THE PRODUCTION OF CORN OIL. 



agglutinated into small round balls, is passed through thrashers, 

 which break up the balls, and then passed again through the driers 

 until the moisture has been sufficiently reduced. 



After all the germ material has been separated in the manner 

 described and washed free from starch it is run through moisture 

 expellers to take out some of the excess water. The machines used 

 are the same as those employed for expelling moisture from the feed 

 material. Two types are in use. One consists of two vertical 

 plates operated separately and so attached to separate shafts that 

 the space between the plates at the bottom is much less than at the 

 top. The wet material is caught in this constriction and the excess 

 water squeezed out. 

 (Fig. 6.) The other 

 type is constructed 

 on lines similar to 

 an oil expeller. It 

 consists essentially 

 of a worm revolving 

 in a steel barrel 

 through which the 

 material travels. 

 The pressure is ad- 

 justed by means of 

 a steel cone at the 

 forward end of the 

 machine. (Fig. 7.) 

 The quantity o f 

 water left in the 

 germs after passing 

 through these ma- 

 chines depends largely on the pressure applied. After the excess 

 moisture has been removed, the germs are conveyed to the driers, 

 which reduce the moisture to 5 per cent or less. These driers are also 

 used for drying feed. 



In hominy mills the germs are also dried, but apparently not to 

 such a degree. For this purpose there is in use one main type of 

 drier which has been revised from time to time. (Fig. 8.) The 

 oldest form consists of a long cylinder or drum about 5 feet in diam- 

 eter and 28 feet long. On the inside of this cylinder, around the 

 circumference, are parallel steam pipes 4 inches in diameter, and the 

 whole apparatus slowly revolves. The steam enters through an 

 opening in the central shaft, while the material to be dried enters 

 at one end and travels slowly down the length of the machine, as 

 the farther end is somewhat lower than the forward end. The 

 material rolls and tosses between the hot steam pipes, and by means 



Fig. 6. — One type of machine used for expelling moisture from wet germs 

 and feed. 



