SOY PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES
1. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES
AND EQUIPMENT FOR SOY PROCESSING
2. THE URGENCY OF THE PROBLEM
3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
4. TEKMASH®
TECHNOLOGY
5. TEK-SM UNIT DESCRIPTION
6. CALCULATION OF TOTAL SAVINGS AFTER THE NEW TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCTION
7. THE EVALUATION
OF PROFITABILITY BENEFITS AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF TEKMASH®
TECHNOLOGY IN A CATTLE FARM.
8. TECHNOLOGICAL BENEFITS
It is well known that soy processing
technologies are subdivided into dry and wet ones depending
on the utilized processes. Soy milk, soy mayonnaise, and soy paste
obtained from whole soy beans are among the products manufactured
by wet technologies (sometimes soy beans undergo pre-processing).
Soy milk is traditionally manufactured on the so called soy cows.
This equipment enables wet soy beans crushing, thermal processing
at the temperature of 203...230F (95...110) utilizing steam
generator. The technological process is completed with a retention
interval for the destruction and inactivation of harmful compounds.
Soy mayonnaise is obtained from condensed soy milk; soy paste
is an educed sediment obtained from soy milk after its sedimentation
containing primarily carbohydrates and a small percentage of residual
proteins and fats. (Specifications of one of the "soy cows"
manufactured in Ukraine are listed in Table 1, chapter 6.1).
The soy cake production processes after soy beans
were treated in high-speed mills or in extruders for soy oil production
are referred to as the "dry" technologies. Soy flour
can also be obtained by milk condensing and evaporation. Dry soy
products (flour and cake) manufactured by the Ukrainian enterprise
EKO LLC are 1.5-2 times cheaper than similar products of foreign
manufacturers. The indisputable advantage of soy products manufactured
by "dry" technologies is their long shelf life and simple
handling for animal feeding.
The soy milk production equipment market is quite
diverse both by capacity and by origin of the equipment. For example,
the capacity of equipment manufactured by Krasnodar companies,
widely spread in Russia is between 4.76 and 1058 gallons/hour
(18-4000 liters/hour) with electricity consumption rate between
10 and 300 kW respectively. A few design adjustments introduced
by Tronka-Agrotekh LLC, Kiev, Ukraine in their USK soy cows reduced
electricity consumption almost by one third.
The volume of soy cake import has shrunk in the
last several years despite the fact that the product is widely
used in cattle and pig farms in Ukraine. This is explained by
extremely high price of the imported product and increase of domestic
manufacturers activity.
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1. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
OF TECHNOLOGIES
AND EQUIPMENT FOR SOY PROCESSING
The analysis of technologies and specifications
of the currently available equipment for balanced fodder mix production
in real-life farm operation in Ukraine provides grounds for a
conclusion about the imperfection of soy beans processing equipment
and technologies. Thus, for the production of soy milk with 7%
dry matter content it is necessary to heat 93% of water almost
to the boiling point and then cool it to the feeding temperature.
This leads to big energy losses and rising equipment prices.
In our opinion, application of "dry
technologies is not very profitable in animal husbandry. Besides
the high prices for soy flour and soy cake, the low effectiveness
of soy cake fodder application is also worth noting. Indeed, it
is well known that soy beans are the treasury of unique protein
complexes, easily digestible fats, amino acids, microelements.
The soy beans shelf life without loss of their unique qualities
depends on the beans shell integrity (the soy grade is determined
by the percentage of damaged and broken beans). If the shell is
broken, the active substances cause quick fats oxidization and
vitamin complexes decomposition.
Because of this very reason, the dry soy processing technology
for soy cake production cannot be viewed as effective one, because
the speed of oxidization processes by far exceeds the speed of
balanced fodder mix production. Besides, this method does not
provide a way of inactivation of such harmful substances as urease
and trypsin inhibitor, which causes diseases and deaths of animals.
The results of analyses conducted by
Palladin Biological Research Center at the Institute of Biochemistry
of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine show, that vitamin
ingredients of the soy paste produced by TEKMASH hydrodynamic
processing technology remains intact, i.e. identical to that of
soy beans before processing!
