Digital Re-print - May | June 2010

Feature title: Flour mill design

Grain & Feed Milling Technology is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.
All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies,
the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of
information published.
©Copyright 2010 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1466-3872

www.gfmt.co.uk NEXT PAGE


Flour mill design
There can hardly be a more graphic illustration of a mill not being built to match the likely
circumstances of an earthquake than the recent events in Haiti where the mill building was reduced
to a pile of rubble in literally seconds. I don’t blame anyone for this since the building was originally
built several years ago and those who designed and built it adopted best practice at the time.
T
he fact that this earthquake
was stronger than anything
felt in the region for some
time just goes to demonstrate that
there will always be situations that
we cannot have foreseen.
Having said this there are many other
factors to take into account when designing
mill buildings.
First, we must consider what materials we
shall use to construct the building with. What
are our criteria, how fast do we want to be
in operation, what are the ground conditions,
what are the local laws?
For example, imagine we want to build
a mill as a new entrant into the industry in
somewhere like West Africa.
As a new entrant we obviously need to
have dock side facilities for offloading wheat
and if we cannot acquire sufficient land with-
in a port we may wish to consider a separate
facility for wheat intake and storage and then
take into account the need to transfer wheat
to the mill at a later date when the vessel
has left port.
We also need to take a good hard look
at the available draft within the port and
approaches to it to make sure there is suf-
12 | may - June 2010
by Jonathan Bradshaw
ficient depth of water to accommodate our
chosen size of vessel. It may be that dredging
is an economical answer or possible using
dolphins far enough from the shore line
where the water is deeper.
Concrete or steel?
When it comes to the mill building
itself then we really have just two options,
concrete or steel. Concrete is invariably
the favoured option since raw materials
are almost always available locally and with
reasonable supervision local labour can be
used to build such a mill building.
However, there may well be circum-
stances where steel has distinct advantage,
particularly when the site is of poor struc-
ture. Steel is lighter than concrete and can
be fabricated and erected much quicker.
Overall build time to full commissioning
can be reduced significantly by using a steel
building, and it is easy to modify to accom-
modate changes as it is being fabricated
and erected.
Frequently, piles are used to strengthen
the foundation of a building where it is weak
and piling often pays for itself in the long run
because the building steelwork can also be
reduced in profile.
Flour mill design Feature
As an aside it is often common practice
in concrete buildings to erect the wheat and
flour silos from Concrete as well although
there is no reason why steel silos cannot be
used for wheat.
Students of the old correspondence
course will know, however, of the advan-
tage and disadvantages of using steel
silos for flour in comparison to concrete.
Temperature changes for one thing are not
transferred as quickly into the finished flour
when concrete is used as compared to steel
which allows such temperature change to
be almost instantly reflected in product
temperature.
Obviously, whatever the circumstances
and whichever is used then adequate ventila-
tion is a must. Similarly, mill buildings made of
steel require adequate ventilation, not only
to keep the employees and operatives cool
– and hopefully productive - but also so the
process is not adversely affected by swings in
temperature and humidity.
Forward planning
Once the building is erected and the
