Extrusion Technology of Cereals

Term Paper-2015

Section B2317

Submitted to : Submitted by :

Dr. Rasane Prasad Kishan Koyani (A01)

Suryakant (A03)

Aastha Khare (A04)

Sachin Chauhan(A10)
General Objectives:
To get the knowledge about extrusion technology, principle of working, extruders,
classification of extruders, extruded products and their processing.

Specific Objectives:
By the end of this we will be able to
1. Learn about use of extrusion technology in food industry and how cereals are
utilized.
2. Study about extrusion cooking, usage of raw materials.
3. Study about extruders, types of extruders and operating parameters.
4. Get to know about the extruded product, how they are produced and extruded
products available in the market.
5. Advantage and disadvantages of using extrusion technology.
 CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. History of extrusion
3. Basic principle of extrusion
4. Extrusion Systems
4.1. Cold extrusion
4.2. Extrusion cooking
4.3. Single screw extruder
4.4. Twin screw extruder
5. Extrusion system design
6. Function of extruders
7. Advantage of extruders
8. Extruded products
8.1. Products for human consumption
8.1.1. Snack foods
8.1.2. Breakfast cereals
8.1.3. Baby foods
8.1.4. Extruded biscuits
 8.1.5. Ready to eat cereals
8.1.6. Flaked products from maize
8.1.7. Flaked products from wheat and rice
8.1.8. Puffed products
8.1.9 Sugar coated products
8.1.10. Shredded products
8.2. Pet food and animal feed products
9. Area of use of extrusion technology
 1. Introduction
Extrusion technology, well-known in the plastics industry, has now become a widely used
technology in the agro-food processing industry, where it is referred to as extrusion-
cooking. It has been employed for the production of so-called engineered food and special
feed.
Extrusion is a process which combines several unit operations including mixing, cooking,
kneading, shearing, shaping and forming.
It is defined as a process in which material is pushed through an orifice or a die of given
shape. The pushing force is applied using a piston or a screw. In food applications, screw
extrusion is predominant.
Extrusion technologies have an important role in the food industry as efficient
manufacturing processes. Their main role was developed for conveying and shaping fluid
forms of processed raw materials, such as doughs and pastes.

Today, their processing functions may include conveying, mixing, shearing, separation,
heating or cooling, shaping, co-extrusion, venting volatiles and moisture, flavor
generation, encapsulation and sterilization.
Extrusion cooking has gained in popularity over the last two decades for a number of
reasons:
• Versatility: a wide range of products, many of which cannot be produced easily by any
other process, is possible by changing the ingredients, extruder operating conditions and
dies.
• Cost: extrusion has lower processing costs and higher productivity than other cooking
and forming processes.
• Productivity: extruders can operate continuously with high throughput
• Product quality: extrusion cooking involves high temperatures applied for a short time,
retaining many heat sensitive components of a food.
• Environmentally-friendly: as a low-moisture process, extrusion cooking does not
produce significant process effluents, reducing water treatment costs and levels of
environmental pollution.
Food extruders (extrusion-cookers) belong to the family of HTST (high temperature short
time)-equipment, capable of performing cooking tasks under high pressure. This is
advantageous for vulnerable food and feed as exposure to high temperatures for only a
short time will restrict unwanted denaturation effects on, for example, proteins, amino
acids, vitamins, starches and enzymes. Physical technological aspects like heat transfer,
mass transfer, momentum transfer, residence time and residence time distribution have a
strong impact on the food and feed properties during extrusion-cooking and can drastically
influence the final product quality.
Currently, extrusion-cooking as a method is used for the manufacture of many foodstuffs,
ranging from the simplest expanded snacks to highly-processed meat analogues.

2. History of Extrusion
The origins of the extrusion process are closely associated with polymer science and
technology. In the mid-1850s, extrusion was used to produce the first seamless lead pipe.
The first man-made thermoplastic, celluloid, was manufactured in the 1860s based on a
reaction between cellulose and nitric acid. The manufacturing of Bakelite in 1907, and the
protective coating resin, glyptal, in 1912, was dependent on extrusion processing. Formal
applications of extrusion processes to foods began in the 1930s and evolved over the
following 50 years, as equipment for extrusion processing increased in capabilities and
complexity.

