Full-scale testing
To take the next step, Colubris is currently building an additional skid in Winterswijk, the Netherlands, for full-scale testing. It will be shipped to Vietnam in September 2026. Zwijsen: “This expansion will allow us to test the process over longer periods. One of the main areas of focus will be the membrane stage. By operating the membranes continuously for longer periods, we can gain a better understanding of their performance under real operating conditions and of the factors affecting capacity, concentration and process stability, among other things.”
“In November, I will return to Vietnam to support the next phase of testing. Ultimately, the results should help us make the transition from a successful development project to a process that can also be applied reliably on a larger scale.”
Testing, analyzing, improving
The fact that adjustments to the installation are required during a project like this comes as no surprise. Developing a new application requires continuous testing, analyzing and improving.
The Vietnamese project partner also sees this as an integral part of the process. The initial production of protein powder has further strengthened confidence in the technology, and the ambition is clear: to continue developing it as quickly as possible.
This close cooperation is essential. After all, the process is not only being developed from a technical perspective; ultimately, it also has to integrate with an existing cassava processing plant and local production conditions.
A new product stream
Project partner Stamex also plays an important role in this development. The company supplies technology and production lines to the starch processing industry worldwide and sees opportunities to help its customers extract more value from their raw materials in the future.
Where traditional cassava processing primarily focuses on starch production, recovering proteins can create an additional product stream. This enables an existing raw material to be used more efficiently while simultaneously creating new economic value.
For companies such as Stamex, this creates an interesting opportunity: not only to supply installations for producing a primary product, but also to help customers generate value from other streams within their production processes.
More value from the same raw material
And this is precisely where Colubris sees the broader significance of the PROCAS project. Cassava is the starting point of this project, but the knowledge being developed extends beyond a single crop. The processing of other plant-based raw materials also generates liquid and solid streams that may still contain valuable components.
By intelligently combining technologies for separation, membrane filtration, concentration and further processing, these components can potentially be recovered and turned into products once again.
As a result, the question is increasingly shifting from how do we process a residual stream? to what value is still contained in this stream?