installation of machinery is commenced it
is to be hoped that forward planning has
been satisfactory and there are sufficient
Grain &feed millinG technoloGy
Feature Flour mill design
holes in the floors, in the right places to
accommodate spouting and pneumatics
and other pieces of plant that require
access through the floors. It is easier to
accommodate changes in steel buildings
than in concrete but it is also easier to
inadvertently weaken the building structure
by making too many structural changes in
a steel building after the building has been
erected.
A simple layout of a milling facility would
be to have the intake and wheat silos at
one end, close to the water and the supply
vessels followed by the main mill building
housing the wheat cleaning plant and then
the mill.
Flour and bran will normally be blown
into finished product silos at the opposite
end of the mill building to the wheat silos
and these will, likely as not feed through
packing machines into the main storage
warehouses. All this arrangement will ideally
be in a straight line to avoid using unneces-
sary power transferring products from one
point to another when gravity can do the job
far cheaper.
Grain cooling
GRANIFRIGOR™
The most natural way of grain preservation:
• Protection against insects and microbes
• Without chemical treatment
• Short amortisation period
• Low energy costs
• Independent of ambient weather conditions
Fr i g o r Te c G m b H • H u m m e l a u 1 • 8 8 2 7 9 A m t ze l l / G e r m a n y
Tel.: +49 7520/91482-0 • Fax: +49 7520/91482-22 • E-Mail: info@frigortec.de
www.frigortec.com
Grain &feed millinG technoloGy
Other items, such as offices, maintenance
workshops, staff welfare facilities and labora-
tories will need to be allowed for and apart
from them being near to the mill there is
nothing to be gained by having them in any
particular places, suffice to say that the wheat
laboratory may well be close to the intake
point and the flour laboratory close to the
packers.
I am obviously referring to a mill where
bagged flour is the prime product but I real-
ize that there are more and more mills being
built with bulk facilities and several are also
being built in certain developing countries
with plant bakeries very close by, if they are
not built as an integral part of the whole
facility.
Certainly this is the case within pasta
plants and semolina mills invariably being
built side by side to obtain the greatest
economies overall.
Economies on maintenance, quality con-
trol, staff welfare and general administration
can all be maximized by incorporating as
many operations as is feasible and practical
on the one site.
Silo Construction & Engineering
SCE
Tel. +32- 51-72 31 28
Fax +32- 51-72 53 50
E-mail info@sce.be
PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE
Traffic flow and layout
Several sites I have worked on over the
years have adopted traffic flow as the main
criteria for their premises layout. With one
incoming weighbridge and one outgoing
weighbridge, a circular route for vehicles
around the perimeter of the site often
proves to be an economical layout with
minimum supervision of vehicles. Cameras
and traffic notice boards serve to control
traffic very well and also provide a good
record of vehicle turn round time and
precise data as to when vehicles arrived
and departed.
The mill building itself is usually designed
by the milling engineers and is then checked
over by local structural engineers who may
or may not be retained until the building is
complete and machinery is installed. Use of
contract managers is invaluable if you have
nobody on staff who has carried out major
works before, either civil or mechanical.
Attention to detail
Electrical controls are usually supplied by
milling engineers as well but transformers,
Modular square bins
more profits
through
smart storage
www.sce.be
SCE is a partner with
the international
feed & food industries •
consultancy & engineering firms •
machine & plant designers •
may - June 2010 | 13

