New oil extraction technology proposed by a Toronto processing firm is expected to create a higher-protein byproduct from the canola it says it plans to crush somewhere in Saskatchewan.
Bio-Extraction Inc. (“BioExx” for short) says its new technology will allow it to save the soluble proteins from canola meal that are lost to high heat in the conventional solvent-extraction process, which uses solvents to scrub nearly all the oil out of crushed canola seed.
It also said its technology is much more efficient at removing oil than the solvent-free “cold-press” or “expeller-press” process that leaves behind a meal with a higher-oil content, which BioExx said makes it difficult to separate out the meal’s protein.
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In its extraction process, it said, “virtually all of the oil is removed from the oilseeds, at or near ambient temperatures, which does not denature the proteins. As such, protein concentrate (from the meal) is expected to be less expensive to produce, available in higher yields and more valuable as a result of the improved solubility.”
BioExx said it plans to have a Saskatchewan facility operating in the second half of 2008, producing 17.5 million litres of crude, degummed canola oil per year for edible oil and biodiesel when it reaches full capacity, as well as 13,000 tonnes of animal feed and up to 11,000 tonnes of protein concentrate per year.
“We had originally planned a 25,000-metric ton facility for our first, but have decided we can confidently scale this up to 40,000 metric tons to offer improved and expedited returns,” said CEO Chris Carl in a release Monday.
That capacity would put BioExx’s proposed plant, at a location yet to be announced in Saskatchewan, on a much smaller scale than other proposed facilities.
Cargill and James Richardson International (JRI), for example, have each planned crush plants for the food oil market at Yorkton, Sask. with a combined processing capacity of about 1.7 million tonnes per year. Associated Proteins, which operates an expeller-press oil and “press-cake” meal plant at Ste. Agathe, Man., has a capacity of about 1,000 tonnes per day.
The company said it holds three patents on its low-temperature extraction process, which it plans to commercialize for use extracting “various active ingredients” from both organic and inorganic materials for use in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, industrial cleansing, food oil and biofuel markets.
BioExx today named Montreal engineering firm Mentra Life Sciences as its engineering firm and construction manager for the project, but hasn’t yet named a specific location in Saskatchewan.
