Structural and functional models of technological processes that implement the basic layout schemes of industrial equipment for the combined feed production were used in the research. The mathematical apparatus of vector analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis became the basis of algorithms for determining the set of factors that affect the production line efficiency. As a result of the research, a methodology for evaluating the efficiency of technological equipment of an industrial line for the combined feed production was developed and justified. On the example of studying the technological equipment for mixing mixed feeds, the invariant parameters and design features of mixers that improve the basic optimization indicators (equipment reliability, quality of the finished product and specific energy consumption) were determined. The article forms a system of relative efficiency indicators of various types of mixers in the industrial process line, develops calculation formulas for determining the relative efficiency indicators of equipment, and calculates the group coefficient of factor efficiency. The authors developed and implemented a method for calculating the synergetic efficiency coefficient of an industrial technological line for the production of combined feed, taking into account both the choice of the method of production organization and the optimal choice of the type of technological equipment. The results obtained led to the creation of a universal methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of industrial and technological lines for combined feed production, which was tested in real industrial production in the Russian Federation and, in particular, in the Orenburg region and proved its usefulness.

The aim of the authors of the research work is to develop and build a stochastic model of the actual process of grinding feed raw materials, taking into account the zoning of the grinder working chamber. The modeling is based on the means of the correlation random functions theory, the theory of automatic control, engineering applications of operational calculus and Markov processes. As a result, the authors have developed and verified a stochastic model of the air-product layer action in the conditional zones of the working chamber and at the transition boundaries of conditional zones in the form of transfer and correlation functions, taking into account the diversity of factors influencing the efficiency of the feed raw stuff grinding process. Experimental studies have confirmed a fairly good adequacy of the models to the real process with optimal loading of the grinding chamber. During the modeling, random processes in the working chamber of the grinder are classified as Markov processes of reproduction (grinding, reducing the size of grains to the required size) and death (regrinding, walk through the holes of the sieve). The authors' method of determining the parameters of the airproduct layer in the conditional zones of the grinder working chamber and evaluating the boundary effects of transient processes has been many times used in the modeling of technological processes and feed production systems. Checking the model for adequacy to the real process was carried out in a series of laboratory and production experiments, the results of which formed the basis of engineering and technical solutions to the problem of grinding efficiency in feed preparation. Experimental samples of grinders (closed-type hammer mills with sieves) with structural changes, fixed by the Russian Federation patents, have been tested and successfully operated in the farms of the Orenburg region.

One of the main directions of the feed manufacturing industry development is the improvement of the output product quality that ensures its efficacy in modern agricultural production. Some international experience in using the essential microelements in the form of nanopowders in the diets of farm animals has been gained. The article is devoted to the development and justification of a technical solution to the problem of dispensing ultrafine (nano) powders in the industrial production of combined feeds. The authors carried out theoretical and experimental studies of the influence of the conditions of functioning of industrial-technological equipment on the properties of several nanopowders of micro metals. The parametric model of the proposed pneumatic dispenser of bulk nanomaterials allows taking into account various structural and technological changes in the dosing process during the preparation of feed mixtures. The author presents a methodology for calculating the oscillatory system of a pneumatic dispenser, including an annular membrane with fixed edges, based on the equivalent replacement of a system with distributed parameters (membrane) with a system with lumped parameters, which allows replacing the oscillatory model with a translational motion model. An engineering-mathematical model that describes forced membrane oscillations, the dispenser oscillation system and the behaviour of the ultrafine material in the working chamber was constructed on its basis. Practical implementation of the results made it possible to obtain a prototype of bulk ultrafine materials dispenser.

This paper aims at finding a solution to the main problem of feed production: increasing the efficiency of the production process while improving the quality of products. The article aims to develop an adequate mathematical model of the technological process of combined feed industrial production. The authors have developed the theoretical background for describing this process on the basis of flow models within the framework of the original “three effects” concept, a stochastic model has been created taking into account the preservation of the exergy balance of the technological system. The main research tool is the apparatus of system analysis and the theory of random processes. An engineering-mathematical calculation of the parameters of the constructed model was performed, verification of the stochastic model of the technological process of preparing compound feeds in laboratory conditions was carried out. As a result of the research, the authors established the possibility of controlling the stochastic feed flow in all subsystems of the production technological system, outlined ways to solve the problem of increasing the efficiency of feed production by reducing energy costs and improving the output product granulometric composition.

The article is devoted to the problem of dosing and incorporation of ultrafine (nano) trace metals into mixed feed. Nanomaterials (in the form of ultrafine powders and suspensions) differ significantly in their properties and effects from substances in the form of macroscopic dispersions and continuous phases. The authors present the experimental findings of the impact of the operation conditions of mixed feed production on ultrafine powders of trace metal properties. A review of the dosing means used in feed preparation and analysis of their technical and technological parameters showed the need to develop the authors' design of a dispenser of ultrafine liquid-like materials. A hallmark of the presented dispenser is the availability of two isolated pneumatic chambers, a solenoid valve in the supply tank and a pneumatic shut-off valve at the end of the rod that provide increased operating speed, improved dosing accuracy and automatic introduction of ultrafine materials into the processed feed mixture. The article provides a dynamic analysis of a pneumatic actuator; for this purpose, the authors determined the operating effort on the rod when moving the membrane center to a predetermined setpoint, the response time of the pneumatic actuator, the time of filling the membrane chamber to a predetermined pressure, as well as estimated the working force stock on the membrane rod when it is deflected by the magnitude of the stroke. Based on the system of engineering analysis, the technical characteristics of the dispenser of ultrafine liquid-like materials were obtained, which allowed the authors to create a prototype that is being tested at the training and production facilities of the Orenburg State Agrarian University.