Haarslev fishmeal and fish oil processing expert promotes waste-heat recovery at Iceland conference

Haarslev’s Birgir Karl Finnbogason visits Iceland frequently, both in his capacity as head of fishery applications and processes and, of course, to visit family and friends in his native country.

Recently, Birgir was happy to accept an invitation from the Icelandic Fishmeal Producers Association to speak at their annual Spring Conference, held in Reykjavik in in April.

On previous visits to fish processing plants in Iceland and other countries, Birgir had noticed that many were not maintaining the waste-energy quality needed for optimal recycling back into the plant. He was eager to discuss the benefits – and technical ins and outs – of doing so at the conference.

In Rejkjavik, Birgir outlined the principles behind energy recovery, where steam produced during the drying process can be harnessed to help power the plant’s evaporators and other units. His talk focused on the importance of recycled energy quality, where a high humidity-to-air ratio is critical. He also covered other key principles such as dewpoint values.

Together, the group calculated that a plant producing 1,000 metric tons of raw material per day could save up to 250 kg of fuel oil every hour by maintaining high energy quality in this way. It was quite a revelation for the conference participants!

If you’d like to learn more about energy recovery at your fish processing or rendering plant, Haarlev will be happy to help. Contact us any time at bkf@haarslev.com