Bühler unveiled Granulex® 5 series, a new hammer mill platform that allows 10-30% reduction in energy consumption per ton. It also has high throughput ranges, an improved granulation profile, and an operator-friendly design.
The hammer mill aims to optimize the grinding process to avoid over- and under-griding. It was designed to grind at a higher capacity with lower energy consumption. Capacity is increased by 10% - up to 120 tons per hour – and the time required for screen changeovers is reduced by 50%. The finest particle size achieved is at 100-150 microns. The new solution can also be connected to Bühler Insights to enable nonstop data-based decision-making.
Since the new hammer mill platform is modular, the Granulex® 5 series can be configured to fit specific applications and process requirements in any country, for coarse or fine grinding, all with an optimized set-up for each customer.
The system also keeps maintenance costs low. All variants of the Granulex® 5 series operate with the same inventory of parts that can be applied in different machine settings. Overall, the set-up is designed to allow for 360 different configurations and can be adapted to the most diverse products and customer targets.
The Granulex® 5 series is ready to connect to Bühler digital applications, enabling customers to view griding line data anytime, anywhere, and analyze trends and track problems. The data transparency and preventive information provided through digital solutions provide insights that support customers in improving processes.
The new hammer mill comes from the Bühler sustainability objective to enable customers use 50% less energy and how this reduction could be applied to the grinding process. Over the past decade, R&D Bühler’s team has tested and experimented with different designs carrying out the development in close collaboration with customers and including lab testing in the US, China, and Switzerland.
“It is not easy to revolutionize an old machine category,” said Dean Ekkaia, product management director value nutrition at Bühler. “But after a decade of quiet innovation, gathering the best concepts, and then testing them extensively, we have created the best possible grinding system available.”
“It is a truly global machine, tested and developed in our international labs as well as running commercially in line at customer plants. Every part has a great deal of data behind it, proving the concept and the performance of each component,” said Reto Bischof, head of research & development value nutrition at Bühler.
The system has already been implemented in Germany where mixed feed producer AGRAVIS is taking advantage of the new series. “The way we operate has changed in recent times due to rising energy costs,” said Heiko Almann, managing director at AGRAVIS. “The Granulex® 5 series delivered significant energy savings compared to our current hammer mills. The Granulex® 5 also benefits our operations with reduced maintenance time and optimized granulation.”
The Granulex® 5 series is part of the company’s restructuring of the entire portfolio aimed to provide a more transparent, customer-focused offering for the grinding industry.
“With 150 years of experience in grinding and other key engineering disciplines, we will provide new and customized solutions for our clients operating in rapidly changing markets,” said Ian Roberts, CTO at Bühler Group. “The launch of the Granulex® 5 series is a major milestone in this development.”
