Granulation or pelletisation is a mechanical process to achieve an agglomeration of particles in the form of granules or pellets.
Granulation is the result of an evolution that began with rudimentary moulding equipment, to the current equipment that performs the compression moulding and extrusion.
Among its main advantages are that it facilitates product handling (higher density, better fluidity and less segregation) and that it improves animal productivity (inactivation of anti-nutritional factors, denaturalisation of proteins to improve digestibility, reduction in the microbial load and contamination in general, etc.).
The granulation process can be divided into three phases:
- THERMAL CONDITIONING (Steam Conditioning Systems)
- COMPRESSION-EXTRUSION (Pelletizer or granulating equipment)
- COOLING-HARDENING (Counter-current cooler)
