A new benchmark in grinding efficiency
Bühler unveils Granulex® 5 series – the next generation hammer mill platform.
Bühler announces the launch of the Granulex® 5 series. After a decade of research, the new hammer mill series packs in many small innovations that together add up to a big boost in performance. Its groundbreaking modular system offers significant energy savings and flexibility while maintaining the highest product quality and safety standards.
Grinding is one of the most energy-intensive process steps in many food and feed plants. In today’s competitive markets, rising energy costs are a serious issue. A big challenge faced by businesses that rely on grinding is, therefore, how to make more with less. Greater energy efficiency is one of the prime benefits of the new Granulex® 5 series, with 10% reduction in energy consumption per ton, and in some cases the reduction can be as much as 30%.
The new hammer mill also has the highest throughput ranges, improved granulation profile, and an operator-friendly design. Capacity is increased by 10% and the time required for screen changeovers is reduced by 50%. The new solution can also be connected to Bühler Insights to enable 24/7/365 data-based decision making.
Revolutionizing the hammer mill
The hammer mill is among the most widely used grinding solution in industrial food and feed processing plants, valued for its flexibility and adaptability. “It is not easy to revolutionize an old machine category,” says Dean Ekkaia, Product Management Director Value Nutrition at Bühler Group. “But after a decade of quiet innovation, gathering the best concepts and then testing them extensively, we have created the best possible grinding system available.”
Over the past 10 years the new Granulex® 5 series team have invested thousands of hours in testing and experimenting with different designs. In addition, the development has been carried out in close collaboration with customers, including extensive lab testing in three specially set up labs in the US, China, and Switzerland.
“It is a truly global machine, tested and developed in our international labs as well as running commercially in line at customer plants. Every part has a great deal of data behind it, proving the concept and the performance of each component,” says Reto Bischof, Head of Research & Development Value Nutrition at Bühler.
360 different configurations
One of the most important characteristics of the groundbreaking concept is its modularity. The Granulex® 5 series can be configured to fit specific applications and process requirements in any country, for coarse or fine grinding, all with an optimized set-up for each customer.
The system also keeps maintenance costs low. All variants of the Granulex® 5 series operate with the same inventory of parts that can be applied in different machine settings. Overall, the set-up is designed to allow for 360 different configurations and can be adapted to the most diverse products and customer targets.
A proven concept
Mixed feed producer AGRAVIS, based in the Münster, Germany, is already benefiting from the advanced features of the new series.
“The way we operate has changed in recent times due to rising energy costs,” says Heiko Almann, Managing Director at AGRAVIS. “The Granulex® 5 series delivered significant energy savings compared to our current hammer mills. The Granulex® 5 also benefits our operations with reduced maintenance time and optimized granulation.”
Ready to connect
The Granulex® 5 series is ready to connect to Bühler digital applications, enabling customers to view griding line data anytime, anywhere and analyze trends and track problems. But most important of all, the data transparency and preventive information provided through digital solutions provide insights that support customers in improving processes.
The Granulex® 5 series is part of Bühler’s ongoing development and restructuring of the entire portfolio. The aim is to provide a more transparent, customer-focused offering for the grinding industry.
“With 150 years of experience in grinding and other key engineering disciplines we will provide new and customized solutions for our clients operating in rapidly changing markets,” says Ian Roberts, CTO at Bühler Group. “The launch of the Granulex® 5 series is a major milestone in this development.”
About Bühler
Bühler is driven by its purpose of creating innovations for a better world, balancing the needs of economy, humanity, and nature. As a relevant solution partner for the food and mobility industries, Bühler is committed to have solutions ready to multiply by 2025 at the latest that will reduce energy, waste, and water by 50% in its customers’ value chains. Billions of people come into contact with Bühler technologies as they cover their basic needs for food and mobility every day.
Two billion people each day enjoy foods produced on Bühler equipment; and one billion people travel in vehicles manufactured using parts produced with Bühler technology. Countless people wear eyeglasses, use smart phones, and read newspapers and magazines – all of which depend on Bühler process technologies and solutions. Having this global relevance, Bühler is in a unique position to turn today’s global challenges into sustainable business.
Bühler contributes to safely feeding the world and is doing its part to protect the climate, producing solutions that make cars, buildings, and machinery more energy efficient.
Bühler invests up to 5% of turnover into research and development. In 2021, some 12,500 employees generated a turnover of CHF 2.7 billion. As a Swiss family-owned company, Bühler is active in 140 countries around the world and operates a global network of 103 service stations, 30 manufacturing sites, and Application & Training Centers in 24 countries.
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