From pilot to industrial scale fractionation of fish by-products by twinscrew extrusion for the production of biobased fertilisers

May 16, 2024 | NEWS, Scientific Publication

The SEA2LAND project is a 4-year collaborative Innovation Action (IA) funded by the EU in the frame of the Horizon 2020 programme. Based on the circular economy model, SEA2LAND promotes the production of fertilisers in the EU from its raw materials. This solution is expected to reduce the soil nutrient imbalance in Europe. The basis of the project is the regional production of bio-based fertilizers (BBF) from aquaculture and fishery by-products by developing dedicated demonstration pilots that can be replicated across Europe, boosting local growth.

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For the Atlantic area, the project aims at producing BBF’s from fish by-products1 using ThermoMechanoChemical (TMC) fractionation by twin-screw extrusion as innovative process. TMC process is a continuous process, working at low liquid/solid ratios and able to provide a solid and a liquid fraction 2,3. The use of TMC process for fertilizers production is an innovative approach that enables the recovery not only of products with an agronomic value but also of other components such as lipids to reach a ZERO-waste process. The process was developed on the fractionation of heads and frames of Steelhead trout’s (Oncorhynchus mykiss), provided by a fish farm, named Pisciculture d’Ispeguy, and located in the French Basque country. The pilot, implemented in the Atlantic area integrates the TMC extruder as principal technological unit but also pretreatment units and downstream processes. The TMC fractionation process was developed from lab scale at a feed rate of 5-10 kg/h to industrial pilot scale at a feed rate of 100-200 kg/h. Two fertilizing products were targeted for the Atlantic Area: i) a organic solid BBF highly composed in N, P and, K, and ii) a liquid organic fertilizer. Both were directly tested in pot trials without formulation and the solid BBF was retained for field trials. Moreover, the TMC process will generate as highly valuable co-product an oily phase, usable in the food and feed sectors4.

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References:

  1. Ahuja, I., Dauksas, E., Remme, J.F., Richardsen, R., Løes, A.-K. Fish and fish waste-based fertilizers in organic farming – With status in Norway: A review. Waste Management 115, 95–112 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.07.025
  2. Vandenbossche V.; Candy L.; Evon P.; Rouilly A., Pontalier P.Y. Extrusion. In: Green Food Processing Techniques Preservation, Transformation and Extraction, Elsevier, Academic Press, Ch10, 289-314 (2019) ISBN: 978-0-12-815353-6
  3. Evon P.; Vandenbossche V.; Candy L.; Pontalier P.Y, Rouilly A. Twin-screw extrusion: A key technology for the Biorefinery. In: Biomass Extrusion and Reaction Technologies: Principles to Practices and Future Potential. ACS Symposium Series eBooks. ACS Publications, 25-44 (2018). ISBN 978-0-8412-3371-3
  4. Coppola, D., Lauritano, C., Palma Esposito, F., Riccio, G., Rizzo, C., De Pascale, D. Fish Waste: From Problem to Valuable Resource. Marine Drugs 19, 116 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/md19020116

Laure Candy, Clément Chastrette, William Tapia, Christine Raynaud
 Centre d’Application et de Traitement des Agroressources (CATAR), INPT, Toulouse, France ; Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-industrielle, LCA, Université de Toulouse, INRAe, Toulouse, France