Thermal analysis for high mountain aquaculture outdoor pools within the nexus of food, water and energy

Abstract

The transient heat transfer of an outdoor water pool for aquaculture is presented in this paper. The location of the pool is in a mountainous region in Arequipa, Peru. An hourly temperature history of a fishpond has been investigated throughout the whole year based on a novel energy equation which considers the freezing property of water near the freezing temperature, as the ambient temperature of Arequipa sometimes drops below the water freezing point. Convective, evaporative and radiative heat exchange between the fishpond and the environment are considered by implementing established empirical equations. Computation results show a delay in the temperature response of the water to the temperature change of the ambient during summer and winter solstices days, and the same delay occurs during solar equinox days, resulting in warmer temperature of water during evening times compared to the ambient, and colder water temperature during morning hours. Furthermore, an hourly thermal load, required to keep the temperature of the fishpond at the optimal level required to rear the rainbow trout fish is presented. We found that, to keep the water temperature at an optimum value, the monthly mean specific thermal load must be between 4.36 kWh.m−2. day−1 and 0.95 kWh.m−2. day−1.