Research and Developments in Closed Containment ... 2012/Summerfelt. RD in... · in Closed Containment Aquaculture Throughout the World ... – Nozzle orientation, ... settlers,and

2nd RAS ConferenceOct 23-24, Sunndalsøra

Research and Developments in Closed Containment

Aquaculture Throughout the World

Steven Summerfelt


OUTLINE

• Introduction – Where do RAS fit?• Research & development in land-based

closed-containment systems – Culture tank technologies– Water treatment technologies– Interactions of salmon with the RAS environment– The Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute– Other Research Centers


United States Farm Production

• Fish production (approximate)– CATFISH 210 million kg/yr– TROUT 16 million kg/yr– SALMON 18 million kg/yr– TILAPIA 9 million kg/yr

• Terrestrial Animals– POULTRY 17 billion kg/yr (#1 in World)– CATTLE 10.6 billion kg/yr (#1 in World)– HOGS 10.0 billion kg/yr (#2 in World)– TOTAL 37.6 billion kg/yr

0.5% of terrestrial animal production


United States Farm Production

• Terrestrial animal production is highly regulated and controlled– No point source discharge allowed– Physical barriers help prevent pathogen spread– Control of what the animal eats


Salmon Net Pen Production

• A confined animal feeding operation, but – no discharge limits– no capacity to capture wastes– Inadequate physical barriers to prevent

pathogens from spreading into or out of farm


Fish Farming Worldwide: Major Environmental Challenges

• Resource constraints:– Siting restrictions– Limited water supplies– Water pollution & impacts on watersheds– Limited marine fish meal/oil supplies

• Separation of farmed fish from wild fish:– Transmission of pathogens into & out of the farm– Domesticated stocks escaping & interacting with wild

populations


Containment is Necessary for Sustainable Aquaculture

• Land-based, closed-containment systems:– Control photoperiod– Optimize water temperature– Maintain healthy water quality– Control fish feed, density, & swimming speed– Exclude obligate fish pathogens

• Reduce mortality• Improve health and performance• Potentially eliminate need for vaccines, pesticides, antibiotics, &

chemotherapuetics

– Prevent escapees


Research & Development

• Land-based closed-containment systems – Culture tank technologies– Water treatment technologies– The Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute


Improve Culture Tank Hydraulics

Optimized water rotation & mixing

Sidewall-type dual-drains improve management of rotation

and provide for solids separation at tank and optimized swimming speed for fish.


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Managing Rotational Velocity in Large Circular Tanks

• Velocity near tank perimeter controlled by:– Nozzle orientation, Nozzle velocity, Tank Flow

• Velocity near the tank center controlled by:– Surface loading rate on bottom-center drain


Culture Tanks: Flow Injection

• Developed adjustable inlet nozzles systems through tank wall to optimize water rotational velocities & mixing.


Improve Fish Harvest Technologies

• Developed sidewall harvest box with dewatering– Clam-shell grader used to

crowd fish so they slide into dewatering area


Solids Removal• Integrated dual-drain culture tanks, settlers, and drum filters


Large-Scale Biofilters

• Developed fine sand fluidized biofilters– 100+ used in large-scale recycle systems:– scale to treat flows > 25,000 L/min– provide high 70-90% TAN removal efficiencies– maintain low (< 0.1 mg/L) nitrite-nitrogen– provide compact and capital cost efficient treatm.

• high specific surface areas (13,000 m2/m3)• low media cost ($40-70/m3 of sand)

– Extremely robust & reliable if properly designed


Ozone & Oxygen Transfer Technologies

• Applied Ozone & Oxygen Gas in Low Head Oxygenation (LHO) Units, treat entire flow– Low head/energy (0.5-1 m total dynamic head)– Efficiently produces 150-200% O2 saturation– Near 100% O3 transfer– Vents N2 & avoids TGP– Scales to high flows

PRAqua


Evaluated Large-Scale Cascade Aeration Columns for CO2 Control

• Evaluated performance & developed CO2 stripping models

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1 m depthFreshwaterSaltwater

15ºC Temp; 20 mg/L Inlet CO2


Aerator Pump

Developed Three Low-head and High-Flow Gas Transfer Processes

• Locate each adjacent to the culture tank – improve energy efficiency & reduce fixed costs of CO2 stripping

Airlift PumpCascade Column and

Axial Flow Pump


Sidewall Airlift Pumps in Large Circular Culture Tanks

Airlift Pumps INSIDE TANKS

Airlift Pumps OUTSIDE

TANKS

Air Lift PumpsINSIDE SQUARE TANKS


Ozonation of Recirculated Water

• Evaluated ozone, which creates clear ‘blue’ water even with zero water flushingImproves biofiltration & solids removalRemoves color, BOD, & fine solidsReduces flavobacteria problems

• Some call ozone– Vitamin ‘O’– The Silver Bullet

No Ozonation(80 kg/m3)

