In 2017, Mennel Milling Company opted to expand their Fostoria OH Flour Mill; constructing an all-steel, seven-story building to house its 10,000-cwt. Per day D-mill dedicated to hard red winter and spring wheat.
Before the D Mill Expansion Mennel Milling Co.’s flagship flour mill in Fostoria had been operating three milling units rated at 18,000 cwts. per day total, at 90% utilization for several years. Making that happen required round-the-clock production seven days a week.
We were contacted by Buhler AG (Minneapolis MN) to supply 13 Positive displacement blower packages for the project. Applications included patent & clear flour transfers, screenings, flour-to-storage, flour-to-rebolt, air rinsing filter back wash blowers, and (2) 6” conveying line loadout blowers.
The company that is now Agricultural Commodities Inc. has been making flour on the banks of Conewago Creek, northwest of New Oxford, PA since the beginning of the 20th century, using belt-driven roll stands more than 100 years old.
In 2019, the company decided to build a modern five-story mill right next to the old mill. The new mill began production in June and reached its current capacity of 2,500 cwts.. per day early in September. The historic mill still is being used today and in the future may be converted to manufacturing bulk whole wheat flour as well as swinging to soft wheat flours.
The Bratney Companies (Des Moines, IA), served as the general contractor and millwright on the project. Bratney contacted us to calculate and build (7) Tri-Lobe Blower packages for their pneumatic systems; Bran, Red Dog, Flour to Re-bolt, bulk storage, load out, fluidizer, and filter back wash.
In 2017, Miller Milling decided to add a 10,000 cwts., hard red wheat milling expansion to their Saginaw TX Mill. Upon completion and start-up of their “C Mill”, total production capacity at the mill would reach roughly 24,000 cwts. per day – an increase of 70%.
Demand for flour regionally, starting with the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area was the driver behind the expansion.
Buhler AG, (Minneapolis, MN) one of the largest suppliers of milling equipment in the US, lead the project and was selected to design the C-mill and supply the bulk of the equipment. We were able to collaborate with Buhler and supplied 18 Tri-Lobe Blower Packages for the project.
In 2013, ConAgra Mills completed a modernized 14,000-cwt.-per-day expansion to their Oakland CA flour mill, totaling a $21.7 million dollar project. The intended purpose of the expansion was to meet the demand for quality flour products in the growing San Francisco/Oakland area.
We worked closely with ConAgra’s Engineering staff, calculating a total of (24) pneumatic conveying systems. To power all the pneumatic lines, a dedicated building was constructed to house the new Tri-Lobe blowers Packages, which ranged from 10 to 75 hp.
Upon ConAgra’s merger with Horizon Milling , which resulted in the formation of Ardent Mills LLC, ConAgra was forced to sell their Oakland CA Mill; which is now owned by Miller Milling Company.