Executive Summary
Saudi Arabia’s broiler meat production reached approximately 1.3 million tons in 2024, a 12.9% year-on-year increase driven by Vision 2030′s food security mandate targeting 80% poultry self-sufficiency (GASTAT, 2024). This expansion places extraordinary demands on feed manufacturers, particularly during summer months when ambient temperatures routinely exceed 45°C. Al-Riyadh Feed Industries (name anonymized by client request), one of the Kingdom’s top five integrated broiler producers with an annual compound feed output exceeding 280,000 metric tons, faced a critical production bottleneck: pellet durability consistently degraded during the May-September heat season, falling to as low as 91-92% PDI (Pellet Durability Index) against the company’s internal benchmark of ≥96%.
In mid-2024, the company retrofitted two of its primary pellet mill lines with Hongyang HYPM-series ring die assemblies and matched roller shells. Within the first 90 days of operation through peak summer, the lines achieved a sustained PDI of 98.2% (±0.5), eliminated heat-induced choking events, and reduced ring die replacement frequency by approximately 35% compared to the previously used European-sourced dies. This case study examines the technical challenges of high-temperature pelleting, Hongyang’s engineering response, and the quantifiable results obtained.
Industry and Client Background
Saudi Arabia operates under one of the world’s most thermally challenging environments for intensive livestock production. The General Authority for Statistics reported that Riyadh province alone produced 359,700 tons of broiler meat in 2024, followed by Hail (295,000 tons) and Qassim (200,000 tons). Feed represents 60-70% of total broiler production costs, making pellet quality a decisive economic variable.
Al-Riyadh Feed Industries operates three feed mills located in the central region feeding 42 contracted broiler farms. Their primary broiler finisher formulation is a corn-soybean meal base with 3.0 mm pellet diameter, targeting a finished pellet temperature below 88°C at the cooler discharge. Prior to the Hongyang retrofit, the company struggled with a recurring seasonal pattern: as ambient temperature climbed past 38°C (typically by early May), pellet mill motor loads became erratic, die surface temperatures spiked above 95°C, and finished pellet PDI fell below the 96% threshold required to maintain acceptable feed wastage rates at farm level.
The economic consequence was measurable. Industry data from the International Poultry Research Institute indicates that every 1% drop in PDI correlates with an estimated 0.4-0.6% increase in feed wastage in pan-feeding systems — translating to approximately 1,100-1,700 additional tons of feed lost annually at Al-Riyadh’s scale when PDI dipped seasonally.
The Challenge: Extreme Heat and Pellet Quality Degradation
Broiler feed pelleting operates within a narrow thermodynamic window. Optimal mash conditioning temperature ranges between 75-90°C, with die exit temperatures ideally held to 80-90°C. Above 95°C, thermal degradation of heat-labile vitamins (A, D, E, K) and synthetic amino acids (lysine, methionine) accelerates measurably. Simultaneously, the Maillard reaction between reducing sugars and free amino acids begins to bind lysine into indigestible complexes, effectively reducing available nutrient density (Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 2019).
At Al-Riyadh’s mills, the summer heat introduced three compounding failure modes:
1. Cooling capacity insufficiency: Incoming ambient air at 45°C reduced the counterflow cooler’s thermal gradient, preventing pellets from reaching the target discharge temperature of 5°C above ambient. Pellets exiting too warm retained residual moisture and softened during storage.
2. Die thermal runaway: At sustained 45°C ambient, the pellet mill’s heat dissipation capacity was exceeded. Die surface temperature climbed beyond 95°C within the first 45 minutes of continuous operation, triggering an automatic shutdown on the mill’s PLC safety interlock.
3. Roller shell slippage: Elevated temperatures reduced the effective friction coefficient between the roller shell surface and conditioned mash, causing intermittent roller slippage, uneven material distribution across the die face, and localized die wear patterns.
The net result: pellet PDI fell to 91.2% (measured by ASAE S269.4 tumbling method), feed wastage on farms increased by approximately 2.8%, and the plant was forced to reduce throughput by 15-20% during the hottest hours to avoid shutdowns. Ring die service life — already strained by silica content in locally sourced corn — dropped from an average 3,500 operating hours in winter to 2,200-2,500 hours in summer.
Hongyang Solution
Following a technical audit conducted jointly with Hongyang’s application engineering team, a three-component retrofit was implemented across two pellet mill lines:
1. Precision Ring Die with Optimized Compression Ratio
Hongyang specified a 3.0 mm diameter ring die with a compression ratio of 1:12.5 — calibrated for the client’s specific broiler finisher formulation (corn-soybean meal base with 3.2% added fat and 14.5% target post-conditioning moisture). The die material was X46Cr13 (DIN 1.4034 / Chinese 4Cr13) martensitic stainless steel, processed through vacuum hardening at 1,050-1,080°C followed by double tempering at 220-240°C to achieve a uniform surface hardness of HRC 52-54 across the entire die track.
Critically, Hongyang’s gun-drilled die hole technology — employing CNC deep-hole drilling with ±0.02 mm positional tolerance — produced hole-to-hole diameter uniformity measured at ≤15 μm variance. This level of precision minimizes differential flow resistance across the die face, a key variable in maintaining consistent pellet density under fluctuating thermal conditions. Each die hole inlet was finished with a tapered lead-in chamfer at 60° to reduce material entry resistance, effectively lowering the specific energy consumption (kWh/ton) required to initiate pellet formation.
2. Matched Roller Shell Assembly with High-Temperature Bearing Configuration
Hongyang supplied a matched set of roller shells manufactured from 20CrMnTi alloy steel with a carburized case depth of 2.0-2.2 mm and surface hardness of HRC 60-62. The corrugation pattern was designed with a 1.2 mm groove pitch and 0.8 mm groove depth, optimized to maximize material gripping in low-friction, high-fat broiler mash.
