USING COMPUTER SPREADSHEETS FOR WATER FLOW AND BIOFILTER SIZING IN RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

T.M. Losordo, A.O. Hobbs-2000

Aquacultural Engineering, 23(1-3): 95-102
Abstract:

North Carolina State University has been active in the development, evaluation and demonstration of recirculating aquaculture technology since 1989. In the process, numerous engineering and economic spreadsheets (worksheets) have been developed to assist in the design and analysis of these systems. The spreadsheet described in this paper is based on a set of mass balance equations developed and described by Losordo and Westers (Vol. 27, 1994 pp. 9-60) to estimate the carrying capacity and required flow rates of recirculating aquaculture production systems. This spreadsheet can be used to estimate the recycle flow-rate that is required to maintain user specified water quality conditions for a given feed input rate and water treatment system configuration. These water quality conditions include suspended solids, total ammonia-nitrogen, and dissolved oxygen concentration. The spreadsheet also provides an estimate of the new water required by the system to maintain a user specified nitrate-nitrogen concentration. In addition, the spreadsheet provides an estimate of the required biofilter volume and cross-sectional (top) surface area for the given biofilter shape, depth and specific surface area of the biofilter media. The mass balance equations used in this spreadsheet are based upon waste metabolites generated and oxygen consumed by daily inputs of feed into a system.

(Departments of Zoology and Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7646, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA)

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