Preconditioning

INSTITUTE OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (KFUEIT)

Preconditioning
From the beginning, preconditioning with steam and water has been an important part of the
extrusion process.
It continues to be so today regardless of whether the preconditioner is associated with a single-
screw or twin-screw extruder.
There are many applications of extrusion cooked food products where preconditioning plays a
key role in the overall extrusion process. These products include direct expanded and flaked
breakfast cereals, pre- cooked pasta, textured vegetable protein, meat analogs, extruded bread
crumbs, continuous dough mixing, and third-generation snacks.
Preconditioning prior to extrusion may not be beneficial to all extrusion processes. In general,
preconditioning will enhance any extrusion process that would benefit from higher moisture
and longer retention time.
Preconditioning
The preconditioning process is really a simple one. Raw material particles are held in a warm, moist,
mixing environment for a given time and then are discharged into the extruder.
Good mixing is required to bring the surface of the raw material particles into contact with the added
steam and water. Long retention time is required to allow the processes of diffusion and heat transfer to
transport the moisture and energy from the surface to the interior of the particle.
This results in raw material particles being plasticized by the steam and water in the preconditioner
environment. In practice, the objective is to completely plasticize the raw material particles in order to
eliminate any dry core.
The principles of polymer science can be used to better understand the effects and benefits of proper
preconditioning. It is well publicized that the addition of water and heat to the types of biological raw
materials used in the extrusion process will plasticize or soften the materials.
The transition that occurs during this process is referred to as the glass transition. The temperature
around which this takes place is called the glass transition temperature, Tg
Preconditioning
Further heat and moisture addition beyond this temperature will yield to a transformation that
will render the material flowable. This transition is called the melt transition and occurs around
the melt transition temperature, Tp.
Benefits of Preconditioning
The benefits of adding preconditioning to the extrusion process have been recognized to be fourfold.
First, in the area of machine life, pre-conditioning will increase the life of wear components in the
extruder barrel by several times. Second, in the area of extruder capacity, preconditioning has proven
to increase the throughput of the extrusion system. Third, in the area of product quality,
preconditioning will assist in altering product textures and functionality. Finally, adding
preconditioning to the extrusion process enhances product flavor.
Unpreconditioned raw materials are generally crystalline or glassy amorphous materials. These
materials are very abrasive until they are plasticized by heat and moisture within the extruder barrel.
As already mentioned, preconditioning prior to extrusion will plasticize these materials with heat and
moisture by the addition of water and steam prior to their entry into the extruder barrel. This reduces
their abrasiveness and results in a longer useful life for the extruder barrel and screw components.
Benefits of Preconditioning
Extruder capacity can be limited by many things, including energy input capabilities, retention
time, and volumetric conveying capacity. While preconditioning usually cannot overcome the
extruder’s limitations in volumetric conveying capacity, it can significantly contribute to energy
input and retention time.
Retention time in the extruder barrel can vary from as little as 5 seconds to as much as 2
minutes, depending on the extruder configuration.
In contrast, average retention time in the preconditioner can be as long as 5 minutes. For some
high- moisture processes, the energy added by steam in the preconditioner can be as much as
60% of the total energy required by the process.
This reduces the mechanical energy required from the extruder and allows the rate to be
increased without adding a more powerful drive motor to the extruder
Benefits of Preconditioning
Product quality is often related to the physical form of the starch in the product. Products
containing starch that is over processed, such that they contain dextrinized starch will have
objectionable textural characteristics.
For example, in a product that is consumed dry such as an extruded corn snack, a product
containing dextrinized starch will tend to stick to the teeth and pack in the molars. In a product
that is consumed either rehydrated or together with water in some form such as precooked
pasta or breakfast cereals, a product containing dextrinized starch will have a slick or slimy
surface texture.
Benefits of Preconditioning
Quite often, the extrusion process is used to make a product that is similar to one made by a
longer, batch-cooking process. An example of this is breakfast cereals, some of which are
traditionally made in cooking processes that exceed 1 hour or more. During the long retention
time batch-cooking process, many “cooked grain” flavors are developed as a result of complex
reactions among the individual grain constituents.
While preconditioning with extrusion still does not have as long a retention time as the batch
process, the additional retention time it provides to the extrusion process assists in developing
these desirable flavors.
Preconditioning Hardware
Preconditioners are mounted in the extrusion process between the feeding device and the extruder
barrel. The feeding device provides a continuous flow of dry raw materials to the preconditioner. At the
discharge of the preconditioner, a diverter allows the operator to select to either bypass the
preconditioned materials to a waste bin or direct them into the extruder.
This allows the extruder operator to start the preconditioner first, then divert the preconditioned
material to the extruder when its conditions are optimized for extrusion.
Over the history of extrusion in the food and feed industry, two broad categories of preconditioners
have been applied. Atmospheric preconditioners operate at prevailing atmospheric pressure and are,
therefore, thermodynamically limited to a 100°C discharge temperature.
Pressurized preconditioners are sometimes used, but preconditioning at these elevated temperatures
and pressures has been associated with increased losses in essential amino acids such as lysine. In
addition, pressurized preconditioners are more mechanically complex and, therefore, cost more to
purchase and maintain. For these reasons, atmospheric preconditioners are used, almost exclusively, in
these industries.
PRECONDITIONER OPERATIONS
There are a number of operational variables over which the extruder operator has control when
operating a preconditioner. Typical on-line changes include dry recipe rate, steam addition rate,
and water addition rate.
Other changes that may require off-line modification of the hardware setup include beater
configuration and shaft speed. It is important to understand how changes in these parameters
impact the effectiveness of the preconditioning process.
As already mentioned, in order for the preconditioning process to be effective, it should hold the
raw material particles in a warm, moist environment where there is sufficient mixing to contact
the particles with steam and water. In addition, it should provide for sufficient retention time to
allow the moisture to completely penetrate the raw material particles.
PRECONDITIONER OPERATIONS
The amount of total moisture that can be added to the preconditioner is limited by the
characteristics of the raw materials. In order for the preconditioning process to be carried out,
the raw materials must remain flowable throughout the preconditioning process.
Materials that become very sticky when water is added, such as pregelatinized starches, cannot
be preconditioned at a moisture content greater than approximately 18% moisture. Other
materials can absorb up to 30% or even more moisture and still remain flowable.
PRECONDITIONER OPERATIONS
It is easier to measure retention time in terms of average retention time and retention time
distribution.
Average retention time (ART) is a general measure of the overall magnitude of the retention
time. It does not give any indication of the uniformity of treatment. Uniformity of treatment
time from particle to particle is indicated by retention time distribution (RTD). Of these two
measures of retention time, average retention time is the more important.
Average retention time is primarily determined by the degree of fill in the preconditioner and
the overall throughput. Preconditioners generally run with anywhere from 10% to 50% of their
free volume being occupied by the material being preconditioned.