Classification of Meat Meal in Animal Feed Production: Why Efficient Screening Matters

Overview 

Meat meal, a prominent source of protein in commercial animal feed, varies significantly in its quality due to factors such as fat content, particle size, and processing consistency. Proper meat meal classification is important for consistency in the production of uniform commercial animal feed, machinery operation and maintenance issues during pelleting, feed performance, and the value of the product. Many processors struggle with screening high-fat meat meal because it tends to blind screens, slow throughput, and reduce overall efficiency. The Sivtek Vibro Separator allows processors to screen meat meal at a high volume with low maintenance while addressing some of the specific attributes of meat meals in the classification process. 

Importance of Classifying Meat Meal 

The rendering process yields meat meal having varying particle sizes, bone pieces, soft tissue, and a fine protein material. If this material gets into hammer mills and the appropriate sizing is not employed in the whole feed system: 

• Pellet mills face inconsistent feed flow. 
• Oversized particles disrupt protein uniformity in finished feed. 
• High-fat fines increase screen blinding and downtime. 
• Operating cycles increase energy consumption and therefore increased cost. 

Classification will confirm only the correctly sized protein particles can advance, the oversized materials are subject to efficiency in the rendering process and all fat fines can be managed. 

Challenges With High-Fat Meat Meal 

Meat meal typically falls into low-fat and high-fat categories. The high-fat variant is particularly difficult to screen due to: 

• Sticky, oily surface adhesion 
• Rapid screen blinding 
• Agglomeration of fine particles 
• Risk of overflow or reduced throughput 

Traditional screening systems often require frequent cleaning, suffer from inconsistent flow, or cannot maintain stable mesh tension leading to inefficiency. 

Process Overview: Where Screening Fits 

A standard meat-meal classification line consists of the following steps: 

1. Rendering & drying 
2. Grinding by a hammer mill
3. Screening/classification stage 
4. Oversize recycling 
5. Fines management 
6. Final blending and feed formulation 

The classification step is the most important one for obtaining uniform particle size. This is where a high-performance separator plays a decisive role. 

Sivtek Vibro Separator: Purpose-Built for Meat Meal 

The Sivtek Vibro Separator is engineered for tough, high-fat materials that demand stable performance. It addresses the exact weaknesses of many traditional screening setups. 

Key Advantages 

1. Anti-blinding performance 
High-fat meat meal easily blinds screens. The Sivtek Vibro Separator can have clog free designed: 

• Self-cleaning ball tray 
• Ultrasonic system (optional) 
• Mesh-support ring for uniform tension 

All these are great for throughput with sticky material. 

2. High screening efficiency 
Circular vibration and optimum movement guarantees: 

• Clean separation of fines 
• Accurate cut sizes (8–16 mesh and beyond) 
• Stability under heavy load 

3. Heavy-duty construction 
Designed to run continuously in demanding applications, including: 

• Sturdy SS/CS body 
• Low vibration transmission to floors 
• Long screen life due to efficient mesh support 

4. Seamlessly fits feed-mill flow 
Whether paired with hammer mills up to 125 HP or integrated into a large feed-processing line, the separator handles up to 10 TPH, depending on mesh and material conditions. 

Why It Improves Meat-Meal Quality 

• Consistent particle size improves pelletizing efficiency. 
• Less rework results in lower power and labor costs. 
• Fines separation increased by cleaners enhances protein productivity. 
• Consistency of classifying improves finished feed quality. 

Conclusion 

Meat-meal classification is not just a step in feed production it defines the consistency, quality, and profitability of the entire operation. High-fat meat meal requires a screening system built for reliability and throughput. The Sivtek Vibro Separator guarantees a controlled, efficient, and maintenance-friendly solution that delivers uniform particle size, increased productivity, and consistent feed quality.