BBD proposes a pilot biorefinery to produce DHA from mussels cooking water
Bio&Tech Bioeconomic Development (BBD), it is worth noting the name of this
young Galician company committed to the boosting of the bioeconomy in the
region to solve the environmental problems and improve social welfare and
employment. In this post, I will introduce one of the projects they are working
on: the development of a biorefinery at pilot scale for the integral
valorization of the water produced during the mussels cooking. I also will take
advantage to provide a brief general overview of the company. Let us start with
it.
The company
The main working area of BBD is biotechnology,
whose technological innovations applies in the fields of bioenergy,
agriculture, fishing and aquaculture. The general approach of the company is
based on two pillars: the use of the historical thought to enrich the future and
the application of the new knowledge through new technologies, methods and
systems to overcome the current challenges of the society. The Galician people
take roots in the sea, the fields and the forests of the region. BBD looks for
the sustainable development through a holistic and integrating vision of those
roots to solve environmental and socioeconomic problems.
Figure courtesy of BBD
The promoter of this venture is Vicente Vázquez,
a professional with a wide background on the pharmaceutical, aquaculture and
agricultural sectors, and great expertise in projects of productive bioeconomy
and waste valorization. In April 2015, he establishes the company with the aim
of developing two own projects: “Microbial production of DHA-omega3 from water
of mussels cooking” and “Vilas Verdes” (a bioeconomic model of rural
development). During 2016, at the time as it advances in its own projects, it
collaborates in activities of technical consultancy for the fishing
oleobiochemical sector. Moreover, it participates in the call of young
technological company NEOTEC of CDTI (Centre for the Development of Industrial
Technology) with the company project “Entrepreneurial Development of the
Circular Economy” being selected in the first stage among 500 participants.
The project “Vilas Verdes” is in a period of
protection of intellectual property rights and it is being supported by the
cooperation of entities from Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Its
purpose is to transform forestry and livestock wastes from the Northwest of
Spain and the North of Portugal into bioenergy and high quality food
contributing to the economic development of rural zones and the environmental
protection.
If you are interested in contacting BBD, you
can use the following e-mail address: bbd@bbdprojects.com.
Microbial production
of DHA-omega3 from water of mussels cooking
The Galician fishing industry generates
effluents with high organic load that can be used to industrially produce DHA (a
polyunsaturated fatty acid of the Omega-3 series that is essential for the
health), as well as other products of nutraceutical interest. BBD has developed
a project proposal underpinned on its own scientific know-how and that of its
partners and collaborators to reutilize the mussels cooking water through a
pilot plant that demonstrates the project and leads to the construction of a
biorefinery. This project, based on concepts of the circular economy and the
blue biotechnology, is proprietary. Below, you can find a summary tab of
industrial scale-up of BBD.
Location
of the pilot plant
|
Vilagarcía de Arousa or Vilanova de Arousa (Galicia, Spain)
|
Feedstock
|
Mussels
cooking water whose content varies seasonally depending on the physiologic
state of the mollusc.
The
soluble form is characterized by:
-
Production = 5 m3/hour.
-
Temperature = 90-100ºC.
-
Physical-chemical characteristics: salinity = 18 g/l; COD = 19,000-26,000
g/l.
-
Biochemical characteristics: glycogen = 2-4 g/l; soluble proteins = 2-4 g/l;
soluble amino acids = 4.5 g/l (2.4 g/l of taurine).
- Other
non-soluble products: high protein content.
|
Products
|
DHA,
biological proteins and other byproducts of interest to the food and
nutraceutical sectors.
|
Process
technologies
|
Conditioning
(physical-chemical pretreatment) and concentration of effluents, enzymatic
treatments, biotechnological treatments, growing of heterotrophic microalgae
producers of DHA and biological proteins.
|
Expected
capacities of processing and production
|
The first
semi-industrial stage considers a consumption of 120,000 litres per week of
concentrated mussels cooking water which will be deployed as of the fourth
year with a capacity of 126 ton/year of DHA (35%).
To
accomplish this objective, a conditioning pilot plant in a mollusc cooker and
a productive pilot plant of 76,000 litres will be built.
|
Partners
and collaborators
|
- BBD
- CSIC
- Biobide
- Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Tarragona
- BIOCOM
|
Current
state of the project
|
The
project is seeking external funding with the intention of starting as soon as
possible.
|
Acknowledgements: I would like to express my
appreciation to Vicente Vázquez for his kind cooperation in the preparation of
this post.
