Development of a fish feed pelletizer

Abstract

Fish feed is one of the critical factors limiting the active participation of farmers due to the high cost that scares the poor farmers away from farming. The fabricated fish feed pelletizing machine was done to assist the farmers in producing fish feeds at a cheaper rate, improving the performance of the existing technology, and determining its implementation for future applications. Design calculations were carried out to determine the machine specification and parameters for its development, and the performance of the machine was evaluated. Data generated from the theoretical analysis were used to fabricate the machine using locally available and durable materials to encourage the local technology as most of those available are imported. The pelletizing machine was tested, using 2.5kg fish feed and the results obtained show that the pelleting efficiency and capacity are 90% and 30kg/h respectively. The cost of the machine is relatively cheap when compared with available pelletizers. Therefore the machine is suitable for small and medium-scale fish and poultry farming and can be used for pelletizing different materials provided the ingredient meets the required moisture content.