Ozonation(80 kg/m3)


Evaluated Full-FlowO3 + UV Treatment

• Total Heterotrophic Bacteria Plate Count Reduced to < 1 cfu/ml – 3+ LOG10 reduction– ORP of 450 & 525 mv– O3 of 20 ppb– UV dose of 90 mJ/cm2

• Sidestream UV produces < 1 LOG10 reduction


Culture tanks

Irrigation Liquids spreader

Solids spreader

Irrigated effluent

(Land application)

Composter

Permitted Discharge

Dead fish

Treatment

Liquid or slurry

Liquid, slurry, or solid

Burial orIncineration

Off-farmUtilization

Livestock or other on-farm

utilization

SlurryLiquid or slurryMechanical

filtration

Settling basin or waste storage structure

Liqu

id

Compost

Settling basin or mechanical

filtration

Water reuse treatment processes

Hydraulically concentrated

underflow

Liqu

id

Treatment

Environmental Management

• Escapees– Exclude

• Concentrated waste biosolids– capture,– transfer,– store,– treat, or – utilize

• Dissolved nutrients– remove

• Pathogens– exclude

Closed-Containment System

(PROCESS FLOW DRAWING)


Evaluated Gravity Thickening Settlers

IN OUT

• Designed for solids collection, thickening & storage (short-term or long-term)

• 92% TSS removal efficiency• 9% biosolids concentration• No coagulant / flocculant• Lowest fixed & variable costs• Low maintenance• Farmer friendly


Evaluated Inclined Belt Filter

• Biosolids collect on belt and are scraped into a hopper• Produced the cleanest discharge -- 96% TSS removal

– Excellent TN, TP, cBOD5, COD removal

• 9% biosolids concentration • highest fixed cost

• Requires Flocculent


Evaluated Geotextile Bag Filters

• Large bags constructed of a high-strength, porous, woven material • 95% TSS removal efficiency• Most leaching of TAN, dis. P, & BOD - loss of nutrients

• 22% biosolids concentration• Flocculent must be added• Highest operating cost- (polymer + bag replacement costs)

• Intermediate fixed cost

IN OUT


Developed & AppliedFish Exclusion Technology

Screens exclude fish/eggs before discharge


Commercial-Scale Closed-Containment Systems

• Applied technologies at commercial-scale– Maintains excellent water quality

» Great clarity and low solids (see tank bottom)» Dissolved O2 at 100% sat and CO2 < 10 mg/L

» Nitrite (NO2-N) < 0.1 mg/L» TAN of 0.5-1 mg/L

Bell Aquaculture 1000 tonne/yr(6.7 million x 150 g perch/yr)



• Land-based closed-containment systems – Interactions of salmon with the RAS environment– The Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute


Moore Foundation Funded Atlantic Salmon Growout Trial

• Atlantic salmon - Cascade Strain– eggs purchased from American Gold Seafood

• Jan 2011 – Eyed eggs received• March 2011 - First feeding • Aug-Sept 2011 – Photoperiod manipulated to S0 smolt• September 2011 - Moved into advanced nursery system• March 2012 – Moved into growout system (all freshwater)


Moore Foundation Trial Results to Date - Cascade Strain

• 430 g post-smolt at 12 months post-hatch

• Feed conversion 1.01:1• Good fin condition• No sea lice• Obligate pathogens

screening will be conducted before harvest

• No kudoa



• Mortality 0.8%• Culls 1.1% • Jumpers 0.2%• Total 2.1%



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111 Cascades

109 St. John River

110 St. John River

1208 Gaspe Bay‐109 St. JohnRiver Mixed CohortNet Pen STJR



• 37% of the population harvested Sept, 2012 – biomass at 100 kg/m3– all maturing males (slightly larger than females)– mean fish size at 2.64 kg. – 5.4 metric tonne (12,000 lb) – sold to a local processor for hot smoking.


Avoiding Early Maturing Males

We need an all-female source of eggs at least once every 6 months



• Premium salmon:– 4 kg mean size expected in early December 2012

• 22 months post-hatch

– biomass density will be 100 kg/m3– harvests begin in December, run through

February, – produce another 15-18 metric tonne

• selling to Albion Fisheries

• Total Production Expected: 21-23 tonne– 150 m3 culture tank



• No vaccination (saves $$ & stress)• No antibiotics or pesticides used at any time• No formalin used at any time• Small amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)

used in the sac fry and early parr stage to treat fungus.

• Total salt used to treat fungus: 8070 lbs.


