NORWAY – The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) has announced the development of the IsDeCa Batch Mixer, a new mixing technology designed to optimize product development and enable the integration of novel liquid raw ingredients in animal feed.
This innovation, which allows the incorporation of over 30% liquid ingredients based on fats and proteins, has been hailed as a breakthrough by its inventors.
Developed by a team at NMBU’s Center for Feed Technology (FôrTek) and led by Dejan Miladinovic, the center’s head, the IsDeCa Batch Mixer stands out for its ability to handle a high proportion of liquid ingredients.
The technology was developed with a €500,000 (approximately US$D 538,000) research grant from the Norwegian Research Council.
The IsDeCa technology has caught the attention of FeedTech, a Turkish feed machinery producer, which has recognized its potential and secured exclusive production rights.
According to Miladinovic, this technology is ready for commercial application and promises high product homogeneity and efficiency in feed and related industries.
One key application of the IsDeCa technology is in Norway’s salmon farming industry, which aims to increase production fivefold by 2050. Sustainable feed, rich in marine content, is crucial to this expansion.
The IsDeCa technology addresses the sector’s challenge of finite marine resources by incorporating byproducts such as hydrolyzed ensilage from commercial fishing and algae slurry into feed, reducing dependence on imported soy protein or fishmeal.
“The IsDeCa technology allows the incorporation of at least twice as many sustainable liquid-based marine ingredients compared to other mixing technologies,” Miladinovic explained.
This capability is essential for supporting the sustainability goals of Norway’s growing salmon industry.
In addition to its environmental benefits, the IsDeCa mixer offers significant economic advantages. Miladinovic noted that the production cost of the IsDeCa is at least 30% less than that of twin-shaft mixers, thanks to efforts to simplify its structural complexity while maintaining high operational standards.
Feedback from major mixer manufacturers indicated the need for industrial-scale verification of the IsDeCa technology. FôrTek at NMBU successfully conducted this verification, demonstrating the technology’s scalability from a 60-liter prototype to a 1,000-liter industrial machine.
Miladinovic added that mathematical models suggest similar upscaling methods could be applied to a 10,000-liter mixer, indicating the technology’s potential for even larger applications.
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