Sihm Højtryk A/S delivers impressive new solutions for the world’s eighth largest salmon farm

Sihm Højtryk A/S from Esbjerg contributes to delivering high pressure equipment that streamlines the cleaning process by 5-600%.

Efficient washing

Salmon farming is the Faroe Islands’ largest export product. Salmon are reared in so-called marine farms, which are large rings with nets placed in the sea in which the salmon grow up. Rings and nets must be regularly cleaned of fouling, a task that has so far been carried out by hard manual work. The Faroese company Bakkafrost, the world’s eighth largest salmon farmer, together with Mekanor, developed a washing device that can clean the fishing rings in a more ergonomic and efficient way with high pressure.

Previously, the rings were lifted onto a boat by a crane, after which the fouling was hosed away with manual high-pressure work. A physically hard job where cleaning of one ring took three operators eight hours. With a diameter of 160 and 200 meters, as well as weight of about 70 tons for each ring and strict requirements from the authorities, it was necessary for Bakkafrost to look at a different cleaning solution.

Sihm Højtryk A/S from Esbjerg was therefore contacted to see if they could supply the necessary high-pressure plant and equipment. They have previously delivered customer-specific high-pressure solutions to Mechanor. Also this time they came up with a solution – a high pressure system built into the container – 260 bar and a staggering 1036 liters of salt water per minute, powered by a 750 HP engine.

German quality and Danish know-how

Sihm Højtryk A/S specializes in high pressure, with more than 30 years of experience in the sale and service of machines and equipment from world-leading manufacturers. Therefore, in addition to the high-pressure system itself, they have also been able to supply nozzles, rotary joints, and other things for the washing device that Mekanor has designed and built to clean the fishing rings.

The supplied high-pressure plant is produced by Hammelmann GmbH, which is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high pressure and ultra-high-pressure systems. Sihm Højtryk A/S is an agent for Hammelmann in Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, which is one of the reasons why the assignment landed with them. Sihm Højtryk A/S already has strong relations in the Faroe Islands, where they have established their name as a reliable and strong partner in cooperation and development.

“We consider it as a huge recognition of what we can and our good customer relationship with Mekanor that they asked us, in cooperation with them, to solve this task,” says Frank Sihm, Director of Sihm Højtryk A/S.

“Cleaning nets in fish and marine farms is a well-known technique in the high-pressure world. There is equipment designed for just such tasks, but not of the same order of magnitude as at Bakkafrost and it is an efficient and environmentally friendly method” continues Frank Sihm.

For more information about Sihm Højtryk A/S and the high-pressure system, contact Frank Sihm at tel: +45 7515 9700 or e-mail: info@sihm.dk.