Prawns and Brussels sprouts?

22 December 2021

Here’s an offbeat but intriguing story of British innovation. 

Pressure washer manufacturer Demon International is developing a bespoke system for use by fishing vessels catching prawns. Not much of a hire angle, true, but all very fascinating you must admit. 

“The machine will process the freshly caught shellfish at sea and the high-pressure water jets will remove the shells,” directors Martyn and David Walke tell me. 

“Otherwise they would have to be prepared manually at the dockside and, with labour being in short supply, the trawler operator wanted a mechanised way of doing it. 

“Our solution involves some of our pressure washer pumps mounted in a bespoke frame. The water will come directly from the sea. We could eventually be supplying equipment for 60 boats or more.” 

The picture shows part of the assembly being tested at Demon’s Ivybridge HQ. 

And the sprouts? 

“Another one-off project is to develop a similar system using water at high pressure for removing the roots from Brussels sprouts so they are ready to go into retail packs. The challenging bit has been devising a mechanism for holding the sprout in position long enough.” 

Two unusual and amusing applications, perhaps, but they show how suppliers can adapt technology to meet special requirements. 

Food for thought, you might say… 

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