Entoprot Bioreactor:
Scalable and Automated System to Rear Insect Larvae

Production costs must make sense

Any alternative protein source must compete against mass-produced poultry or pig meat in human nutrition. In the animal feed market insect protein competes against fish meal and soy protein. Entoprot has addressed the process economy challenge by

 

	Using black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae as the preferred production organism. Production is effective due to the short development time, only 12 days from egg to prepupa.
	Designing an insect growing device that can be automated with low cost. This is the first real bioreactor for growing fly (Diptera) larvae.
	Developing low-cost feed mixtures. We focus at consistent quality, good process economy, and high productivity. At present, the feed conversion rate is 30% on dry matter basis and our aim is to improve it further with modern biotechnology. Our aim is to be able to provide the most affordable animal protein in the market, i.e. press the price below fish feed.

 

What is special in EntoProt Insect Bioreactor Technology?

Entoprot focuses on easy handling, low manual work and high yield in their bioreactor setup. EntoProt’s unique patent-pending bioreactor design provides advanced properties, which are not available in any other commercial bioreactor systems.

Properties	Benefits
Continuous rotating movement of the feed	Homogenous conditions providing reliable and representative sampling from any part of the bioreactor Optimal and uniform nutrient and moisture conditions Growth of filamentous fungi and other harmful microbes is minimized
Efficient aeration system	Bioreactor can run with a high fill volume and capacity
Innovative internal support mechanisms for larvae which allows for extreme efficiency in terms of space usage.	Larvae are not crushed, a one cubic metre bioreactor can handle up to 700 L content of feed and larvae

 

Bioreactor performance and capacity

The Entoprot technology is genuinely scalable; the number of growing devices can be adjusted to the size of the factory. We have estimated that a 100 m² plant with a monthly capacity of 9 metric tons of dried larvae requires 30 m² for bioreactors, 20 m² for egg-laying adults, and 40-50 m² space for feed treatment and product processing.

 

What is needed for a complete insect factory?

Anyone starting insect rearing business has to consider two things: 1) what are the insect products that make profit for the company and 2) which devices and process steps are needed to make the products?

An insect factory cultivating and processing black soldier fly larvae needs 1) devices and tools for feed processing, 2) system for breeding, egg production and hatching to produce tiny larvae for the bioreactor cultivation, 3) bioreactor for mass cultivation of larvae and 4) downstream processing tools to make the final products. The figure below shows some options for these operations. Entoprot’s focus is on insect bioreactor development. However we develop labor saving solutions also for breeding and reproduction.