Design and production of a fish feed pelletizing machine

Animal feeds contributes to a greater percentage of the cost of production of livestock. For the increment in productivity and profit, farmers are advised to produce their feed themselves to reduce the cost of production. This work is aimed at producing a simple single unit fish feed pelletizer at a lost cost for peasant farmers. A fish feed pelletizer has been designed and constructed. It consists of hopper, screw conveyor, barrel, dies, drives system and heater. The design was carried out using engineering principles with due consideration to cost, ease of operation, serviceability, durability, and performance. It is designed to be driven by a 1.5 HP, three-phase electric motor with a heating element of 1500 W attached to the barrel surface to ensure adequate heating of the feed as they travel through the barrel. The test that determines the performance of the pelletizer was carried out which showed a throughput capacity of 17 kg/h, machine efficiency of 73.33% and a pelletizing efficiency of 90.90% with low mechanical damage of 9.10%. The cylindrical pellets size produced by the pelletizer was in the range of 2–8 mm diameter, which is suitable for fish and poultry farming. The machine was produced using locally sourced materials at a production cost of one hundred and eight thousand naira only (N 108,000.00).