Milling

Title: Flow Sheet of the Milling Process
Type: Diagram
Date: 1922
Source: The Story of Flour

Description: A flow sheet for the Pillsbury "A" Mill showing the equipment used to mill grain into flour.

Activities:

1. Near the bottom of the diagram, a wheel with a rope is used to power the mill. What is the power source that operates this mill?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: This mill is powered by water and the water turbines that generate power. The waterfall at St. Anthony is thes ource of this waterpower.
2. How is the waterpower brought to the mills from the turbines?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The power is transported by a rope connecting the turbines below the mill with the machinery on floors above,inside the mill.
3. Once the flour has been ground and is ready for use, where does it go to get packed into bags or barrels and sent to buyers?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The flour goes into another flour bin and gets packed into bags (8) on the third level of the mill. Packers measure and weigh each bag of flour to make sure it is the correct quantity. In earlier years, barrels were used more frequently to pack the flour for transport.
4. What might be the importance of a dust collector machine in a flour mill?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The dust collector removes the flour dust from the air. Flour dust can ignite easily, causing an explosion. The dust collector is designed to prevent fires and explosions and makethe mill a safer place to work. On this diagram, the dust collector is the machine directly between numbers 5(sifting) and 6 (re-grinding).