The roller assembly incorporated high-temperature sealed spherical roller bearings (SKF Explorer-class equivalent, rated to 120°C continuous operating temperature), replacing the standard bearings that had exhibited grease breakdown and premature spalling during summer production runs. A labyrinth-style multi-stage seal with PTFE lip elements prevented fines ingress, a common failure vector when hot, dry mash particulate infiltrates bearing housings.
3. Die-Roller Gap Calibration Protocol
Hongyang’s technical team established a die-roller gap of 0.40 mm (±0.05 mm), measured cold with a feeler gauge at six equidistant points around the die circumference. This tighter-than-standard gap specification partially compensates for thermal expansion at operating temperature: at 85°C die surface temperature, the X46Cr13 die expands radially by approximately 0.08-0.12 mm (coefficient of thermal expansion ≈10.5 × 10⁻⁶/K), effectively closing the cold gap to a near-optimal 0.28-0.35 mm at operating conditions. This pre-compensation approach prevents the gap from becoming excessively wide during summer runs, which would otherwise reduce compressive force on the mash and compromise pellet density.
Production Data and Results
Performance data was collected over a 90-day evaluation period (June-August 2025, peak summer) across both retrofitted lines, with the previous summer’s performance (June-August 2024) serving as the baseline.
| Parameter | Baseline (2024 Summer) | Hongyang Retrofit (2025 Summer) | Improvement |
| Average PDI (ASAE S269.4) | 91.2% | 98.2% (±0.5%) | +7.0 percentage points |
| Die surface temperature (steady-state) | 94-98°C | 85-89°C | -9°C average |
| Pellet discharge temperature (post-cooler) | 36-40°C | 29-33°C | -7°C average |
| Heat-induced automatic shutdowns (per month) | 8-12 events | 0 events | 100% elimination |
| Throughput reduction during peak heat (vs. winter) | -18% | -3% | 15 percentage point recovery |
| Ring die service life (estimated, projected) | 2,200-2,500 hrs | 3,400-3,800 hrs (projected) | +52% projected |
| Specific energy consumption (kWh/ton) | 18.7 | 17.2 | -8% |
| Feed wastage at farm level (% of delivered feed) | 4.8% | 1.9% | -60% reduction |
| Fines content at farm delivery (<2 mm sieve) | 8.5% | 1.7% | -80% reduction |
The most significant operational improvement was the complete elimination of heat-induced automatic shutdowns. During the 2024 summer, each shutdown event required approximately 25-35 minutes of downtime — including die cleaning, restart, and material purge — resulting in an estimated 15-20 hours of lost production time per month. With zero shutdown events recorded during the 2025 evaluation period, net available production time increased by approximately 8%.
Pellet durability improvement delivered downstream economic benefits that exceeded expectations. The reduction in fines content at farm delivery from 8.5% to 1.7% directly translated into lower feed wastage in automated pan-feeding systems. At the client’s production scale of 280,000 tons annually, this 60% reduction in farm-level wastage represents an estimated 8,100 tons of feed saved per year — equivalent to approximately $2.8 million at regional feed prices (USDA GAIN Report, 2024 Saudi feed cost benchmark).
Client Assessment
The plant production manager provided the following assessment during the post-evaluation review:
The Hongyang ring die and roller assembly performed beyond our technical specifications. Our primary concern entering the summer was whether any ring die — regardless of origin — could maintain consistent pellet quality when ambient air entering the cooler measured above 45°C. The 98.2% PDI we achieved exceeded not only our summer target of 96% but matched or exceeded our winter baseline. The elimination of die-related shutdowns alone justified the investment. The reduction in specific energy consumption was an unexpected bonus.
— Production Manager, Al-Riyadh Feed Industries (Central Region Mill)
The company’s procurement director additionally noted that Hongyang’s ring die pricing was approximately 35% below the previously used European supplier, while achieving equal or superior service life under Saudi summer conditions. The combined effect — longer die life, lower purchase cost, reduced energy consumption, and higher pellet quality — produced a calculated return on investment within 7.5 months.
Conclusion
The Al-Riyadh case demonstrates that precision-engineered ring die technology from Hongyang can meet the demanding requirements of high-temperature broiler feed production in the Gulf region. Three technical factors contributed to the outcome:
1. Material science execution: Vacuum-hardened X46Cr13 alloy at HRC 52-54 with CNC gun-drilled hole uniformity represents the quality ceiling achievable for broiler feed ring dies at current metallurgical technology levels.
2. Thermal-aware gap calibration: Pre-compensating the cold die-roller gap for thermal expansion at operating temperature is a low-cost, high-impact practice that feed mills in hot climates should adopt as standard operating procedure.
3. Matched system integration: The ring die, roller shell, and bearing configuration were designed as a unified thermal management system rather than as independent components — an approach that distinguishes application-engineered solutions from commodity die supply.
For feed manufacturers operating in the Middle East, North Africa, and other high-ambient-temperature regions, the Al-Riyadh results provide a reference benchmark: 98.2% PDI with zero heat-induced shutdowns is achievable at commercial scale with correctly specified ring die technology.
Data sources: GASTAT Livestock Statistics 2024; IMARC Group Saudi Arabia Compound Feed Market Report 2024; USDA GAIN Report SA2024-0002; Journal of Applied Poultry Research (2019) Vol. 28, Issue 4; ASAE Standard S269.4; Hongyang internal application engineering data, June-August 2025 evaluation period.
Post time: May-30-2026
