Loadout Conveyors for Poultry Processing Plant

General Description

Poultry processing is one of the largest industries in the US with millions of chickens processed each day. Every part of a chicken is either processed for human consumption or rendered into a powdered meal to be used as a protein additive for other products such as pet food. Once the edible portions have been separated, the remains are sent to a rendering facility for further processing. Very few poultry plants have onsite rendering and therefore, must have a truck loadout system to facilitate transportation to offsite rendering.

Generally, the material sent to be rendered is separated based on potential protein content and loaded into trailers for transport to a nearby rendering facility. Feathers, which are a very high-density protein source, are shipped separately from the offal. Offal, including certain organs and any other portions of the chicken that will not be used, is shipped in a separate trailer to the rendering facility. Screw conveyors transport the offal and feathers from their respective dewatering screens up to a height where the trailers can be evenly loaded using multiple discharge gates.

The existing system regularly experienced failures leading to costly and unscheduled downtime for the entire plant. KWS designed and supplied a high-quality, long-lasting conveying solution

Design Parameters

1. Product Type: Offal (Meat) & Feathers
2. Material Density: 45 Lbs. per Cubic Foot
3. Capacity: 645 Cubic Feet per Hour
4. Duty: 24 Hours per Day, 7 Days per Week

KWS Advantages

With downtime valued in thousands of dollars per hour, break downs can be quite costly to a plant. KWS evaluated the current situation and recommended improvements to the existing loadout system as frequent failures were eating into the bottom line. Many sections of trough were rusted through due to the damp environment. In addition, the plant was planning an expansion of the truck loading area to potentially make room for a surge bin in the near future. After the most recent failure, KWS was contacted, and a representative was on site immediately to measure and assess requirements.

With the experience of our design team and high-quality equipment built in Burleson, Texas, KWS provided the right solution with a short lead time. Stainless steel construction eliminated the rust issues experienced by the plant and every conveyor was designed with modularity in mind. When the plant moves forward with the expansion, all conveyors can be relocated in any configuration to maximize the new layout. In addition, the entire project (including 3D-modeled approval drawings) was shipped just 11 weeks after receipt of order to meet the customer’s required install window.

KWS Special Features

All screw conveyors were close coupled & clocked to eliminate hanger bearings. 304SS troughs were fitted with mild steel liners to prevent galling between the stainless-steel screw flights and troughs on the offal conveyors. Feather conveyors utilized wear bars rather than liners to create a rifling effect which conveys feathers more efficiently. Each loadout conveyor had multiple discharges along its length fitted with KWS heavy-duty flat pneumatic slide gates utilizing bronze-bushed rollers. The slide gates opened and closed as needed to evenly fill standard bulk trucks. The material of construction for all conveyors was 304 stainless steel to prevent corrosion due to the high moisture content of the application.