3. Basic principle of extrusion

Extrusion involves a combination of transport processes, including flow of materials
within the system, thermal energy transfer to and within the material, and mass transfer to
and within the material during extrusion.
The flow of materials within the channels of the system occurs in all types of extrusion.
Food ingredients of various types may be processed by extrusion and are referred to as
extrudates. All ingredients involved in the extrusion process flow through a channel with a
defined geometry. The power requirements for the process are directly dependent on the
flow characteristics through the channel.

Raw materials are fed into the extruder barrel and the screw(s) then convey the food along
it. Further down the barrel, smaller flights restrict the volume and increase the resistance
to movement of the food. As a result, it fills the barrel and the spaces between the screw
flights and becomes compressed.
As it moves further along the barrel, the screw kneads the material into a semi-solid,
plasticized mass. If the food is heated above 100ºC the process is known as extrusion
cooking (or hot extrusion). Here, frictional heat and any additional heating that is used
cause the temperature to rise rapidly. The food is then passed to the section of the barrel
having the smallest flights, where pressure and shearing is further increased.
Finally, it is forced through one or more restricted openings (dies) at the discharge end of
the barrel as the food emerges under pressure from the die, it expands to the final shape
and cools rapidly as moisture is flashed off as steam. A variety of shapes, including rods,
spheres, doughnuts, tubes, strips, squirls or shells can be formed. Typical products include
a wide variety of low density, expanded snack foods and ready-to-eat (RTE) puffed
cereals.

4. Extrusion Systems
Extrusion systems can be divided into four different categories. These four categories
include two different methods of operations: cold extrusion or extrusion cooking and two
different barrel configurations: single or twin screw. Both barrel configurations may be
used for either method of operation.
4.1. Cold Extrusion

Cold extrusion is used to form specific shapes of extrudate at locations downstream from
the die. In this process, the extrudate is pumped through a die without the addition of
external thermal energy.

In general, cold extrusion is used to mix, knead, disperse, texturize, dissolve, and form a
food product or product ingredient. Typical food products include pastry dough,
individual pieces of candy or confections, pasta pieces, hot dogs, and selected pet foods.
These types of extruders would be considered low-shear systems and would create
relatively low pressures upstream from the die.

A cold extrusion operation

4.2. Extrusion Cooking

When thermal energy becomes a part of the extrusion process, the process is referred to as
extrusion cooking. Thermal energy may be added to the extrudate during the process from
an external source or may be generated by friction at internal surfaces of the extruder in
contact with the extrudate.
The ‗cooking‘ process during extrusion is unique from most other thermal processes. As
the ingredients are introduced to form the extrudate, they are exposed to elevated
pressures as well as temperatures.
The geometry of the extrusion barrel is designed to increase the pressure on the
ingredients as movement from entrance to exit proceeds.
The exit from the barrel is the ‗die‘—an opening with much smaller cross-sectional area
than that of the barrel.

4.3 Single Screw Extruders

In a single-screw extrusion system, the barrel of the extruder contains a single screw
moves the extrudate through the barrel.
A typical single-screw extruder consists of a live bin, feeding screw, preconditioning
cylinder, extruder barrel, die and knife that
A single-screw extrusion system has three components or sections: Feed section, where
the various ingredients are introduced and initial mixing occurs. The rotating action of the
screw moves the ingredients to the transition or compression section.
Compression or transition section, where the ingredients begin the transition to the
extrudate as pressure and temperature begin to increase. As the dimensions of the flow
channel decrease, the material is compressed and mechanical energy is dissipated as
temperature increases. This section may be referred to as a kneading section, with
significant changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the ingredients
occurring.
Metering (or cooking) section, where additional compression of the extrudate occurs as a
result of additional reductions in the dimensions of the flow channel and increased
shearing action. In some designs, the overall dimensions of the barrel are reduced as well.
Speed of the feed screw to the conditioner or extruder must be variable to ensure a
continuous uniform supply of raw material, which, in turn, leads to consistent and uniform
operation of the extruder.

