Supercritical Omega-3 oil from production by-products
Aquaculture is currently the fastest-growing food industry in the world. However, the future development of aquaculture is in jeopardy because it still uses natural catch resources (fish oil) as the primary source of feed raw materials (feed for farmed fish). The volumes of natural catch have not changed for the last 20 years, and now a situation has arisen in which natural catch can no longer supply the aquaculture industry with the fish oil necessary for fish farming. For aquaculture to develop in the future, it is necessary to find an alternative food source that would not create additional competition over the already limited resources (fish populations in the seas and oceans, arable land, the first sugars of plant origin, etc.). Based on the scientific articles published by the project submitters and the analysis of the scientific publications, the researchers of the Institute of Energy Systems and Environment of RTU, under the leadership of asoc. professor Krišs Spalviņš, offer single-cell oil obtained from production by-products (an analogue of fish oil) for the event “Support for the improvement of the technology transfer system”. The technology is a set of equipment that carries out the pre-treatment of production waste, cultivation of microorganisms in the substrate (substrate-treated waste), processing of the obtained biomass of microorganisms, extraction of single-cell oil (product) from biomass and product quality control.
In the first round, which lasted for 6 months, a technical-economic feasibility study of oil extracted from fermented waste products was carried out, and a commercialization strategy was developed. The preliminary research results indicated that the developed technology and product have commercialization potential. Knowing the potential licensees of the technology, several manufacturing companies whose by-products generated during their core activities are suitable for producing single-cell oil showed interest in purchasing this technology. The results obtained during the technical-economic feasibility study, commercialization strategy and experimental validation justify the promotion of this technology for commercialization, for the realization of which it is necessary to develop the technology to the level of TRL6.
According to the decision of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, the supervisor of the project, it was allowed to continue the Project (the 2nd round of the project) and grant support for the activities necessary for the realization of the project. The following measures will be implemented in the 2nd stage of the project implementation: Planning, conducting and analyzing experiments in laboratory conditions; Creation and development of a technology stand in laboratory conditions; Technology prototype development; Analysis of technology life cycle, compliance with principles of cleaner production, sustainability and bioeconomy; Making improvements to technology; Development of technology transfer measures, including updating the economic justification according to the developed technical solution; Measures to strengthen intellectual property rights; Attracting licensees.
PROJECT FUNDED BY:
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
PROJECT DURATION:
Phase 1: 29 January 2018 – 28 October 2018
Phase 2: 29 October 2018 – 28 March 2021
PROJECT BUDGET:
Phase 1: 27,777.78 EUR
Phase 2: EUR 274,500.00 EUR
SCIENTIFIC LEADER OF THE PROJECT:
Krišs Spalviņš
PUBLISHED:
29.01.2018.