2. THE URGENCY OF THE
PROBLEM
The conducted analysis of the available
soy processing technologies provides grounds for a conclusion
that there is no integral development concept of soy additives
production technologies development, which should meet the following
requirements:
- animals feeding technology optimization;
- cost reduction, i.e. increasing farming profit margins;
- minimization of energy resources consumption;
- environment protection.
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3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
1. Fodders should be prepared right before the animals
are fed.
2. The fodder feeding temperature must be between 68° and
86°F (20°-30°C).
3. The energy consumption rate for the production of fodders based
on soy, peas and other components must be the lowest possible.
4. Equipment capacity must be the lowest feasible.
5. Equipment and technology must ensure effective production of
the following fodder types: soy-grain, soy-corn, peas-grain, etc.
6. Technology must ensure effective incorporation of vitamin,
medicinal and other additives.
7. Reliability and safety of equipment operation.
8. Environment friendliness of equipment and technology.
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4. TEKMASH®
TECHNOLOGY
TEKMASH technology is implemented through TEK-SM
hydrodynamic units and is based on:
1. The production of concentrated soy additives in the form of
creamy and pasty products.
2. Soy paste thinning with cold water to achieve the necessary
soy milk consistency immediately after preparation reducing the
temperature to 68°...86°F (20°...30°C).
3. One of the available equipment options satisfies the requirement
of full equipment autonomy with the installation of a diesel engine.
4. Safety and reliability of the technology is defined by absence
of heating elements. The equipment does not have a steam generator
and does not require an approval from the State Committee on Labor
Protection and Supervision.
5. TEKMASH technology is waste-free. Environment pollution is
out of the question.
The technology ensures:
- minimization of energy resources expenditures owing to the
combination of heating, grinding, mixing processes as well
as incorporation of necessary additives in one production
cycle;
- minimization of equipment capacity owing to its high efficiency
(at least 90%);
- elimination of heat exchange equipment.
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5. TEK-SM UNIT DESCRIPTION
TEK-SM unit operation is based on liquid heating
caused by hydromechanic phenomena, namely, cavitation and turbulent
friction. The equipment comprises an electric or diesel driven
pump, a reservoir where the ingredients are loaded (raw materials,
water, additives) and a special nozzle where the mixture ingredients
are crushed and heated. The necessary technological temperature
is maintained and controlled by automatic sensors. The equipment
is protected by patents in Ukraine, Russia as well as international
patent applications.
The revolutionary approach to heating soy suspension
allows:
- to prevent formation of carcinogenic substances found in
thermal-oxidized product caused by sticking and burning on
heating surfaces;
- to ensure even heating throughout the entire volume of
the processed mixture, thus eliminating vitamin destruction
caused by overheating part of the product;
- to simplify the equipment design, which in turn reduces
the operation and maintenance costs.
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6. CALCULATION OF TOTAL
SAVINGS AFTER THE NEW TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCTION
6.1. Comparison with the conventional wet
soy milk production technology.
Comparison chart of soy milk production
equipment (UKS-1000 manufactured by Tronka-Agrotekh,
Kiev, Ukraine and TEK-4SM designed and manufactured by TEKMASH
Institute R&D Enterprise, Kherson).
Technical specifications |
USK-1000 |
TEK-4SM |
Notes |
1. Capacity
gallons/hour
ltrs./hour
|
milk
264.6
1,000
|
paste
84.7
320
|
Dry matter content: in milk - 7%, in
paste - 28% |
2. Soy beans consumption,
lbs./hour
kg/hour
|
154
70 |
197.12
89.6
|
|
3. Wattage, kW |
6 |
45 |
|
4. Steam consumption per 1 mt
of end product,
lbs.
kg
|
440
200
|
- |
|
5. Operators |
2 |
2 |
|
6. Full technological cycle: operation/pause,
min. |
60 |
45 / 15 |
|
7. Water consumption,
gallons/hour
ltr/hour |
608.5
2,300
|
79.4
300 |
Additional 264.6 gallons or 1,000 ltrs of water is necessary
to thin the soy paste to milk consistency |
8. Equipment weight,
lbs.
kg
|
2,640
1,200
|
1,760
800
|
|
9. Cost of equipment, USD
|
30,656 |
9,630 |
Prices effective on August 1, 2004 |
Benchmark data for economic efficiency calculation:
- Shift duration 8 hours, the number of full technological
cycles - 7, the duration of production preparation cycle
1 hour. The number of shifts per day 1.
