Milling & Baking News - May 3, 2022 - 37

The grain elevator is one of the largest
installed at a US flour mill.
that grinds hard red winter and hard red
spring, and a B mill that grinds hard red
winter and soft wheat. In the past, when
customers of the Tampa mill needed soft
wheat, the flour was railed in from other
Ardent Mills locations and transferred.
The mill structure was built with
enough space to accommodate a C mill
should the decision be made to increase
capacity.
Production at the mill is about 75%
bulk and 25% sacked. Two high-speed
Behn+Bates packaging systems, made by
Haver & Boecker, Oelde, Germany, have
been installed. An eight-spout carousel
packs all the white flour in 25- and 50-lb
bags. The four-spout line also does 25- and
50-lb bags of whole wheat and bran.
Mr. Neely said keeping the systems separate
helps prevent cross contamination
between white and whole wheat flour.
Flour is stored in 34 bulk bins with an
aggregate capacity of more than four days
capacity.
Bühler said the Port Redwing flour mill
incorporates the Bühler Mill E3 concept,
" the centerpiece of which is the Arrius
integrated grinding system. "
Features of the Arrius system include
superior grinding performance and
hygienic design, Bühler said. Additionally,
installation is easier thanks to what
Bühler describes as " plug-and-play form
factor. "
" Product quality is monitored, adjusted
and logged for traceability in real time
by the NIR multi online analyzer, " Bühler
said of the Mill E3 concept. " This system
reduces waste and increases food safety
transparency. Taking accurate measurements
within milliseconds, the NIR system
can be multiplexed to cover the whole
milling process. "
Equipment from Bühler in the cleaning
house includes Sortex color sorters with
RGB cameras (that measure red, green
and blue wavelengths). Bühler said the
innovation results in improved yield and
quality because of its ability to discern
even subtle color variations.
The A mill features 7 double-high and
18 single-high Arrius integrated grinding
systems, 8 purifiers, 6 eight-section sifters,
25 impact detachers, 11 bran dusters,
and 4 fiber dusters. The mill has a capacity
of 12,500 cwts/day.
The B mill features 3 double-high and
8 single-high Arrius integrated grinding
systems, 3 purifiers, 2 eight-section sifters
and 1 four-section sifter, 11 impact dehullers,
6 bran dusters, and 2 fiber dusters. The
B mill has a capacity of 5,000 cwts/day.
Virtually all flour
milled at Port Redwing
is shipped by truck
to a customer located
within a two-hour
drive of the mill (a
small quantity goes to
Miami).
Within the mill,
Ardent Mills has taken
online monitoring to a
new level.
" We have online
The A mill features 6 Bühler sifters.
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instrumentation for realtime
analysis, " Mr. Neely
said. " That's in at all phases of the operation.
We have tested online systems at a
few other mills, but the analysis is most
comprehensive at Port Redwing. "
By all phases, Mr. Neely means from
wheat receiving and blending to processing
and loading.
" You are able to see the whole process
from start to finish, tip to tail, " he said. " It
gears up the operators to making immediate
adjustments, enhancements, maintaining
consistency to our customers with the
online instrumentation. If they want to be
sure to maintain a specific protein and avoid
variability, it allows them to see exactly
what it is happening real time and make
adjustments up and down as necessary. "
Principal flour quality parameters
- moisture, protein and ash - are monitored
continuously, Mr. Neely said.
Within the mill, members of the Ardent
Mills team carry tablet computers that
allow them to track mill operations, including
the real-time monitoring system.
" Tablet computer automation is having
the controls at your fingertips, " Mr. Neely
said. " It's having the tools at point of use.
If you're on the sixth floor and you're having
a problem on another floor, and the
control room is on the second floor, you
are still able to correct the issue real time
from wherever you are. "
The tablets not only represent a step
forward for automation at the Port Redwing
mill, the devices also play a central
role in the mill's sustainability program.
" Anything we can do on a tablet, we are
MILLING & BAKING NEWS
37
ARDENT MILLS
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Milling & Baking News - May 3, 2022

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