Efficient drying of marine biomasses (WP3) will investigate and evaluate the potential for functional high-quality food graded products from three separate drying technologies:
- Vacuum freeze drying with microwaves – More efficient supply of thermal energy by microwaves can result in up to a four times faster drying process while product quality is like that of conventional vacuum freeze drying
- Rapid pulse drying – The technology enables a very short drying time (less than one second) and can be used for highly viscous and/or high fat products
- Conventional drying with heat recovery by heat pumps – the specific energy consumption of drying/evaporation can be reduced by 50-70%
A bit of context
Drying is a key technology for preservation and stabilisation of several products. For the food sector, the aim of drying is in most cases to extend the shelf-life by lowering the water content and thereby the water activity. At the same time, the product structure and appearance will be defined by the drying process. The raw materials used in SuMaFood (FPH and seaweed) are characterised by a high-water content that needs to be removed by drying. For the intended high-quality food powder, conventional technologies such as drum dryers or spray dryers are not suitable with respect to the desired product quality and an economic point of view due to long drying times.
Work package objectives
- Using microwave assisted drying - investigate and establish the drying dynamics for pre-processed, fish waste and seaweeds – to enable a faster drying process and possibly improved product quality due to absence of oxygen
- Develop and install a 20 kW rapid pulse drying prototype in a Norwegian fish processing plant. The prototype will be developed by SuMaFood partner Ekonek
- Demonstrate 50-75% energy reduction for seaweed drying with the use of heat pumps through lab-scale experiments
Work package lead
Efficient drying of marine biomasses – work package 3 is led by SINTEF.
Contact person
Ingrid Camilla Claussen