Evaluated Atlantic Salmon Health, FCR, and Growth to Food-Size in RAS

• 3 RAS operated at 97.5% flow reuse (0.7 day HRT)• 3 RAS operated at 99.75% flow reuse (7 day HRT)

– No significant differences were determined in growth, FCR, survival, or measured fish health outcomes after 9 months

– Examining hormone accumulation and removal mechanisms


Atlantic salmon performance at 2 vs. <0.5 BL/s swimming speed combined with 100% vs. 70% dissolved oxygen concentration

• Performance of Atlantic salmon exposed to 100% DO & exercised at 2 BL/s swimming speed:– significantly better growth – lower early maturing males in the exercised

treatment groups at mean size near 300 g– compared to fish swimming at <0.5 BL/s and/or

70% oxygen saturation


Studied Effects of Chronically Elevated Nitrate Nitrogen On Trout

• Chronic exposure to 100 mg/L of NO3-N:– did not effect growth of fingerling RBT– reduced cumulative survival– increased abnormal swimming in circular tanks

• increased swimming speed • increased “side swimming”


Compared Grain Versus Fishmeal-Based Diets in Replicated RAS

• Rainbow trout growth, feed conversion, and survival were similar between diets.

• TP was 3-fold lower in recirculated water in systemsfed a grain-based diet.

• TAN, TSS and BOD were greatest in recirculated water in systems fed a grain-based diet.



• Land-based closed-containment systems – Other Facilities


Langsand Laks, Hvide Sande, Denmark

• 1000 tonne/yr Atlantic salmon growout (16 m ɸ x 6 m deep culture tanks)– Atlantic Sapphire

Photos courtesy Thue Holm


Namgis First Nation’s Land-Based Salmon Farm, Port McNeill, BC

• 470 tonne/yr initial module to expand to 2000-3000 tonne/yr

• Construction to finish this fall

Five 500 m3 growout tanks

Transparent Project


Nofima Centre for Recirculationin Aquaculture

Vision: Contribute to increased knowledge about nutrition, physiology, health and welfare in cultured fish species in RAS

45 MNOK investment (2010 value)Terjesen BF, Summerfelt ST, Nerland S, Ulgenes Y, Fjæra SO, Megård Reiten BK, Selset R, Kolarevic J, Brunsvik P, Bæverfjord G, Takle H, Kittelsen

A, Åsgård T (2012). Design, dimensioning, and performance of a research facility for studies on the requirements of fish in RAS environments. Submitted 27.05.2012.


Research to determine “optimal” conditions for fish (salmon) rearing

University of British ColumbiaInSEAS Research


Gaining Control over Culture of Marine Fish LarvaeMarine fish larvae are sensitive to infections by fast-growing opportunistic heterotrophic

bacteria that cause disease when the host is weakened by environmental stress

1. Maturing the microbial community in incoming water at a carrying capacity (CC) similar to that in the tanksFTS: no maturation, low CC of incoming water compared to the CC of tanks lead to proliferation ofbacteria in tank

MMS: maturation, but at low CC compared to the CC in the tanks may open for proliferation in tank

RAS: maturation at a CC comparable to that in thetanks lead to stronger buffer agains proliferation ofopportunists in the tank

2. Reduce the use of disinfectionin the recycling loop

FTS: high disinfection efficiency on the incoming water lead to to proliferation of bacteria in tank

RAS UV: high disinfection efficiency results in lower abundance and activity of bacteria in incoming water and may open for proliferation in tank

RAS O3: ozonation to 350 mV in protein skimmer results in low or no disinfection and an incoming water similar to the water in tanks


The accumulation of steroids in recirculating aquaculture systems.

Minimization of nutrient emissions from marine RAS.

Interactions between microbial communities and fish in RAS.

Off flavour in farmed fish.

Enhancement of system performance and robustness of fish through integration of microbial and algae based biofiltration in

recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).

http://www.aquaculture.wur.nl/UK

Wageningen AquacultureWageningen AquacultureThe Centre for Research & Innovations in Aquaculture

Research in Closed Containment Systems


Present RAS-research topics (I)at DTU Aqua, Hirtshals, Denmark

• Model Trout Farms• Freshwater/Saltwater• Easy degradable sanitizers• End of pipe treatment:

• Denitrification• Sludge hydrolysis• Constructed wetlands


Conclusions

• Land-Based Closed-Containment Systems– Confidence in technology is increasing– Scale of investment has increased to $5-25 million/

project– Current N. American projects being built or planned

with projected capital investment of ~$50-100 million

• Atlantic salmon, Coho salmon• sea bream, yellow perch, cobia, sturgeon• Arctic char, walleye, sablefish, rainbow trout


Conclusions

• North America’s annual production of food-fish within closed-containment systems could increase by 10,000 to 50,000 ton in next 5 yrs

• Global annual production increases could total 100,000’s tons within closed-containment systems in next 5 yrs– Expect growth in Atlantic salmon production in

North America, Europe, Chile, and China

Documents

Research and Developments in Closed Containment ... 2012/Summerfelt. RD in... · in Closed Containment Aquaculture Throughout the World ... – Nozzle orientation, ... settlers,and