Industrial Volumetric Feeders (Food Processing)

Volumetric feeders are the simplest most economic feeder choice available and have many applications in the food processing industry. In volumetric feeding, the dry bulk material is discharged from a hopper with a constant volume per unit of time by regulating the speed of the feeding device. Feeding accuracy is dependent on the uniformity of the material flow characteristics and the bulk density of the material. Screw feeders, both single and twin screw, are the most common volumetric feeder types. However, Bulk Solids Pump feeders (BSP feeders) and vibratory feeders can also be used with volumetric controls. Typical applications for volumetric feeders in the manufacture of processed foods include gain-in-weight batching, feeding of seasonings into a coating drum and feeding pre-blends into a mixer or extruder. Most volumetric feeders can be converted into gravimetric / loss-in-weight feeders by adding a scale or load cells and upgrading controls.