Pioneering Sustainable Agri-Systems:
The EntoExplore Research Facility
In partnership with the University of Leeds, Entocycle has designed and installed The EntoExplore - the UK’s first bespoke black soldier fly (BSF) bioreactor research facility. Housed in two customized shipping containers at the National Pig Centre in Yorkshire, this state-of-the-art demonstrator bridges the gap between lab experiments and industrial-scale production.
The facility enables world-class researchers to develop protocols for decarbonizing livestock production by trialling currently non-permissive waste streams, such as pig manure, as insect feedstock. By providing a robust, automated, and climate-controlled environment for rearing trials, The EntoExplore is delivering the vital scientific evidence needed to unlock the growth of the UK insect farming industry and transform agricultural waste management.
In August 2022, Entocycle secured a tender with The University of Leeds (UoL) to create a bespoke black soldier fly (BSF) Bioreactor research facility for the National Pig Centre in their research farm in Yorkshire, supporting research projects like the InSafe and DELIVER programs that are backed by the UK’s national funding agency, UKRI-BBSRC.
Entocycle designed, developed and installed the state-of-the-art insect-rearing demonstrator facility, named The EntoExplore. The lab-scale unit facilitates vital research to develop the protocols and codes of practice to unlock the growth of the UK insect farming industry and its potential to decarbonise livestock production.
This dedicated insect rearing unit enables researchers to perform black soldier fly rearing trials, evaluating an array of feedstock and rearing conditions in a robust, well-monitored and controlled environment - Essentially investigating the use of pig effluent as a BSF feedstock.
The entire unit is designed to be housed in two customised shipping containers, with a capacity of 1000kg feedstock input, 100 crates per batch.
The design of the facility commenced in March 2023, the container build started in June, ground works on site began in September and the facility was commissioned and signed off in March 2024, one year after the design was started.
Entocycle’s innovative approach was praised by the team at UoL, claiming that we were “highly professional.” And the facility is “making a crucial contribution to the legislative development of the insect industry in the UK.”
Looking at how far the industry has come since we launched the EntoExplore, there’s certainly been a significant increase in interest from farmers and growers who are either considering alternatives to anaerobic digestion (AD), or looking to integrate insect bioconversion with their existing AD processes. There’s also the opportunity for insect frass to be used as a feedstock in AD systems, with a well-integrated setup allowing farmers to maximise the valorisation and upcycling of all waste streams.
“The EntoExplore is making a crucial contribution to the legislative development of the insect industry in the UK.” - Gesa Reiss, SMART Agri-Systems Senior Innovation Fellow, University of Leeds
With goals to make the first insect bioreactor of its kind in the UK, UoL was keen to implement this unique facility due to it supporting their ambitions to become the leading UK academic institution on sustainable agri-systems, including insect farming.
This site is specifically designed to handle currently non-permissive waste streams, such as pig manure and slurry. Gaining useful commercial data exaggerates the requirement for a purpose-built system like the EntoExplore. This small site is modular, replicating industrial-scale production (much like our Centre for Insect Technology) to provide accurate assessments of usage and impacts.
The automation system in the facility provides precision control of all equipment in the unit. This includes the pre and post processing stages, when an operator shall be present, as well as the bioconversion stage in which the unit shall operate autonomously for several weeks. We installed a user-friendly graphical interface, displayed on a touchscreen HMI within the unit, allowing for easy control and monitoring. Pre-defined routines can be adjusted to suit the specific research needs of the operator, along with there being critical safety parameters being monitored and alerts being raised in cases of emergency.
The EntoExplore bridges the gap between small lab-scale experiments and the real world.