- Accelerated depreciation rate 20%, the number of work
days per year 365.
- Cost:
- Raw material (soy)
- U$ 111.11 if grown at the farm;
- U$ 185.19 - if bought from a supplier.
- Electricity U$ 0.05115 per 1 kWhour (with VAT).
- Land lease: U$ 111.11 per month per 333.33 sq. foot
- Estimated transportation expenses: U$ 185.19/month.
- Wages fund: U$ 166.67 per month, including all applicable
taxes.
- Overhead cost (32%): U$ 53.7/month.
- Operation expenses (not including the cost of water and
electricity):
185.19+166.67+53.7+111.11 = U$ 516.67 per month or U$ 17.22
per day.
- Depreciation cost per day:
- U$ 16.8 (USK-1000)
- U$ 3.24 (TEK-4SM).
- For the production of 1 mt of soy milk, USK-1000 unit consumes
440 lbs (200 kgs) of steam at the pressure of 1.4 MPa, which
corresponds to the energy consumption of 174 kWhour. The
total energy consumption rate of USK-1000 is 180 kWhour per
cycle or U$ 9.20 per hour (U$ 64.26 per shift).
TEK-4SM unit consumes 34 kWhour per cycle, which corresponds
to U$ 1.74 per hour or U$ 12.19 per shift.
- Water expenditures at the rate of U$ 0.24 per 1m3
make for U$ 3.89 and U$ 2.15 per day respectively.
- The total operation expenses per day, including items 8,
9 and 10 amount to:
- U$ 17.22+64.26+16.8+3.89 = 102.17 (USK-1000);
- U$ 17.22+12.19+3.24+2.15 = 34.8 (TEK-4SM).
- Based on the equipment specifications being compared, the
capacity per shift is:
- USK-1000: 15,400 lbs of soy milk (7,000 kg); 1,078 lbs (490
kg) of soy beans is necessary;
- TEK-4SM: 4,928 lbs of soy paste (2,240 kg); 1,379.84 lbs
(627.2 kg) of soy is necessary.
Soy milk with 7% dry matter content can be prepared without
additional energy consumption by thinning the soy paste with
cold water at 1:3 ratio. The total mass of milk prepared by
this technology is 19,712 lbs (8,960 kg). The milk temperature
will be between 77° and 86° F (25°...30°),
which meets the technological requirements of animal feeding.
- The net cost of 1 mt of soy milk is:
- USK-1000: U$ 102.17:7 = U$14.6 per 1 metric ton;
- TEK-4SM: 34.8:8.9 = U$3.91 per 1 metric ton.
This way, the cost of soy milk manufactured on TEK-4SM unit
is 3.7 times lower than the cost of the product manufactured
on USK-1000.
- Processing 1 mt of soy beans costs:
- USK-1000: U$ 102.17:0,49 = U$ 208.52;
- TEK-4SM: 34.8:0,6272 = U$ 55.56.
- To be conservative, suppose USK-1000 produces 7 metric tons
of milk per day. 7 mt x 365 = 2555 mt.
The production cost will be 2555 x U$ 14.6 = U$ 37,303
Production of the same annual amount of milk on TEK-4SM unit
will cost 2555 x 3.91 = U$9,990
This way, the total savings will amount to U$ 27,313
- For a more complete understanding of the processing cost,
regardless of the equipment type, let us compare it to the
soy beans cost. Suppose, the cost of soy beans growth is U$
111.11 per 1 mt. Then the full production cost of 1 mt of
soy milk is :
- USK-1000: U$ 14.6 + 111.11 x 0.07 = U$ 22.38;
- TEK-4SM: U$ 3.91 + 111.11 x 0.07 = U$ 11.69.
To make our further analysis simpler, let us substitute kilos
to liters, since the relative density of soy milk with 7%
dry matter content is close to the relative density of water.
Then the cost of 1 ltr of soy milk will be:
- manufactured on USK-1000: U$ 0.0224;
- manufactured on TEK-4SM: U$ 0.0117 .
