THE PRODUCTION OF CORN OIL. 7 
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 of 
water left in the . eee 
2 Fic. 6.—One type of machine used for expelling moisture from wet germs 
germs after passing and feed. 
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 orless. 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 1s 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 