Because single-screw extruders have relatively poor mixing ability, they are usually
supplied with premixed material which often has been preconditioned with added steam
and water. Generally, preconditioning prior to extrusion enhances extrusion processes
which benefit from higher moisture content and longer equilibration time. Preconditioning
of the raw material typically improves the life of wearing components in the extruder by
several folds. Although the weight of ingredients in the extrusion system is increased,
preconditioners are relatively inexpensive to build for the volume they hold and time
added to the process for preconditioning. Product quality can be improved greatly by
preconditioning the raw ingredients.

Application

The first major commercial application of the single-screw extruder in the food processing
industry was conversion of semolina flour into pasta using solid screws. This low-shear,
low-temperature-forming process first found commercial production in the 1920s and
1930s, and remains a standard process although equipment has improved (Huber, 2000).
Several new developments in the single screw extruder have further increased its
efficiency and versatility. A brief list of the products made by single-screw extruders
includes:
• Direct expanded corn snacks
• texturized vegetable protein
• Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal
• Production of full fat soy
• Pet foods
• Floating and sinking aquatic feed
• Production of baby foods
• Rice bran stabilization
• Precooked or thermally modified starches, flours and grain
• breading.

4.4 Twin Screw Extruder

Twin-screw extrusion systems incorporate two parallel screws into the extruder barrel.
The screws may be co-rotating or counter-rotating.
In the counter-rotating position the extruder screw rotates in the opposite direction,
whereas in the co-rotating position the screw rotates in the same direction.
Various configurations of the screw have been developed, including the fully
intermeshing, self-wiping, co-rotating twin-screw system
This particular system has been used in many food applications due to the self-cleaning,
better mixing, moderate shear force and higher capacity characteristics
In the counter-rotating position the extruder screw rotates in the opposite direction,
whereas in the co-rotating position the screw rotates in the same direction.
Twin-screw systems provide increased flexibility in terms of higher moisture content
extrudates, as well as higher concentrations of ingredients (lipids, carbohydrates, etc.).
These systems usually have less wear due to shorter sections of the barrel being exposed
to the high pressures required for product extrusion.
Other configurations of twin-screw extrusion systems include counter rotating with non-
intermeshing systems, counter-rotating with intermeshing systems, and co-rotating with
non-intermeshing systems.
Each of these configurations may be used in specific applications and require unique and
complex analysis for design and scale-up.
Applications
Twin-screw extruders got their popularity in the food industry in the mid-1980s mid-
1990s. Originally developed for processing plastics, food companies began using twin-
screw extruders for products like sticky caramels and candies that could not be made with
single-screw machines. Very soon, twin-screw extruders become popular with the food
manufacturers for specialized food items.
Presently, twin-screw extruders are being used for the following different food and feed
items.
• Co-extruded snacks and other food items
• Food gums
• Topping and bakery analogs
• precooked pasta
• Noodles, spaghetti and macaroni
• Bread-like products (crisp bread)
• Pastry dough
• Wheat gluten textured products
• Semi-moist food
• Sugar crust liqueurs
• Pet treats
• Three-dimensional snacks
• Three-dimensional confections and toffees
• Beer powders
• Meat analog
• texturized vegetable protein from partially defatted soy flour
• Stabilization of rice bran
• Multicolor food and snacks
• Meat and power bars
• Special energy bars with resin filling
• Marshmallow products
• Cereals and corn flakes
• Uniform size and shapes

5.Extrusion System Design

The power requirement for operating an extrusion system is a key design factor. Power
consumption is a complex function of properties of the material being extruded, extruder
design, motor type and extrusion conditions. Although there are unique aspects associated
with estimating power consumption for single- versus twin-screw systems, a general
approach for estimating total power consumption (pt) is:

pt = ps+VdΔP
where ps is the portion of the power consumption for viscous dissipation associated with
shear of the feed ingredients, and the second term of the expression is the power needed to
maintain flow through the barrel and die of the extrusion system.

