Petrobras to use new technology to produce biodiesel from fish innards

Brazil’s Industrial Technology Core Foundation of Ceará (Nutec), an organization linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education of the State (Secitece), has developed a machine that can produce 25 tons per hour of liquid-fuel from fish innards. According to a government press release, a prototype of the machine, which will be called Máquina Biopeixe, has already been produced. The technology can transform 50% of fish innards into oil suitable for biodiesel production, said project coordinator José Tarcísio Costa Filho. The Ceará government estimates that the local fishing industry produces a monthly volume of 160,000 tons of fish.
Energy majors Petrobras and Nutec have entered into an agreement which stipulates that the institute will supply the company’s Quixadá biodiesel plant, which is also in Ceará.
Ekipar, a Fortaleza-based engineering firm, has been contracted to manufacture 10 machines by 2013 at a wholesale price of BRL72,000 (US$35,000) per unit. The prototype is to be put through simulation tests, according to Petrobras’ northeast supply manager Silvano Cavalcante. He added that Petrobras intends to discuss the acquisition of all fish oil produced in Ceará after the trials.
Making the equipment available to the local fishing community will be beneficial by adding to the industry’s production cycle, Costa said. (November 20, 2012)