Upgrading Broiler Feed Pelleting in Erbil: How an Iraqi Feed Mill Stabilized Output with the Hongyang SZLH420

Executive Summary

Iraq’s feed grain sector has expanded in step with population growth and a steady shift toward poultry in household protein consumption (USDA FAS, Iraq: Grain and Feed Annual, 2023). For feed mills in the Kurdistan Region, the challenge is less about demand than about execution: how to hold throughput stable, keep pellet quality consistent, and control wear costs on machines that run near their limits in a hot, dusty climate. This case study describes a privately owned broiler feed mill near Erbil that replaced an aging, belt-driven pelleting line with a Hongyang Feed Machinery SZLH420 ring die pellet mill, supported by a two-layer steam conditioner and a compression-ratio-matched ring die selection. Twelve months after commissioning, the mill sustains 10–12 t/h on 3.5 mm broiler feed, reports pellet durability index (PDI) above 96%, and has extended ring die life to roughly 900 hours, within the 800–1,200 hour benchmark considered good practice for corn-based poultry diets. On-site engineering support during commissioning and a die-selection dialogue built around local corn quality were decisive in the customer’s decision to standardize its next line on the same equipment.

1. Market Context: Poultry Feed Demand in Iraq

USDA FAS reports describe a feed sector growing with demographics. In its Grain and Feed Annual for marketing year 2023/24, the FAS post in Baghdad observed that “feed grain production and consumption will continue to increase as population, consumer demand, and preference for poultry increases”; domestic wheat used as feed was estimated at about 680,000 metric tons for that year. Earlier FAS analysis (MY 2020/21) put total corn consumption at roughly 720,000 metric tons, noting that yellow corn in Iraq is mainly used by poultry feed mills.

Poultry production is geographically concentrated. FAS Poultry and Products Annual data (2010) recorded roughly 140 broiler farms in Erbil Governorate with about 6,785 metric tons of production capacity, part of a larger cluster across Sulaymaniyah and Duhok in the Kurdistan Region. Industry reviews (IndexBox, 2026) likewise place the main domestic feed milling clusters around Baghdad, Babil, Basra, Diyala, and the Kurdistan Region, ranging from simple grain-blending operations to fully equipped pellet plants.

Three structural pressures shape every Iraqi feed mill:

• Import-led ingredient supply: Corn and soybean meal arrive from Brazil, Argentina, the Black Sea region and Turkey, with shipment-to-shipment variation in moisture, starch behavior and mycotoxin load. Mills must adjust grinding and conditioning parameters to match each cargo.
• Heat and dust: Summer temperatures in Erbil routinely exceed 40°C. Steam conditioning systems, bearing lubrication and pellet cooling all degrade when ambient conditions are harsh.
• Quality expectations: Feed typically accounts for 60–70% of broiler production cost, and pellet fines erode feed intake and feed conversion. PDI below 92% is widely treated as unacceptable for broiler rations.

2. Customer: A Family-Owned Broiler Feed Mill in Erbil

The subject mill is a family-owned operation in an industrial zone on the southern edge of Erbil, supplying compound broiler feed to roughly forty contract farms in Erbil and neighboring Duhok governorates. Before the upgrade, the mill ran a 2010-vintage pelleting line built around a belt-driven press rated at 8 t/h. In practice, throughput swung between 6 and 8 t/h; pellet durability drifted, fines returned to the press reached 8–12%, and ring die life averaged only about 500 hours on the plant’s corn-heavy formulation. Summer bearing failures interrupted production several times each season, and die changeovers took most of a working day.

Management defined five requirements for the replacement line:

1. Stable throughput of at least 10 t/h on 3.5 mm broiler finisher pellets.

2. PDI above 95%, with visible fines below 5% at the farm gate.

3. Ring die life of at least 800 hours under local ingredient conditions.

4. Rapid die changeovers and reliable operation during 40°C+ summers.

5. A supplier willing to provide on-site commissioning and responsive after-sales support.

After reviewing proposals from Chinese, Turkish and European suppliers, the mill selected the Hongyang SZLH420 package.

3. Solution: The SZLH420 and a Conditioning-First Design

The core machine, Hongyang’s SZLH420 ring die pellet mill (specifications as published on ringdies.com case pages), is built around a 110 kW main motor driving a 420 mm inner-diameter ring die with 120 mm effective working width at 287 rpm. The die is matched with a compression ratio between 1:12 and 1:14, a range suited to corn-based broiler formulations where moderate friction and good pellet compaction must be balanced. Gear transmission replaces the belt drive of the old line, eliminating slippage and tension drift that had caused throughput fluctuation.

