Renewable Energy Aquaculture Aeration for Small and Mid-Size Farms

Low dissolved oxygen levels are the most frequent cause of catastrophic fish mortalities in aquaculture farming, resulting in substantial dollar losses of valuable aquaculture crops annually. To address this problem, the U.S. aquaculture industry most often uses floating paddlewheels and/or aspirating aerators for nightly or continuous aeration and circulation of aquafarm waters. However, power consumption with the use of these powerful devices results in high electrical operating costs whichnegatively impacts farm operating costs and profitability. Low-energy submerged diffuser aeration and destratification systems have been shown to be a very efficient and economical means of pond and lakebed destratification and aeration. The greatly reduced power requirement of such systems provides an opportunity to combine an appropriately sized diffuser aeration system with a suitable renewable energy power source, and significantly reduce or eliminate the high recurrent electrical cost of operating traditional aquaculture pond aeration systems. The Phase I feasibility research effort investigated the performance ofselected off-the shelf renewable energy aeration components. The Phase II research and development effort will investigate two renewable energy aquaculture and aquaponic aeration systems, and design, construct, and field-testing non-optimized working prototypes of each. Phase III commercialization is planned.