The power needed for viscous dissipation has been expressed in terms of the Screw Power
number (Np), as follows:
Np ps
ρN3D4L

where the screw speed (N), screw diameter (D), screw length (L), as well as density of
extrudate (ρ) are considered. The magnitude of the Screw Power number is dependent on
the Screw Rotational Reynolds number (NRes).

Dry Extruder
The term ―dry‖ extrusion means that this type of extruder does not require an external
source of heat or steam for injection or jacket heating, and all product heating is
accomplished by mechanical friction. This type of extruder was developed initially for
processing whole soybeans on the farm. Dry extruders can process ingredients which have
a wide range of moisture contents, i.e. 10–40%, depending on the premixed formula. If the
ingredients have sufficiently low initial moisture content, drying of the product after
extrusion cooking may not be necessary. Moisture loss in dry extrusion is in the form of
steam flash-off at the die, and the extent depends on initial moisture in the ingredients and
product exit temperature. Dry extruders have the option of water injection during
extrusion.
Dry extruders are single-screw extruders with screw segments and steam locks (choke
plates) on the shaft for increasing shear and creating heat. When material moves through
the barrel, and comes up against these restrictions, it is unable to pass through, pressure
increases, and a back flow is created. Usually these restrictions are arranged in such a way
that they increase in diameter toward the die end of the screw to create more pressure and
shear as the product reaches the die. This build-up of pressure and temperature, together
with the shear stresses developed, plasticizes the raw materials into viscous paste or
puffed shapes, depending on the raw material. There is no basic difference between the
above and the ―wet‖ extruders, except that more shear occurs in dry extruders to create
heat

Dry extruders can be used for food, feed and recycling of food and feed byproducts. A
major use of the dry extruder is in preparing oilseeds for screw pressing of oil – primarily
soybeans and cottonseed, although they have been applied to sunflower, peanut and canola
seed processing. In the process, soybeans and cottonseed are extruded using a dry
extruder, followed by pressing in a parallel bar screw press to remove the oil.
Applications include processing of:
 cereals and starches
 snack foods and breakfast cereals
 textured vegetable protein
 enzyme inactivation in rice bran
 pet food
 aquaculture feed

6. Function of Extruders
1. Mixing: A variety of screws are available for all kind of extruders which can cause
the desired amount of mixing action in the extruder barrel during extrusion
processing.
2. Pasteurization and sterilization: Ingredients can be pasteurized or sterilized using
extrusion technology during processing of human food and pet food.
3. Protein denaturation: Animal and plant protein can be denatured by extrusion
cooking to make it more digestible for human and animals
4. Dehydration: During normal extrusion processing of feed or pet food moisture loss
of 4-7% can occur depending upon the initial moisture contents.
5. Enzyme in-activation: By using extruders different enzymes present in the
ingredients can be in-activated, like lipase enzyme in rice bran.
6. Expansion, puffing: Snack food, pet food or aquaculture feed density (i.e., floating
and sinking) can be controlled by extruder operation conditions and configuration.
7. Grinding: Ingredients can be ground to some extent in the extruder barrel during
processing of snack food, pet food and livestock feed.
8. Starch cooking (gelatinization): Extrusion cooking improves starch gelatinization
from all sources, i.e. tuber or cereal during the processing of food and feed.
9. Texture alteration: The physical and chemical texture can be altered in the
extrusion system during processing of food, pet food, aquatic and livestock feed.
10. Thermal cooking: The desired cooking effect can be achieved in the extruder
during processing of human food, pet food, aquatic and livestock feed.