To simplify further analysis, let's round them off to a bigger
number:
- USK1000: U$ 0.023.
- TEK-4SM: U$ 0.012.
6.2 Comparison with the "dry"
soy milk production technology
This technology implies production of soy milk from
soy flour. Let us consider the technology applied by ECO LLC,
Kiev, Ukraine. According to promotional materials of this company,
the average price of dry soy flour is around U$666.67 per 1 mt.
1. The production of 1 mt of soy milk with 7% dry matter content
costs U$ 46.67.
2. To reach the feeding temperature the soy flour needs to be
mixed with water and heated to 68°...86°F (20°...30°C).
This will take 25 kWhour, which together with the water cost
will add up to U$ 1.85.
3. Considering the cost of labor, lease, etc., the cost of 1 mt
of soy milk will be not less than U$ 51.85 or U$ 0.052 per liter.
This means, that the soy milk prepared from soy flour is more
than 4 times more expensive than the soy milk produced by TEKMASH®
technology.
6.3 Calculation of equipment pay-back period.
1. Let us suppose (as we did earlier) that some
7 mt of soy milk are produced in one day.
2. This way, the savings per 1 mt of produced soy milk after the
change of the "dry technology to the wet one will be:
U$ 51.85 U$ 12.96 = U$ 38.89 or U$ 272.23 per day.
3. If the original equipment cost is U$ 5933.3, then its pay-back
period will be U$ 5933.3 : U$ 272.23 = 22 days.
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7. THE EVALUATION OF
PROFITABILITY BENEFITS AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF TEKMASH® TECHNOLOGY
IN A CATTLE FARM
According to the report of Mechta agricultural company
- one of the best farms in Ukraine, 109.79 gallons (415 ltr.)
of soy milk are used for calves feeding within 6 months period,
and the total fodder mass is 4015 lbs or 1825 kg.
The calculation based on the farms data shows
that the fodder cost is U$ 67.96 or around U$ 0.017 per pound
(U$ 0.037 per kg). That is if the 109.79 gallons of soy milk is
produced from soy flour at the cost of U$ 0.024 per 1 lbs (U$
0.052 per 1 kg).
The total savings after the new technology introduction
with the soy milk cost at U$ 0.013 per 1 kg will be 415 x (0.052
0.013) = U$ 16.18, which equals to 23.8%
As it becomes clear from multiple publications,
the fodder cost equals to around 60% of the total cost of raising
livestock. This means that the new technology introduction allows
to reduce the total livestock raising costs by 14.7%. Likewise,
the profit margins will rise accordingly, i.e. the profitability
will increase from 18.7% to 33.4%.
Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that only owing
to the change of soy milk production technology the farm profitability
can increase more than by one half!
If we make a detailed calculation for the case
when a farm uses "soy cow equipment for the soy milk production,
the total fodder cost will be U$ 56.02.
Therefore, after the new technology introduction the fodder cost
will be reduced by:
415 x (0.024 - 0.013) = U$ 4.57
The profitability will rise by 5% (from 18,7% to 23,7%), or in
1.27 times!
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8. TECHNOLOGICAL BENEFITS
To prove the effectiveness of the offered technology
in terms of nutritive components preservation, independent researches
of soy paste produced by TEKMASH technology were carried out in
Palladin Biological Research Center at the Institute of Biochemistry
of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.
The soy paste was compared with the ground soy beans.
To avoid the loss of nutritive components the beans were ground
immediately preceding each test. Based on the research results
the following conclusion can be drawn:
1. The vitamin complex contained in the paste is
several times richer than the one in the soy flour.
2. Fats (or fat acids, to be more precise) keep their qualitative
balance (unsaturated - saturated acids) after the processing.
This specifically relates to unsaturated linoleic and linolenic
acids (which make for around 60% of all fats), important for the
digestion process. It is worth pointing out that during the dry
processing technology and long-term storage the content of these
essential compounds decreases significantly.
3. Amino acids composition (i.e. proteins in first approximation)
is hardly modified at all in comparison with dry soy beans, which
is explained by absence of heating surfaces causing thermal destruction
of proteins.
Therefore, the research confirms the high effectiveness
of the offered soy processing technology in terms of the nutritive
value of the end product TEKMASH soy paste.
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