Fish Processing

 

A Fish Story You Can Believe

One ingredient common in animal feed is fish due to its dense source of protein and other nutrients they provide. In fact, almost one-third of fish caught in the world’s oceans are ground up for animal feed. Fishmeal can be made from almost any type of seafood, but it is generally manufactured from small marine fish that contain a high percentage of bones and oil. Typically these fish are not suitable for direct human consumption.

In most animal food operations, the raw meat is delivered to a site where it is weighed, tested, cooked, ground into meal, and dried prior to packaging. During the drying process, evaporating water and fumes are produced
which need to be removed. Air handling systems equipped with hoods, ducting, and fans are often installed to remove these fumes. The removed air is then vented outside or passed through a filtration system to remove particulates and odors.

Challenge

The customer asked AAF to develop a solution to a material loss problem they were experiencing.They discovered the existing fume exhaust system they were operating was picking up a portion of their product from the drying section. Their current exhaust system was routed to a seawater scrubber making recovery of the product impossible. The customer needed a filtration solution to recapture their valuable product and one that could be integrated into their existing plant layout and process.

Solution

After reviewing the plant layout and operating conditions, AAF recommended a stainless steel RotoClone® W be installed upstream of the seawater scrubber. Because it can operate on hot, moist gas streams, the RotoClone® W is ideal for drying applications. Additionally, the RotoClone® W acts as both a fan and scrubber in a single compact unit. Any product that was captured by the unit can be recovered and recycled to the front end of the dryer. The RotoClone® W is the ultimate cost effective solution requiring minimal maintenance and no downtime for filter cartridge change outs.

Benefits

The customer now has a working filtration and air handling system that prevents loss of valuable product. Because of the compact size of the RotoClone® W, the unit was able to be integrated into their existing plant layout and piping network without costly changes to their operation. Also, because this unit could be installed upstream of their existing seawater scrubber, the demand on the scrubber was greatly reduced. The plant can now increase production volume without the need to spend additional capital to expand their scrubber system.