Fish drying companies put into use a new ozone generators from Gaia:
The smell from fish drying in Garður reduced
The other day two fish drying companies in Garður put to use
ozone generators for odor control from the environmental-friendly solution company Gaia ehf. They are meant to reduce disagreeable smell following fish drying, but good results with similar equipment which Gaia installed at the fish drying company GPG in Húsavík at the beginning of this year. It was Gaia´s first task. “One can say that at present we have three projects ongoing; i.e. starting the two odor control projects in Garður and expand further the system at GPG in Húsavík. This solution of ours has been welcomed by the market,” says Kristján Pétur Hilmarsson, sales and market manager for Gaia ehf., but the company was established last year.
The disagreeable smell decreased already the first day
“There are only a few days since we started the generator, but we find a great difference. This is working,” says Bergur Þór Eggertsson, assistant manager of Nesfiskur in Garður, when asked about the experience of the system. He says that smell-pollution from the fish drying has been a continuous problem and a long desire to get results in the struggle against it. “This has been a problem everywhere in the country, where there is fish drying and many people have demanded that fish drying was moved away from residential areas. In many places populated areas have been coming closer to these companies and demands have therefore increased that the companies should move somewhere else. It is therefore our great pleasure to be successful in decreasing the smell with this equipment,” says Bergur Þór.
Environmentally friendly and simple
The equipment from Gaia is built on oxygen-production system and ozone generator and it consequently only needs connection to water and electricity. The system is based on mixing ozone into air-flows to and from the production process. We place the equipment in various steps of the process and monitor the whole process by suitable sensors and controls. Ozone is environmentally friendly, disinfectant and has no effect on the products but experience shows already how effective this equipment of ours is in the struggle against smell pollution in fish drying, which has been a problem in many places where it has been near populated areas. We see possibilities in using the system further in the fishing industry and other food industry – in fact everywhere where much odor ensues the activities of companies. This is an environmentally friendly solution which needs no raw materials and therefore no extra operation costs.
Article from the paper “Sóknarfæri – frumkvæði og fagmennska í íslenskum sjavárútvegi,” September 2012
A revolution in the struggle against smell-pollution from fishing industries
“Briefly it can be said that we have had a revolution with this equipment. Fish drying is of course never completely without smell but since the ozone system from Gaia was fully initiated last autumn the smell has very much decreased, both indoors and outdoors. This is very important for our environment, but it is no less important to be able to reduce the smell for the personnel here indoors. I can allow me to say that this project has been successful,” says Gunnlaugur Hreinsson, manager at GPG fishing industry in Húsavík but the company was the first to introduce ozone odor control solution from the Icelandic environmental-friendly solution company Gaia ehf. which was established late in the year 2011.
Like black and white
Gunnlaugur Hreinsson at GPG says the discussion about smell-pollution from drying fish stress the importance of decreasing the smell as far as possible. “The smell varies much according to the qualities of the raw material each time but then it is possible to reduce it with the ozone systems. We have had ozone systems for years which was necessary to renew, but the comparison of the smell now and before we got the new equipment is like black and white. Besides struggling against the smell we use the ozone in tank washing and other washing water,” he says.
Kristján Pétur says that Gaia intends to focus on marketing for the fishing industry.
“Yes, we see both need and opportunities in the fishing industry. Both because how effective the ozone is to fight with bacteria and not less in the struggle against smell-pollution. This smell has sometimes been called “money-smell” in the fishing villages and we can help in reducing the discomfort caused by it on nearest populated areas,” he says.
Article from the paper Ægir – “Tímarit um sjávarútveg í 100 ár” 105 árg. 1. tbl. 2012