7. Advantages of Extrusion
The principal advantages of the extrusion technology as compared to the other
traditional foods processing methods include:

1. Adaptability: An ample variety of products are feasible by changing the minor

ingredients and the operation conditions of the extruder. Extrusion process is
 remarkably adaptable in being able to accommodate the demand by consumers for
new products.
2. Product characteristics: A variety of shapes, texture, color and appearances can be
produced, which is not easily formed using other production method.
3. Energy efficient: Extruders operate at relatively low moisture while cooking food
products, so less re-drying is required.
4. Low cost: Extrusion has lower processing cost than other cooking and forming
processes. We can save 19% raw material, 14% labor, and 44% capital investment
5. Less space: Extrusion processing need less space per unit of operation than other
cooking system.
6. New foods: Extrusion can modify protein (vegetable and animal), starches (almost
all sources), and other food material to produce a variety of new and unique snack
food products.
7. High productivity and automated control: An extruder provides a continuous high
throughput processing and we can have a fully automated control for these
extruders.
8. High product quality: Since extrusion is HTST heating process, it minimizes
degradation of food nutrients, while improving the digestibility of proteins (by
denaturing) and starches (by gelatinizing). Extrusion cooking at high temperature
also destroys the anti-nutritional compound, i.e. trypsin inhibitors, and undesirable
enzymes, such as lipases, lipoxidases and microorganisms.
9. No effluent: No or very few process effluents are produced.

8. Extruded Products
8.1.1. Snack Foods:
Extrusion systems for the production of snacks are efficient, economical to run and result
in a product with built-in marketing flexibility due to long shelf-life and high bulk density
prior to frying or puffing. This technology makes it possible to add sweeteners and savory
spices without adding fat. With the help of the extrusion technology puffed snacks are
made from degermed corn or corn grits, wheat, rice or other cereals.

There are three types of snack food prepared with the help of the extrusion technology:
a) First generation snack:
In this category all the natural product used for snacking including nuts, potato chips and
popped popcorn are included.
b) Second generation snacks:
The majority of the snacks fall in this category. All the single ingredient snacks, simple
shape product like corn tortilla chips puffed corn curls and all directly expended snacks
are included in this category.
b) Third generation snacks:
In this category multi ingredient formed snacks and pallet made by extrusion cooking are
included.
The other extruded snacks are corn curls, onion rings, potato chips. The snacks made by
this type have high fiber content, high protein but lower calorie.

8.1.2. Breakfast Cereals:

Extruded cereals, are becoming a standard feature in many households. Rice crispies, fruit
flavored rings, chocolate flavored cereal flakes are some of the more commonly known
extruded cereals. Directly expanded extrusion-cooked breakfast cereals are prepared by
extrusion technology as cereal flours and grits are cooked with other ingredients and with
very low moisture content. The moisture content about 20%.The process may use single-
or twin-screw extruders.
In pellet-to-flakes extrusion-cooked breakfast cereals preparation, cereal flours and grits
are cooked with ingredients and at a moisture level in the range of 22–26%.This type
include twin screw extruder.

8.1.3. Baby Food:

Extrusion cooking is a new method for preparing baby foods. The type of extruders used,
the particle size of the rice flour, the moisture content of the rice water mixture, and the
extrusion conditions are some of the important factors influencing the properties of
extruded rice baby foods.

8.1.4. Extruded Biscuits:

Extrusion cooking have led to some biscuit-like products or pieces. Where these are
broad, flat and light in texture they offer interesting alternatives to plain crackers.
Extrusion cooking is attractive to the manufacturer because of the relatively low capital
cost of the plant and a great reduction in space required compared with conventional
biscuit-making equipment. Where the appearance of the product is not critical the
technique is particularly useful because difficulties of baking and drying are tackled in a
more efficient manner.

8.1.5. Ready to Eat Cereals:

This include the all the product which are directly consumed by the consumer. The best
RTE extruded product is fortified rice. Fortification of ready-to-eat rice with vitamins,
minerals, and flavor compounds is now a very common practice. The usual approach is to
add the minerals and more heat-stable vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, and pyridoxine
to the basic formula mix, extrude and then spray the more heat-labile vitamins such as
vitamin A and thiamin on the product after extrusion before drying.

