Effect of Some Machine Parameters on Floatability and Water Stability of Fish Feed Pellets

Abstract

Fish feeds are mostly pelletized to enable solidification of the feeds. High percentage of the floating and good water stability have become great issues of fish feed produced from a locally developed fish-feed pelletizer. The current study focuses on the effect of barrel length (140, 280, and 420 mm) and die sizes (4, 5, and 6 mm) on the floatability and water stability of pellets produced from a locally developed pelletizer. Data were collected and analyzed by using a 3²×3 factorial experiment in design expert (10.01 version) at P≤0.5. Results show that pellet floatability at the 140 mm barrel length and die size of 4, 5, and 6 mm ranged from 98.0% to 98.5%, while the corresponding values obtained at 280 mm barrel length ranged from 98.0% to 98.3%, and at the 420 mm barrel length with the same die size, the pellet floatability ranged from 98.0% to 98.5%. Also, water stability at 140 mm barrel length and die size of 4, 5, and 6 mm ranged from 85.0% to 85.3%, while the corresponding values obtained at 280 mm barrel length ranged from 84.9% to 85.2%, and at the 420 mm barrel length with the same die size, the pellet floatability ranged from 85.0% to 85.1%. There was a significant effect of barrel length and die size on the water stability of the pellets produced at p ≤ 0.05. The developed fish-feed pelletizer gave a good pellet in terms of its floatability and water stability at the barrel length of 280mm and die size of 5mm, and can be used for local production of  fish pellets.