Technology validation for by-product processing

We guarantee legal and environmental requirements of technologies and compliance with technical and market requirements

We guarantee compliance with the end product technical and market requirements (specified by customers) as well as legal and environmental requirements of prototypes obtained using the technology studied under optimal process conditions.

To do so:

• The most suitable technology is selected to achieve the product, defining the transformation process and technical criteria and requirements for the viable and safe implementation of the process on an industrial scale.
• The process is verified at pilot plant level where the product is identified as valid for the application required by the customer.
• Verifying that the product achieved using the technology complies with the legal and environmental requirements in force.

Benefits for your company / product

• Enables selection of the most suitable technology to achieve a value-added product by comparing technologies from environmental and technical-economic points of view.Determining and regulating the transformation process quantifying process variable magnitudes.
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) of the process selected.
• Full characterisation of by-products and end value-added product.
• Determination of technical and market degree of compliance set out by the customer as well as legal requirements.
• Increasing food safety of the end product.
• Improving energy efficiency of the process (enabling economic savings) and reducing environmental impact.
• Reducing investment and decision-making risks.

Implementation

Transfer to customer: 6-9 months Involving the following:

• Joint definition with the customer of technical and market requirements and identification of legal and environmental requirements to be met by the process and end product.
• Pre-selection of suitable technology/technologies and testing to produce prototypes, quantifying optimal magnitudes of processing variables for each technology selected.
• Characterisation of initial by-product and different end value-added products achieved by each technology, studying the degree of processing sustained throughout the process.
• Analysis and consultation with the customer regarding compliance with technical, market and legal requirements already established.
• Definition of a road map for industrial scaling-up of the technology/technologies selected.

Applicable sectors

Applicable to the entire food chain.

Some recent success stories

• Assessment of Pulse Combustion Drying technology for:
  • drying of okara by-product with added fish oil as raw material for animal feed.
  • drying of whey by-product as raw material for animal feed.
• Assessment of Microwave technology for drying vegetable and whey by-products.
• Assessment of Pulse Combustion Drying, Microwave and Forced Air technologies for drying lemon pulp for human feed.

Experience is a plus

With over 15 years of experience in the recovery of food by-products, at AZTI we:

• Work together with companies to reduce economic, technical and legal uncertainty related to creating a business, providing advice on the most suitable technologies in each case and recovery of by-products generated.
• We have laboratories specialised in the characterisation of by-products as well as a pilot plant equipped with traditional and state-of-the-art technologies to validate the production of value-added products.
• We have an expertise in developing new foodstuff and giving advice to companies to define an optimal process for by-product processing to achieve value-added products.
• Our databases on regulation currently in force are regularly updated and ensure compliance with legislation associated to transformation processes and end product.
• We have forged alliances with engineering firms and suppliers for industrial scaling-up of the transformation process defined with both managers and potential end users of end value-added products.