8.1.6. Flaked products from Maize:

Extruded flakes are made from flours and other powdered ingredients that require no
preparation or pre-conditioning on site. Instead, they are fed directly to a twin-screw
extruder with a barrel extension for cooking. The ingredients are fed into one end of the
enclosed extruder barrel. At the same time, the liquid feed system meters process liquids
into the barrel. These ingredients are conveyed along the extruder barrel by the forwarding
action of the screw elements. During this process they are subjected to a combination of
heating, cooling, mixing and shearing.
Maize flakes are a product which is begin accepted by many as health food. Flakes can be
deep fried and are used extensively while making "chevada"- a popular snack item in
Maharashtra. Dry roasted maize flakes along with a small quantity of sugar are mixed in
milk and it becomes a health food especially for growing children.

8.1.7. Flaked products from wheat and rice:

These are traditionally made from whole wheat grain, which is conditioned with water to
about 21% m.c. and then 'bumped' by passing through a pair of smooth rollers set so that
the roll gap is slightly narrower than the width of the grain. Without fragmenting the
grain, bumping disrupts the bran coat, assisting the penetration of water. Flavoring
adjuncts - sugar, malt syrup, salt - are then added and the grain is pressure cooked at about
15 psi for 30-35 min. The cooked wheat, at 28-30% m.c., emerges in big lumps which
have to be 'delumped', and then dried from about 30% m.c. to 1618% m.c. After cooling to
about 43"C, the grain is binned to temper for a short time, and flaked (as for maize). Just
before flaking, the grain is heated to about 88°C to plasticize the kernels and prevent
tearing on the flaking rolls. The flakes leave the rolls at about 15-18% m.c. and are then
toasted and dried to 3% m.c.
In the toasting of the rice flakes, more heat is required than for making wheat flakes. The
moisture content of the feed and the heat of the oven are adjusted so that the flakes blister
and puff during toasting; accordingly, the discharge end of the oven is hotter than the feed
end.
The moisture content of the final product is 1-3% m.c. The process for making rice flakes
by extrusion resembles that described for maize and wheat, except that a coloring material
is added to offset the dull or grey appearance caused by mechanical working during
extrusion. The lack of natural color is emphasized if the formulation is low in sugar or
malt syrup as sources of reducing sugars that could participate in a Maillard reaction.

8.1.8. Sugar Coated Products:

The sugar containing extruded product is one of the most widely used extruded product.
This includes chewing gum, caramel, fruit gums, peanut brittle, Liquorice toffee etc.
These are the main product. The main reason behind making these kind of product by
extrusion technology is no wastage, no labor cost etc.
This kind of extruded product have different texture, different shape and different flavor
depending upon raw material used. The flavor generation is generally due to Maillard
reaction or Caramelization.

8.1.9. Puffed Products:

The puffed extruded product are popcorn, corn flakes, corn pops. Puffed grains are
popular as breakfast cereals and in the form of rice cakes. While it is easy to recognize
that cereals came from whole grains, the expansion factor for rice cakes is even greater,
and the final product is somewhat more homogeneous.
The puffable grains are maize, millet, oats, rice, sorghum, wheat, spelt etc.
8.1.10. Shredded Products:
Another extrusion application is the shredded cereal is the direct screw extrusion of the
shreds. In case of extruded biscuit the groups of continuous extruded strands are crimped
together and cut into biscuit that superficially bite size shredded biscuits.

8.2. Pet food and other animal feed product:

The extruded pet food includes food for the cat, dog, birds foods etc. particular containing
the amino acid taurine, as cats cannot thrive on taurine-deficient food. The wastes that
contains some toxic material can be as animal feed. It permit the better utilization of the
available cereals grains as well as vegetable and animal protein.

9. Area of use of Extrusion Technology:

Nowadays extrusion technology is widely used in the food industry, it is growing
very rapidly. Most of the products we consume today is the product of extrusion
e.g. Kurkure, puff corn etc. As we already covered the products made from
extrusion earlier in this paper, all the industries making those products comes under
area of use of extrusion technology.
Bibliography
1. Technology of Cereals by N.L. Kent : Breakfast cereals and other
products of Extrusion Cooking
2. Introduction to Food Engineering(5ed) By R. Paul Singh and
Dennis R. Heldman : Extrusion process for foods