Robotics Produce protein sources more sustainably

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KUKA Deutschland GmbH

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In Denmark, larva breeding is combined with state-of-the-art robot technology: the company Enorm Biofactory uses the black soldier fly and the precision of Kuka's hygienic oil robots to produce a climate-friendly protein source.

In a factory hall in the heart of Denmark, 50 kilometers southwest of Aarhus, millions of fly larvae will soon be feeding through their food in countless boxes, while the containers are continuously moved, stacked, emptied, and filled by quietly humming Kuka robots in the Hygienic Oil (HO) version. This scene unfolds at Enorm Biofactory, the largest and first commercial insect farm in Scandinavia.

It is possible that factories like this will be widespread worldwide in the near future. Many experts believe that insects represent the protein source of the future. The United Nations predicts that the world population will grow to about 9.7 billion people by 2050. Additionally, as the average income in many developing countries rises, a significant increase in meat consumption and thus protein demand is expected.

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In light of climate change and increasingly scarce resources, an effective circular economy and sustainable food production are of great importance. In this context, the black soldier fly could play a significant role, as all activities at Enorm are focused on it.

"Just one gram of black soldier fly eggs equates to 30,000 larvae," calculates Carsten Lind Pedersen, CEO of Enorm. "And they gain weight so quickly that 55.12 pounds of eggs become 462.2600lb of larvae—within just twelve days. No other animal can match that."

Jane Lind Sam, COO of Enorm, also emphasizes the huge potential of the insect for sustainable protein production: "The fly larvae can feed on almost any organic material. That's why we can feed them with waste products from the Danish food industry that would otherwise have been disposed of—and turn them into high-quality feed protein for livestock."

Enorm produces two products from the fast-growing larvae: insect meal as a substitute for highly digestible protein feeds for fish, poultry, pigs, and pets. Additionally, Enorm produces immune-stimulating insect oil that can be used as a dietary supplement for various animals. "Ingredients based on black soldier fly larvae, responsibly produced, have a significantly lower CO2 footprint compared to other animal protein sources," says Pedersen. Thus, insect production is a prime example of a sustainable circular economy, where the environment and climate are barely burdened: "In processing, the larvae are simply dried - the only thing left is water." Furthermore, part of the larvae is used for the production of new eggs—a perfect cycle.

Move heavy containers

The production process itself is also sustainable because it is maximally efficient, according to Pedersen, and brings two major challenges: On the one hand, a complex ventilation system is required in the factory because the process generates a lot of heat. "But above all, we need to fill, empty, and stack very quickly, sometimes with very heavy containers," says Pedersen.

Finding the best solutions for this was the task of Rolf Tange and his team. Tange is CTO of the Sealing System Group, one of the leading providers of packaging and palletizing solutions, and has relied on Kuka's innovative and reliable technologies for decades. "We knew that Kuka's flexible Hygienic-Oil robots would be perfect for Enorm's insect farm," says Tange. "In the first stage, the larvae grow in smaller boxes, 11.81 to 15.75 inches in size," he describes the process. After seven days, they are then transferred to larger boxes, measuring more than a square meter. And at the latest with these, the robots are an indispensable help compared to any human: "There's 110.23 pounds of liquid food in there, and then 70,000 larvae are poured on top," Tange says. "Even the fittest worker couldn't handle that weight."

Minute-specific process

For the six KR Quantec PA HO from Kuka, this poses no problem: every seven seconds, they fill a new box, which amounts to 500 boxes per hour—and this for an operating time of 20 hours a day. The remaining four hours of the day are used for cleaning the facility. "Without Kuka's robots, our production would not be possible," says Carsten Pedersen. Especially since he must rely on them one hundred percent, as the entire process is programmed down to the minute: "If there were a problem with one of the robots, we would have only two to three minutes to resolve it—otherwise, the entire process would come to a halt. But fortunately, that hasn't happened yet."

In principle, the plant runs by itself, Pedersen explains, as the entire process is completely automated: "In fact, we actually only need two employees to control everything." Their task is largely limited to monitoring the systems.

Lubricants meet high demands of the food industry

The fact that the facility runs so reliably is also thanks to the system partner Sealing System. "We have often and successfully worked with Kuka technologies for the food industry," says Kim Kildahl Poulsen, Sales Manager at XIO – Intelligent Farming, Sealing System Group. He particularly appreciates Kuka's large portfolio in the segment of Hygienic-Oil robots. With their special H1 lubricants in all axes, they meet the high demands of the food industry throughout the entire process chain. If the lubricants come into contact with food, they are harmless for humans and animals.

Despite the extensive experience in the food industry, setting up the facility at Enorm was also somewhat new territory for Sealing System, as Poulsen admits: "In an insect farm, we are dealing with living matter. We hadn't experienced that before. Since the food for the larvae consists of 70 percent water, there is a humid environment in the factory. However, this poses no problem for the specially developed Kuka robots."

Poulsen had expected everything to work well in the end: after all, he and his team were able to test important processes in advance—with Visual Components. The Finnish company, acquired by Kuka, specializes in software solutions for 3D simulation in factory planning. "With the software from Visual Components, we were able to simulate the speed and rhythm at which the robots and conveyor systems need to move. That was very helpful." The programming concept Kuka.AppTech also proved to be practical, enabling efficient and simple robot programming in the shortest possible time.