Ensuring Precise Rice Gradation with the Sivtek Tumbler Screen

Quality rice grading is the backbone of any competitive rice mill. Uniform kernel size, minimal breakage and the removal of fines and foreign matter determine not only the cooking performance and visual appeal of rice, but also market value — especially for mills targeting premium domestic customers and export markets. Modern processors need a screening solution that delivers gentle handling, accurate separation and high uptime. The Sivtek Tumbler Screen meets these needs by combining a gentle 3-D tumbling action with adaptable deck and mesh options for multi-grade separation.

The Rice Gradation Process — how the tumbler fits in

Rice gradation is most effective when placed after initial cleaning and before polishing or packaging. A typical flow:

1. Pre-cleaning: Clear stones, husks and big debris with the help of aspirators and scalpers.
2. Feeding: Clean rice is conveyed to the screening stage at a controlled feed rate.
3. Tumbler grading: After the rice is fed into the Sivtek Tumbler Screen, a slow, three-dimensional tumbling motion will separate the kernels on a mesh screen surface by size; During the tumbler process, as the rice rolls gently, the particles will pass through the different screens which are sized for separation of head-rice, brokens, small brokens and fines; By using a multi-deck configuration, several grades of rice can be separated in one step.
4. Collection & routing: Each discharge fraction has an exclusive outlet – head-rice for polishing/packaging, brokens for value-added products and fines or foreign matter for recycling or disposal.
5. Final quality check: The final quality check will identify which of the graded rice has received polishing/blending/packaging with the greatest uniformity possible so that the risk of customer rejection will be minimized.

The process gives consistent product, free from contaminants, and makes subsequent downstream operations easier.

Common challenges in rice grading

Rice mills often struggle with problems that lower yield and quality if the wrong type of screening technology is used:

• High grain breakage: Aggressive vibratory screens can crack kernels, reducing head-rice yield.
• Inconsistent gradation: Without adequate stratification, the grain will consist of various mixtures that do not produce good cooking or visual results.
• Mesh blinding & clogging: When fine or adhesive material covers the screen, it will result in longer downtime from having to clean the screen.
• Low throughput under variable feed: Many of these screening systems cannot maintain acceptable throughput levels during fluctuations in feed rate.
• Labor intensity and hygiene risks: Manual sorting and open screening raise labor expenses and risk of contamination – a serious food safety compliance issue.

These challenges translate directly to lost revenue, rework and weaker market positioning.

The Sivtek Tumbler Screen: engineered solution

The Sivtek Tumbler Screen is engineered specifically to address the pain points above:

• Gentle 3-D tumbling motion: Unlike harsh high-frequency vibration, tumbler screening gently rolls kernels across the mesh. As a result, it produces less mechanical stress on the kernels and reduces breakage to increase head rice yield.
• Multi-deck versatility: By making use of the decks and mesh size that can be configured, the mills can separate the multiple grades of up to 6 sizes (head rice, brokens, fines) in a single pass—improving accuracy and reducing the equipment footprint.
• Anti-blinding features: The cleaning options such as ball or brush systems that are integrated keep the meshes clear, thus maintaining throughput and minimizing manual cleaning cycles.
• Consistent separation at variable feeds: The tumbling process separates irrespective of small fluctuations in short feeds, and this ensures a constant quality at high production levels.
• Food-grade construction & serviceability: With stainless steel contact parts, tool-free access for mesh changes, and a hygienic design, this screen meets food safety standards and simplifies upkeep.

Through these features, the Sivtek Tumbler Screen is able to meet the needs of both medium- and high-capacity rice mills that require high-quality final products.

Why choose Sivtek for rice gradation?

Apart from technical performance, there are pragmatic reasons why mills choose the Sivtek solution:

• Optimized yield and profitability: Reduced breakage will result in higher amount of head-rice sold at higher prices. Handling of the tumbler is gentle which keeps the kernels intact.
• Lower total cost of ownership: Maintenance downtime cleaning is reduced, hence, fewer rejects and less manual sorting, thus, operating expenses are lower.
• Flexible deployment: The system easily fits into the existing production lines — from pre-cleaning through to polishing — and can be adjusted for different rice varieties and grade specifications.
• Proven reliability: The heavy-duty construction along with simple maintenance routines permits 24/7 operations with predictable service intervals.
• Better product reputation: When rice is consistently graded, it builds brand trust and assists the mills to achieve the target and export grade standards, alongside satisfying buyer expectations.

Conclusion

The need of good quality, standard and contaminant-free rice is on a steady rise – locally and in export sectors. The conventional screening procedures are usually not sufficient thus causing disparity, increased breakage, and lower yields.

Galaxy Sivtek Tumbler Screen will resolve all these problems with smooth coagulation, high production rate, accurate differentiation, and greater stability, and hence it is the best option rice mills that want to achieve high quality production.

If you’re looking to upgrade rice grading operations, improve productivity, and deliver consistent quality, the Sivtek Tumbler Screen is a proven, industry-trusted solution.