Our solutions for animal blood processing
GEA offers a broad portfolio of separation technologies that can be implemented as stand-alone units or pre-installed on skids.
Blood meal processing
Process line with GEA decanter for the production of blood meal from animal blood
Raw blood is collected, heated and sent directly to coagulation, dewatering and drying
Coagulation
- Blood is heated to 85–95°C for protein denaturation.
- The denatured proteins accumulate as suspended solids which allows decanter centrifuges for dewatering purposes in the next stage.
The thermal treatment ensures that the protein is stabilized, possible pathogens are inactivated.
Dewatering
To reduce the energy consumption in the subsequent drying stage, a decanter centrifuge is used to separate the blood meal from blood water. Depending on the dry substance of the feed, 35 – 45% DS are achievable. The water is recycled into the process to minimize product losses.
Drying
The solid material is then dried to achieve a stable moisture content of 6 – 10%. For this stage, ring or disk driers can be used.
The end product is a denatured, standard feed protein that can be used as an ingredient for i.e. livestock, aquacultures or as fertilizer due to its high nitrogen content.
GEA scope for blood meal processing
GEA supports blood meal processing with decanter centrifuges for the dewatering stage. Our GEA meat Decanter pro Series is engineered for efficient, robust, and cost-competitive separation of all kinds of animal by-products.
Animal blood plasma processing
Process line for the production of plasma powder from animal blood
The animal plasma is separated from the hemoglobin first and then concentrated before it is processed into spray-dried plasma powder which serves as a functional protein ingredient. Fractionation enables higher-value functional protein products.
Centrifugal Separation
High speed disk centrifuges separate the animal blood into:
- Plasma fraction
- Hemoglobin fraction
The plasma has a protein content of approximately 7 – 9 percent after centrifugation. The hemoglobin fraction can be dried and used as an ingredient for petfood or aquaculture feed.
Animal plasma processing
The plasma is concentrated via ultrafiltration to a protein level of approximately 25% and then spray-dried at controlled temperatures to preserve protein functionality. This is a pasteurization only, not a coagulation, to preserve the functional properties of the protein.
Spray-dried plasma powder from animals is a highly versatile ingredient, commonly used to enhance texture and functionality in food products. It serves as a gelling agent, emulsifier, stabilizer, and protein booster. Thanks to its excellent solubility, water-binding ability, and foaming properties, it is well suited for a wide variety of processed food applications.
GEA scope for animal blood plasma processing
- High-speed centrifugal separators for the separation of animal blood into plasma and concentrate (hemoglobin), stand-alone or installed on a skid
- Spray dryers for the production of high-quality plasma powders with properties and characteristics fine-tuned to meet your precise specifications
