A lot has happened since we wrote a rather negative Pressing News in 1998 about egg shells.  For one, the plant where we did our testing, Daybreak Eggs, finally bought a screw press from us in 2010.

Over 170 KP-6, KP-10, KP-12, and KP-16 presses have been sold for this application.  In fact, the new model KP-12 was developed as a specialty for egg shells.

The egg shells come from at least four basic sources:  egg inoculators, poultry hatcheries, egg graders, and egg breakers.  The inoculator market rejects infertile eggs, while the graders and breakers reject fertile eggs:  our presses do the same job either way.

The market has been given a boost by new regulations involving inedible egg material.  For example, infertile eggs destined for a hatchery can no longer be sold for human consumption.  A bigger impetus to the market has been regulations limiting the transport of inedible egg material.

The albumen recovered from the egg shells is a high value protein which is used for animal feeds.  Because of its value, it is used in specialty applications such as mink feed, pet foods, and piglet starter feed.  A significant amount is exported from the United States.

As a rule, the crushed egg shells are land applied to farm land where they improve soil properties.  Also, they can be used in specialty applications like litter in horse barns and riding arenas.

The alternative to using a screw press to separate albumen from egg waste is a centrifuge.  These are unpopular due to heavy maintenance requirements.  In addition, they do not crush the egg shells to the extent that occurs in a screw press.

For the last seven years Vincent has had a booth at the annual International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta.

MODEL KP-6 FOR EGG SHELL	PERFORATED SCREEN	NOTE PRESS CAKE

Issue 232