Nebraska-based Rayeman Elements Inc. (REI) has developed and patented cubed distillers grains (DDGs). The company says this style of animal feed attains optimum cube integrity and nutritional value as compared to traditional forms of DDGs. More than five years in the making and $20 million in R&D, the company has also developed a new grain drying system that reduces the risks and costs associated with operating grain dryers.

The product was developed using the company’s new patented heating and cooling technology, patented screw geometry, compression and die design – the rest of the recipe is kept secret. This cubed cattle cuisine has several advantages over the current DDG form in that that cattle producers now have a feed product that is not lost to the ground or elements nor needs a binding agent.

Now onward good readers to the grain drying technology. REI says there are multiple risks and costs associated with grain dryers. For instance, biorefineries who produce DDGs must beware of fires, explosions, waste gas and toxic VOCs, and that’s not all. There are also costs from EPA permitting and insurance. However, says REI, all of these challenges are eliminated with their new grain drying and cooling technology.

The company says their technology is safer because it runs on electricity and only goes to temperatures of up to 250 degrees, eliminating the possibility of explosions due to the “natural gas/high heat/particles in the air” trifecta which often causes these devastating flare-ups. The capital costs of their technology, according to REI is less expensive than traditional products on the market and once operational, costs less to operate than conventional dryers. In addition, REI says VOCs are not emitted into the air eliminating in many states the need for EPA permitting while insurance is less expensive because the explosion and fire risks are significantly reduced.

REI adds, “It is technologically superior to current drying systems, as well as safer, more cost effective, and ecofriendly.”