Industry Sponsor: Thomas Grimm , Makers DeportFaculty Advisors: Dr. Vince McDonell, Dr. Farzad AhmadkhanlouTeam Members*: Darren Zack ME, Lee Tea ME, Teresa Nguyen ME, Mark Annevelink ME, Henry Gomez ME

Project Goal

UCI Consultants

Bell Siphon

Main Fish Holding Tank Introduction to Aquaponics

Acknowledgements

Develop an Aquaponic system based on existing systems with an optimized water circulation rate in regards to these parameters:

Tank size and shape Plant bed placement and configuration Selection of optimal grow bed media

Other Optimizations

2013-2014

MAE 188: Optimization of an Aquaponics System

Design Sloped bottom wall with incline of 2.4 degrees to

facilitate fecal sediment collection for bio-filtration Mimics Vorticity of cylindrical tanks while

simplifying design complexity Uses air blower and water pump to minimize

power requirements to under 200W

Objectives Maintain optimal flow from plant bed to fish

tank Prevent root rot of plants by creating ebb-and-

flow tides Prevent solids from plant bed from re-entering

main tank Improvements Inlet pipe funnel to increase back pressure and

prevent equilibrium flow Air diffuser attached to outlet to increase

oxygenation of influent into main tank Auxiliary air tube with cap to maintain water level to prescribed tube length

Figure 3: Bell Siphon Assembly

Plant Bed Configurations Raft-Based

Less maintenance required

Greater yield of heirloom vegetables and fruits

Vertical Growing Towers Less required growing

space than raft designs More pumping power

required for irrigation Plant Bed Grow Media Shift from gravel-based to bio-

matrix plastic to increase Biological Surface Area (BSA) to increase Nitrification rate

Ideal: 10 ft2/gal

Figure 4: Raft-Based Grow Bed

Principles Combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponic

techniques Ammonia converted by Nitorsoma and

Nitrospira bacteria into plant-friendly Nitrates Water and land efficient , Parameters Oxygenation Rate

Ideal: Total volumetric turnover in less than an hour

5 mg/L O2 concentration Food Conversion Ratio (FCR)

Feed mass over body mass gain efficiency

Ideal : 0.84-1.02

Automated Control System

Figure 2: Tank with 2.4 degree incline bottom

Figure 1 : Solidworks flow simulation of tank redesign

Objectives Monitor different aspects of the system and

respond accordingly Aspects: dissolved O2, CO2, N2, humidity,

temperature, pH, water level Example Monitor dissolved O2 and turn on aeration pump

when level is lower than desired