fasteners, knives and abnormal temperature, noise or vibration.

Operators also monitor motor current during production. A change in current at the same formula and throughput can help identify changes in feeding, die condition or mechanical load before they become a larger production problem.

Because two pellet mills operate in parallel, the plant has greater flexibility for planned service. Production can be scheduled around die changes and inspection periods rather than treating every maintenance event as a shutdown of the entire feed factory.

Spare-part planning is based on the plant’s actual product mix. A factory running large volumes of one broiler product may keep a different die inventory from a plant making many short batches of different poultry feeds.

This is also why RICHI reviews expected annual tonnage by SKU when preparing spare dies and roller assemblies for a large feed mill.

Chicken Pelletizer System for Feed Factory in Thailand

The two SZLH558 chicken feed making machines were prepared for shipment from Qingdao to Thailand, with Laem Chabang providing a practical maritime gateway for delivery to the customer’s Saraburi operation. Final shipping schedules, port handling and inland transport depend on the selected vessel service and project delivery arrangement.

For this factory, the value of the project came from fitting new pelleting capacity into a plant that already had substantial production infrastructure.

RICHI’s work therefore extended beyond supplying two 185 kW machines. The engineering scope included reviewing the customer’s required poultry-feed output, formula range, pellet specifications, existing mixing capacity, mash-buffer arrangement, steam conditions, cooling capacity, downstream material handling and electrical interfaces.

The resulting chicken pelletizer system for feed factory in Thailand provides approximately 20–22 T/H reference capacity per SZLH558, or approximately 40–44 T/H across the two-machine pelleting section under suitable conditions.

That capacity is correctly separated from the approximately 500,000 T/Y output of the complete factory.

For another Thai feed manufacturer searching for a chicken feed pelletizer, feed factory pellet machine, industrial poultry feed pellet mill, 20 T/H feed pellet machine, SZLH558 pellet mill or high-capacity chicken feed production equipment, the first question should not simply be how many tonnes per hour the pellet mill can produce.

The more useful questions are how many tonnes of each poultry-feed SKU must be produced, what pellet or crumble specifications are required, how many hours the section will operate, what formulas will be processed, how much mash the upstream system can continuously supply, how much steam is available, and whether the existing coolers, screens and conveyors can accept the higher output.

If those systems are already adequate, replacing an aging pelleting section with two SZLH558 units can preserve much of the customer’s existing investment while increasing available production capacity and maintenance flexibility.

If the surrounding equipment is undersized, RICHI Machinery can identify the limiting sections and configure the upgrade around actual line balance instead of installing oversized pellet mills that the rest of the factory cannot support.

For a feed factory expansion in Thailand, send RICHI your current hourly output, annual chicken-feed target, broiler and layer product mix, pellet sizes, formulas, mixer capacity, steam parameters, cooler capacity, operating hours and existing plant layout. These inputs allow the pelletizing section to be sized around the factory that already exists rather than forcing the factory to adapt to a standard machine package.