Strengthening biosecurity on the sea
Aquachile needed reliable incinerators
When you think of biosecurity you may just think about medical or farm waste, however biosecurity is just important in the sea as on land. In the world of aquaculture, where millions of salmon thrive in sea cages often managed by local floating platforms, protecting against disease is a vital step to ensure you don’t see devastation to your production. AquaChile, the world’s second largest salmon producer, have made the jump to sustainable aquacultural incineration. Addfield Environmental Systems supplied 4 Thunder 1000 aquaculture incinerators to Chile, as part of AquaChile’s plan to implement sustainable disposal solutions for fallen salmon, ensuring that diseases aren’t spreading.
AquaChile, operating extensively in the pristine yet harsh waters of Chilean Patagonia, manages large scale sea fishery platforms. Committed to innovation, sustainability and biosecurity, they understand that fish mortalities must be disposed of responsibly and quickly to prevent the risk of spreading diseases and avoid even more loss. Onsite, AquaChile were operating using a generic, outdated incinerator that didn’t offer the reliability and efficiency that they were seeking. They needed an incinerator that was modern, environmentally friendly and dependable.
Why Addfield was the number one choice
Although over 7000 miles away from the UK, AquaChile chose Addfield to supply these aquacultural incinerators due to our global recognition and continuous support. The Thunder 1000 is a top loading marine waste incinerator, able to handle up to 1000kg of waste a day. This project was fully supported by our representative for the region, Ecoburner who worked extensively with our International Sales Expert, Eduardo and installed these machines.
The Thunder 1000 is designed purely for the additional requirements of aquacultural waste, benefiting from a sloped hearth so that the water from the high-moisture waste pools at the bottom of the slope, pulling the water away from the waste to ensure a complete reduction in volume by 97%.
Tailored engineering for maximum efficiency
Addfield machines are built to order and we have the capacity to add additional features onto a customers machines as per their request. AquaChile requested a manual agitator to ensure movement of the waste improves fuel efficiency during combustion.
As with all Addfield machines, being able to operate smoke and odour free is essential even in the middle of the sea. Addfield’s secondary chamber utilises a two second retention time where the gases from the primary chamber is held in the secondary chamber at high temperatures for at least two seconds to ensure complete destruction of harmful emissions. This initial deployment was four machines installed in early 2025, where two Thunder 1000’s would occupy one platform.
Exceeding expectations
An operator from AqauChile noted, “The Thunder 1000 units are efficient, reliable, and easy to operate on our sea platforms. They are a real step forward for sustainability and biosecurity in our operations.” David from Ecoburner stated, “Working with AquaChile has been an excellent experience. Their commitment to innovation and sustainability aligns perfectly with Addfield’s values.”
Installing a 5.5 tonne incinerator on a floating platform was a challenge that David from Ecoburner was up against due to the constant movement from the water and potential for seasickness, however David’s hard work and determination helped him persevere.
Future expansion of biosecurity solutions
Beyond this initial rollout, AquaChile plans to expand the deployments to additional sea platforms and are even in discussions for extending biosecurity measures to inland operations, potentially in collaboration with Chilean meat producers Agrosuper, using Addfield’s top of the range agricultural incinerators.
At Addfield, we’re proud to be at the forefront of this innovation that is helping to protect biosecurity on salmon farms. With more Thunder 1000s incinerators on the horizon to occupy the remaining platforms, and a potential to protect inland farms with discussions about future installations of Addfield agricultural incinerators.
