Yielding Higher

Rice Milling Profits !

SmartMill™

MillView™
BlendView™
Dirty Paddy Brown
Paddy
Head Rice
47 47 47
or or or
67 67 67

Paddy 36 36
or or
47 47

Brewers

36 36 25 25 25 25 25
or or
47 47 36 36 36
or or or
36 47 47 47
or
47
Screenings Hulls
Bran Brokens

YIELD…that which is measured… improves !

T oday, more than ever, Rice Millers are demanding higher production yields and better
finished product control from their processes…
…To achieve these improvements, they are turning to real time flow measurement and data is transmitted electronically to the
control and monitoring systems that will report instantly, loss in control room as feedback to the operator. In modern rice
efficiency in any part of the rice milling process. With real time processing facilities, each area from receiving raw paddy through
information, corrections to the process can be made immediately to blending of finished rice has control points where this type of
to maintain and improve yields. Equipment failures, chokes or equipment should be placed to monitor efficiency and provide
changing material characteristics can be detected as they occur process control for better milling yields. Strategic measurements
and operators can take the appropriate actions to avoid costly points for each part of the process are discussed below.
losses. Most importantly, the effects of these changes can be
determined within minutes to avoid long periods of operation at
less than peak efficiencies.
Real time process flow measurements are available from modern
electronic in-process weighing equipment. This equipment is
placed at strategic points in the process both for flow control and
Paddy Rice Processing
Paddy rice with a moisture content as high as 30% depending on the operation is to have continuous real time flow rate control and
climate and harvest conditions is received and pre-cleaned with measurement available to the operator. By employing both flow
some form of screener or scalper and then processed through a control to the process and flow measurement at various output
drying operation to storage. Many plants incorporate drying and streams from the process, the operator can ensure that maximum
storage facilities because the rice is dried more than once and must efficiency is being achieved. In addition, because operators have
be stored between drying. Receiving rates are often much higher real time process information, they can quickly react to changes in
than the actual mill processing rates due to the demands of the material properties that affect equipment settings.
harvesting. The pre-cleaning attempts only to remove the larger
(1-1/2” [38mm] and greater) light components in the paddy. Due to When information is analyzed to present process yield information
these higher flow rates, overloading of cleaning equipment can in the control room on a real time basis from electronic feeders and
result in significant paddy loss to the screenings. in-process weighing devices, operators will spend less time
determining the efficiency of the process and more time in
…in-process weighing of screenings maintaining or improving the efficiency. Electronic feeding and
weighing devices as shown below have been optimized to provide
avoids unprofitable overcleaning ! rice millers with the information to improve the process.
When possible, modern mill designers employ accurate flow
control to pre-cleaning and drying equipment to ensure constant
loading of the equipment for maximum efficiency. Improper or
inaccurate feed to this equipment can reduce efficiency significantly.
Loss in weight feeders with weight-based accuracy of better than
0.2% can ensure that drying and cleaning equipment performance
is optimized.
By controlling the feed rate to the process and measuring the rate of
paddy exiting the system, the operator can calculate the efficiency
of the pre-cleaning operation. By monitoring the extraction rate of
the process, problems can be quickly detected. Situations such as
straw contamination in the screening section undetected can result
in usable paddy entering the screenings. By combining the real time
flow rate and accumulation from this process, the pre-cleaning
efficiency can continuously be monitored by the operator to avoid
costly loses.
Real time information can be gathered in the control room to
monitor efficiency and track incoming shipments. Advanced
control systems trend graph the efficiency over time to indicate
variances in processing efficiency and alarm the operator when
efficiencies do not reach acceptable levels.

Post Cleaning and Husking

…the key to operating at maximum efficiency as well as avoiding costly
equipment damage in the husking operation is to have continuous real
time flow rate control and measurement available to the operator !
Post cleaning rates are typically much lower then pre-cleaning rates
and often match the mill processing rates. Scalping machines are
employed often pre and post husking to remove by size the lighter,
smaller foreign material remaining after pre-cleaning. Destoners
are often used before husking to remove heavy foreign material. As
in pre-cleaning, the efficiency of the cleaning and husking process
Comptrol’s Flowamatic 47 provides both
has great economic impact. The key to operating at maximum flow control and flow measurement to
efficiency as well as avoid costly equipment damage in the husking maximize process profitability!
Whitening, Polishing, and Grading
…maximize the production of whole grain kernels !
Accurate flow control to the whitening and polishing machines
will produce the most efficient operation of the machinery. A
reliable electronic loss in weight feeder will automatically
compensate for changes in material density often caused by
moisture content or other harvest characteristics and maintain
constant equipment loading.
Yield management systems analyze the process data and present
it to the operator in real time graphical form on instruments
located in the control room. These systems also show, on a live
continuous basis, the percentage production of each stream
(e.g. percent small broken or percent whole). As well, these
systems have capabilities to produce production reports, allow
multiple remote operator stations and provide electrical control
signals directly to the process equipment. Operators may make
changes to the process directly from the control room and
monitor the results of the changes in the output streams
in real time.

MillView™
Yield Management System
Modern yield management systems
provide real-time process information
to ensure maximum milling profitability.

By measuring the
output streams
with an in-process
weighing device,
this area of the rice mill can pro-
duce significant improvement in
yields. After whitening, at first cut
grading, the split of bran and small brokens
(1/4 grains) production can be monitored and
machinery adjusted to minimize waste and
maximize bran removal. As well, monitoring the mid streams in
real time where disc separators or indented cylinder graders
produce the split (again by size) between whole grain and long
brokens, adjustments can be made to compensate for material
composition changes. The effectiveness of the conditioning
process can also be gauged by monitoring both bran removal and
small broken flow rates. Significant changes in these output
streams often indicate that the product characteristics have
changed and require some compensation in the process for
improved yield.
The operator has to adjust many machine settings to balance the
split of final products. By collecting all the real time process flow
into one control system, yield management can be applied to
constantly maintain the highest possible process efficiency. Cause
and affect analysis can be performed on any change in equipment
settings or material properties and help operators to achieve their
objective of maximizing extraction of whole grain kernels.
Blending
…sell your bokens at whole grain prices !
The final product control point in the production of consistent
quality rice occurs in the post blending of the various products to
customer or market specification. At this stage, precise control of the
percentage of whole grain, large and small brokens are of the utmost
importance, both from a profit and customer satisfaction aspect.
Until recently, volumetric blending has been the method used.
Blending devices having accuracy of 1%-3% or more have not
produced the results required by today's consumer. Weight based
feeder devices with accuracy of 0.5% produce product consistency
demanded by consumers, while allowing the mill to claim the fullest
amount of brokens as finished product yield. These devices coupled
with a recipe control system, allow final product control with the
required accuracy where the blend components are all weighed.
Production control and reporting should be available from an
instrument in the control room and networked to a plant wide yield
system allowing the operator complete control and monitoring of his
entire operation.

Comptrol…
Innovative Solutions
for Milling Profits !
Comptrol’s Momentum 25F
feeder is superior to impact and
volumetric feeders and flow
balancers for rice blending !

Unit #4, 5640 Tomken Road, Mississauga, ON Canada L4W 1P4

For more information, contact your local agent or Comptrol Tel : (905) 238-5957 Fax : (905) 238-5959

BRAE99-808 © Printed in Canada