Shuliy onboard fish meal plant is a compact, fully integrated fishmeal production unit designed for 1–5 tons of finished fish meal per day. Unlike a full fish meal production line — which is a series of standalone machines — this unit combines cooking, pressing, drying, and oil separation in a single welded frame. It fits inside a ship’s engine room or a small workshop, and it produces the highest-grade meal because the fish are processed within hours of being caught.
For more than a decade, Shuliy has shipped these onboard plants to fishing fleets in Somalia, Chile, Indonesia, Morocco, Oman, and the United States. This page covers what the unit contains, how it works, the technical specifications, and the operating data buyers typically want before signing a purchase order.
introduction of onboard fish meal plant producitnon line
What Is an Onboard Fish Meal Plant?
An onboard fish meal plant is a self-contained fishmeal processing system that combines every step of the fish meal production line — cooking, pressing, drying, and oil separation — into a single compact frame. The compact design has three practical advantages over a full modular line:
- Small footprint — the unit occupies roughly 12–18 m², allowing it to be installed inside a fishing vessel’s engine room or a small workshop.
- Lower equipment cost — typically 35–50% less than a full modular line of the same daily output.
- Freshest possible raw material — when installed on a fishing vessel, fish are processed within 2–4 hours of catch, producing the lightest-colored, highest-protein fish meal (65–70% crude protein).
The Shuliy compact fish meal plant is the right choice for daily outputs of 1–5 tons of finished meal. For outputs above 5T/D, we recommend our modular fish meal production line , which allows independent capacity expansion of each processing step.
Technical Specifications of Compact Fish Meal Plant
| Section | Component | Material | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feeding | U-type screw conveyor | SUS304 shell (2.5 mm) + 3 mm screw shaft | Transport raw fish to cooker |
| Cooking | Jacketed cooking machine (Φ710 × 14 mm cylinder) | Q235B carbon steel jacket | Indirect steam cooking at 0.6 MPa |
| Pressing | Twin-screw press | 16MnR blades (14 mm) + SUS304 casing | Mechanical dewatering and oil expression |
| Drying | Steam dryer (coil type, Φ76 × 5 mm) | Q235B with 60 mm insulation + SUS304 skin | Reduce moisture to below 10% |
| Separation | Horizontal centrifuge (optional) | SUS304 contact parts | Recover fish oil from press liquid |
Optional add-on sections include:
- Fish cutting machine
- Fish oil separator
- Fish meal screening machine
- Spray tower deodorizing system
Working Process: Step by Step of Compact Fish Meal Plant
Step 1 — Feed raw material
Small whole fish are conveyed by a U-type screw conveyor directly into the cooking machine . For larger fish (over 30 cm) or other animal byproducts, a fish crusher pre-cuts the material into 3–10 cm pieces before the cooker. The screw conveyor shell is SUS304 stainless steel (2.5 mm thick) and the inner shaft is 3 mm SUS304, so it tolerates whole fish and rough handling without corrosion.
Step 2 — Steam cook at 0.6 MPa
An external boiler supplies 0.6 MPa saturated steam to the cooker jacket. Indirect steam heating keeps the combustion gases fully separate from the product, preserving protein quality. The cooker cylinder is built from Φ710 × 14 mm seamless steel pipe with a Q235B carbon steel jacket. Rotary joints, pressure gauges, and thermometers are mounted on the cooker for continuous monitoring. Cooked material exits at 90–95 °C.
Step 3 — Press and dewater
The cooked mass drops into a twin-screw press machine . The counter-rotating 16MnR screw blades (14 mm thick) compress the material against a conical discharge end, squeezing out 50–60% of the original moisture and 70–80% of the free oil. The pressed cake exits at 45–55% moisture. The press liquid is collected in a buffer tank and either routed to the optional oil separator or returned to the cooker as condensate.
Step 4 — Steam dry the cake
The wet cake enters the rotary drum of the fish meal dryer . The drum rotates slowly, and Φ76 × 5 mm seamless steel steam coils heat the inner shell to 130–150 °C. Scrapers continuously turn the cake to expose fresh surface area. A 60 mm aluminum silicate insulation layer, clad in 1.0 mm SUS304, holds heat loss below 3%. Moisture at the discharge is below 10%, the standard for feed-grade fish meal.
Step 5 — Screen and crush (optional)
For producers targeting pet-food or aquaculture-grade meal, the fishmeal screening machine removes oversize particles, and the fish meal crusher mills them to a uniform fine powder. Both machines can connect to a dust collector to keep the working area clean.
Installed Examples of 250kg/h or 500kg/h Onboard Fish Meal Plant
500kg/h compact onboard fish meal plant running in USA
Indonesia’s 50-ton-per-day fishmeal production line successfully put into operation
Small fish meal plant installed in Somalia
Onboard fish meal processing machine was shipped to Chile
Get a Quote for Your Onboard Fish Meal Plant
Shuliy has shipped more than 200 onboard fish meal plants to fishing fleets and small workshops in 50+ countries. Every quotation is built around your daily output, raw material, available space, and shipping destination. To receive a sized plant specification with itemized pricing, send us the following:
- Daily output target (1 T/D, 2 T/D, or 5 T/D)
- Raw material type (whole small fish, fish trimmings, mixed bycatch)
- Installation site (workshop floor area, or vessel cabin dimensions)
- Available steam source (we can supply the boiler if needed)
- Local grid voltage and frequency
- Shipping port for CIF quotation
For buyers who already run a full fish meal production line and want to add a small onboard unit for shipboard or pilot-scale use, our engineering team can adapt the configuration to match your existing equipment.
