BE 4380 Project

1. Black Soldier Flies as a
Consumable Protein Product
Ty Williams and Madison Dudley
BE 4380
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariellasimke/2019/12/01/black-
soldier-flies-are-the-new-superstars-of-sustainable-
aquaculture/#13453e093ac1

2. Introduction
● The use of insects and larvae as consumable products in a human diet is an ever-
increasing industry
● Black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) were of particular interest because of their
availability within the scope of this project and their nutrition composition
https://symtonbsf.com/products/black-
soldier-fly-prepupae
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996917308669

3. Goals
● The primary goal of the project was to take a reusable, biological material and convert it into a
consumable protein powder using a series of unit operations.
● Research and feasibility was taken into account when choosing a black soldier fly mash that is a
byproduct of Clemson University biodiesel production.
● The picture above depicts actual black soldier fly larvae that were used in Clemson biodiesel
production in 2015.
https://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/harmless-
fly-gaining-fame-among-fans-of-sustainability/

4. Considerations
● The primary considerations of this project were with regards to economic feasibility,
sustainability and environmental impact.
● Further analysis was done to gain concrete data on these considerations, but initially, it was
concluded that the use of a waste product as an input reactant was both sustainable and
economically advantageous.
https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance

5. Literature Review
● Previous research has been done on harvesting insects at various life stages for the sole
purpose of human consumption, which inspired some of our creativity for this project.
● Although most previous research proved that eating insects was safe, there are several
suggestions for further research in the category of retaining metals in the exoskeletons of some
insects, which could possibly prove harmful to humans to some extent.
○ Several physical alterations must be made to the initial state of the black soldier flies to reach a desirable
product

6. Design

7. Unit Operations
Unit Operation #1: 2 Stream Mixer Unit Operation
#2: Double Cone Dryer

8. Unit Operations
Unit Operation #3: Bead Milling Unit Operation #4:
Blending Tank

9. Evaluation of Design

10. Budget
● TPDC: $1,743,000
● No revenue generated
● Influent substance
values and additives
are not considered in
the total budget

11. Sustainability
● Obtaining what would normally be a waste and turned it
into a resource (e.g. fly mash)
● Black soldier flies naturally reduce carbon emissions by
feeding on bio-waste
● Fly input product is cost-free
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/defining-true-
sustainability/

12. Conclusion
● Black soldier flies stand out as an available option for a sustainable protein source
● Our group successfully designed a bioprocess using SuperPro software via 4 unit operations
● Ideally, this final product could be packaged, sold, and enjoyed on a commercial level
● The final product meets the main objective of the project: sustainability
● Further research includes:
○ Creating the design on a lab scale
○ Replacing the current additives with more natural and beneficial additives
○ Contacting the regional FDA office (Atlanta, GA) for procedures on FDA food approval

13. Timeline

14. References
1. Caligiani, A., Marseglia, A., Leni, G., Baldassarre, S., Maistrello, L., Dossena, A., and Sforza, S. (2017). “Composition of black soldier fly prepupae and
systematic approaches for extraction and fractionation of proteins, lipids and chitin.” Food Research International, Elsevier,
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963996917308669> (Apr. 23, 2020).
2. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (n.d.). “How to Start a Food Business.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA,
<https://www.fda.gov/food/food-industry/how-start-food-business> (Apr. 23, 2020).
3. “DOUBLE CONE VACUUM DRYER.” (2019). Concept Process Equipments, <https://www.conceptprocess.com/double-cone-vacuum-dryer/> (Apr.
23, 2020).
4. Falk, T. (2013). “How to harvest your own insects for food.” ZDNet, ZDNet, <https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-harvest-your-own-insects-for-
food/> (Apr. 23, 2020).
5. “Insect Farming.” (n.d.). Insect Farming - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics, <https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-
sciences/insect-farming> (Apr. 23, 2020).

15. References
6. Kim, T.-K., Yong, H. I., Kim, Y.-B., Kim, H.-W., and Choi, Y.-S. (2019). “Edible Insects as a Protein Source: A Review of Public Perception,
Processing Technology, and Research Trends.” Food science of animal resources, Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources,
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6728817/> (Apr. 23, 2020).
7. Nakach, M., Authelin, J.-R., Perrin, M.-A., and Lakkireddy, H. R. (2018). “Comparison of high pressure homogenization and stirred bead
milling for the production of nano-crystalline suspensions.” International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Elsevier,
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037851731830351X> (Apr. 23, 2020).
8. Sánchez-Muros, M. J., Barroso, F. G., and Haro, C. de. (2016). “Brief Summary of Insect Usage as an Industrial Animal Feed/Feed Ingredient.”
Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients, Academic Press, <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128028568000107> (Apr. 23, 2020).
9. “The Chemistry of Whey Protein.” (n.d.). www.ChemistryIsLife.com, <http://www.chemistryislife.com/the-chemistry-of-whey-protein> (Apr.
23, 2020).
10. Wang, Y.-S., and Shelomi, M. (2017). “Review of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) as Animal Feed and Human Food.” Foods (Basel,
Switzerland), MDPI, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664030/> (Apr. 23, 2020).