The Necessity of Desalination Technology for Designing and Sizing Multi-Loop Aquaponic Systems
Aquaculture Europe 2017, Dubrovnik, Hrvatska
Simon Goddek, Karel Keesman
Disadvantages:
Suboptimal growth conditions for both plants and fish.
Lower yields compared to stand-alone hydroponic and aquaculture systems.
Fish sludge (faeces) is not used.
One-Loop Systems
3
Advantages:
Optimal conditions for fish and plant
Remineralization of fish faeces in anaerobic reactors; i.e. creation of bio fertilizers for the plants
Main water loss only via evapotranspiration; i.e. ETc dependency
Increased Yields
Control the concentration of the hydroponic nutrient solution.
Disadvantage:
Measurement and Control
Multi-Loop Aquaponic Systems
8
Decoupled Multi-Loop AP System
9
Sizing:
Rule of Thumb: 60g feed/m²
Inflow HP = Plant Uptake
Issue: Different Nutrients
Focus: N & P & Nutrient
Concentrations
RAS:
Total Tank Volume: 600m³, Max. Density: 40kg m-³, Fish Species: Nile Tilapia,
Fingerling Weight: 3g, Target Weight: 600g
Hydroponics:
Greenhouse Size: variable (modelled), Plant Species: Tomatoes
Desalination/Distillation:
Operation Flow Rate: 2000L h-1 (during sunshine hours); on/off (modelled)
Remineralization:
Nitrogen Recovery: 40%; Phosphorus Recovery: (optimistic) 90%
MATLAB Simulation – Important Parameters
10
60g m-2 when using
fruity plants (e.g.
tomatoes)
30g m-2 when 50% of
the total nutrients is
supplied by
remineralization tech.
Sizing Rule of Thumb
13
Nutrient Concentrator – Distillation Technology
17
HP sump size dependent
Smaller HP sump: decreased
required flow to achieve
optimal nutrient solution
concentration
However, this also means less
flow of demineralized water to
the RAS.
Desalination/Distillation technology has the potential to play an
important role in concentrating the hydroponic nutrient solution
Global radiation has a high impact on nutrient uptake and thus
sizing/balancing the system.
Mineralization technology (as presented by Boris Delaide) and its
performance are a key parameter in sizing a decoupled aquaponic
system.
Take home messages
20