Conditioning was designed around the two-layer steam conditioner. Mash passes through two conditioning stages with a total retention of 90–120 seconds at 90–95°C, using steam at 0.2–0.4 MPa; conditioner discharge moisture is held at 16–18%. Retention above 60 seconds and temperatures above 80°C are associated with improved starch gelatinization and pellet durability, and the two-layer design gives the mill flexibility when corn moisture varies between shipments.

Die selection followed a structured dialogue with Hongyang’s engineers: 3.5 mm hole diameter for starter and finisher rations, 4.0 mm for grower, each with compression ratios tuned to the local corn-soy formulation rather than copied from a catalogue. The line is completed by a counterflow cooler and a rotary screener that returns fines to the conditioner.

4. Commissioning: On-Site Engineering from Day One

Hongyang dispatched a two-engineer commissioning team to Erbil for ten working days. The scope was practical: align the drive train, calibrate the steam pressure-reducing station, set conditioner steam flow and temperature profiles, and establish roller-to-die gap settings for each die. The team trained the mill’s eight operators in die changeover procedure, lubrication scheduling and daily wear inspection, and documented start-up checks in a bilingual manual.

Commissioning followed a staged load ramp: initial runs at 60% of rated load to settle the drive and conditioner, then progressive increases as pellet quality was verified on the Holmen tester. Two adjustments during the ramp illustrate the value of engineering presence. First, the conditioner steam valve was re-tuned when die pressure built faster than expected on high-moisture corn, cutting energy consumption and preventing die overheating. Second, the compression ratio for the grower ration was revised from 1:13 to 1:12 after trial runs showed adequate PDI with less motor load. Neither change required hardware replacement, only engineering judgment applied on site.

5. Results: Stable Output, Better Pellets, Lower Wear Cost

After twelve months of operation, the mill’s records show:

• Throughput: sustained 10–12 t/h on 3.5 mm broiler feed, against a nominal range of 6–8 t/h on the old line.
• Pellet durability: PDI consistently 96–97% by Holmen tester, versus low-90s before the upgrade.
• Fines: return rate below 3%, compared with 8–12% previously.
• Ring die life: approximately 900 hours average across six dies, within the 800–1,200 hour benchmark for corn-based broiler feed.
• Specific energy: roughly 15–20% lower per ton of finished feed at the pelleting stage.
• Downtime: monthly unplanned downtime below 5 hours, largely confined to scheduled maintenance.

The feed mill manager attributed the improvement to three factors: the two-layer conditioner’s ability to hold 90–95°C reliably, the compression-ratio-matched die selection that balanced throughput and durability, and the gear drive’s steady speed, which removed the throughput drift of the old belt system. Farmers supplied by the mill reported fewer dusty pellets at the feeder pan, and feed conversion records across the contract farms improved modestly, consistent with published evidence linking excessive fines to degraded feed conversion (Thomas & van der Poel, 1996).

6. Why Matters: A Replicable Path for Iraqi Feed Mills

Iraq’s feed sector is expanding capacity to serve a growing poultry industry, and the Erbil installation shows that mid-sized mills do not need oversized, capital-heavy lines to meet modern quality expectations. The SZLH420′s 10–12 t/h working range matches mills serving one to two million broiler placements per year, the dominant scale in the Kurdistan Region’s fragmented but fast-modernizing poultry sector.

For the customer, the most durable value was the supplier’s conduct: an engineering team that commissioned the line on site, a die-selection dialogue grounded in local corn quality, and after-sales support that treated wear parts as production assets rather than catalogue items. Hongyang’s approach reflects a simple principle: equipment is only as good as the installation, the match, and the follow-through.

References

1. USDA FAS. (2023). Iraq: Grain and Feed Annual, GAIN Report IZ2023-0002.
2. USDA FAS. (2020). Iraq: Grain and Feed Annual, GAIN Report IZ2020-0001.
3. USDA FAS. (2010). Iraq: Poultry and Products Annual.
4. IndexBox. (2026). Iraq Animal & Pet Feed Market Analysis.
5. RingDies.com. Hongyang SZLH420 Ring Die Pellet Mill — Product Specifications and Case Studies.
6. Thomas, M., & van der Poel, A.F.B. (1996). Physical quality of pelleted animal feed: Criteria for pellet quality. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 61(1–4), 89–112.