generators, field wiring within the mill and
laying of high tension cables may be subcon-
tracted with good efficiencies being achieved.
Invariably whoever carries out the electri-
cal installation is the person who will subse-
quently maintain the plant and to be in at “the
ground floor” will help in their understanding
of the electrical wiring and the protocols
which have been adopted. Most new mills are
highly sophisticated in their electrical controls
and so attention to detail is important.
With auto roll gap adjustments, extrac-
tion monitoring and power recording as the
norm, along with possibly on line testing of
flour and automatic adjustment of additive
feeders and wheat blends it requires people
with advanced knowledge and skill to design,
install and maintain the electrical control
system in the mills of today.
Fortunately most engineers have access
to electrical contractors with the necessary
capabilities and some even have a separate
facility with suitably skilled staff within their
own umbrella organization.
Having said this there are some countries
where the client wants the simplest mill he
can obtain with no degree of automation
whatsoever. In my opinion there is little
sense in taking this approach since even in
places where all the operatives are illiterate
it still pays to carry out tasks automatically
rather then rely on individuals to remember
when various tasks are to be carried out.
Noise pollution and dust
emissions
Some other items which we need to con-
sider are noise pollution and dust emissions
to the atmosphere. In most places except the
14 | may - June 2010
very few remote places in North America
there are strict guideline on emissions and
constant monitoring is now the norm with
equipment being calibrated annually with the
local authority being present at the time.
Noise levels are also closely monitored
and it may prove beneficial to house certain
items of plant which generate high noise
levels separately. This is certainly becom-
ing the norm and most blower rooms are
positioned on the side of the mill furthest
away from housing and almost always these
blower rooms are well insulated.
It is easier and more economical to house
such items separately when they are to be
insulated since this greatly reduces the quantity
of expensive acoustic insulation that is required.
Maintaining water volumes and
quality
All mills require water for damping of wheat
and whilst we do not have the problems
nowadays of disposing of the contaminated
water from washers and whizzers we do still
have the problems of maintaining water quality
and holding sufficient water in storage to pro-
vide adequate pressure for operations.
Invariably we see the water tanks being
placed on the top floor of the mill close to
tempering devices and with separate feeds
down through the mill to provide adequate
pressure and supply to offices, laboratories,
canteens, workshops, toilets and showers.
Sprinkler systems usually have their own
supply of water which only need topping up
whenever sprinkler tests are carried out.
In some instances it is however illegal to
store water because it is such a scarce com-
modity. In such circumstances it is usual to sink
a bore hole to provide an adequate supply
of potable water although I have seen some
rather shallow bore holes which left a lot to
be desired in terms of water quality, often
only rectified by sinking the bore deeper.
Security
Security is another consideration, par-
ticularly where there is a history of forced
entry into premises in the area or where
fraudulent practices are deemed acceptable.
Depending on the country arrangements
for security may range from a van com-
ing by the mill premises a few times each
night through to armed patrols being on
site at all times with locked gates, machine
gun platforms and observation points being
the norm. It very much depends upon the
culture of the country as to what level of
security is required. The choice is yours.
Flour mill design Feature
And finally may I say that there are two
ways to design a mill, or a site, the first being
to obtain a good layout from a practical
point of view and the second one being to
start with the customers specification for
flour and then work backwards through the
flow sheet requirements and then building
criteria to house such a mill.
I generally favour the latter but the
former can often work well particularly when
local bakers and traders are the customers
and the mill is producing general all purpose
bakers’ flour as its main product.
In both cases however the plant must
be laid out with plenty of access room to
individual machines because if operatives
cannot work on a piece of equipment easily
without getting knuckles cracked and knees
rapped they simply will leave it alone, with all
the knock on effects that has on flour quality.
Getting involved from day one of con-
ceiving of the mill design and layout will
proves extremely beneficial and as I always
advocate regular walk rounds of the mill that
is in operation I can strongly advocate twice
daily tours of the site whilst under construc-
tion. If work is being done to the upper
floors and for one reason or another your
presence is not welcomed then take a pair
of binoculars with you and take a good look
from ground level.
Always hold regular site meetings to
monitor progress and deal with other design
issues that may crop up periodically. Always
make sure contractors know where they
stand on an issue, be clear with you instruc-
tions and listen to the counsel of those wiser
and more experienced than you are. You will
find that the ‘Old Hands’ take great pride in
their work and will help you along well so
long as you look after them in return.
Related Companies:
Ottevanger Milling Engineers BV
PO Box 3, NL-2750 AA Moerkapelle
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 79 5932221
Fax: +31 79 5931147
Email: mkp@ottevanger.com
Website: www.ottevanger.com
TSC BV
Tweede Broekdijk 7
7122 LB , Aalten Netherlands
Tel: +31 543 473979
Fax: +31 543 474472
Email: info@tsc-silos.com
Website: www.tsc-silos.com
Grain &feed millinG technoloGy PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE
This digital Re-print is part of the May | June 2010 edition of Grain & Feed Milling Technology magazine.
Content from the magazine is available to view free-of-charge, both as a full online magazine on our
website, and as an archive of individual features on the docstoc website.
LINKS
Please click here to view our other publications on www.docstoc.com.

June 2010 • See the full issue

• Flour mill design
• Visit the GFMT website
• Horizontal

• Contact the GFMT Team

twin-shaft In this issue:
paddle mixers
The ultimate in mixing
technology • Grain storage
- The Canadian way
• Simultaneous
• The use of determination of
peripheral mycotoxins
machines
in flour mills of today • Hygienic
Compact
Containment
• Subscribe to GFMT
System

A subscription magazine for the global flour & feed milling industries - first published in 1891

GFMT10.03.indd 1 28/05/2010 10:15

To purchase a paper copy of the magazine, or to subscribe to the paper edition please contact
our Circulation and Subscriptions Manager on the link adove.

INFORMATION FOR ADVERTISERS - CLICK HERE

Article reprints
All Grain & Feed Milling Tecchnology feature articles can be re-printed as a 4 or 8 page booklets (these have been used as point of sale materials, promotional materials for shows and exhibitions etc).
If you are interested in getting this article re-printed please contact the GFMT team for more information on - Tel: +44 1242 267707 - Email: jamest@gfmt.co.uk or visit www.gfmt.co.uk/reprints

www.gfmt.co.uk PREVIOUS PAGE