A Feasibility Study on the Benefits of Feedback Aerator Control in Precision Aquaculture Applications for the Developing World

Aquaculture is a growing source of food and income for many in the developing world. In developing countries, where more than 18 million people engage in aquaculture, yields have been low due to lacking infrastructure. Aeration has been shown to improve dissolved oxygen (DO) and increase yields, but its use has been low in many developing world environments due to high operating costs. Even when used, they are operated in an ad-hoc manner, resulting in higher than required costs. A potentially more effective implementation is the use of feedback control to maintain adequate DO and increase energy savings. To demonstrate the potential, a feasibility study was conducted comparing the energy consumption of a diffused aeration system, with and without the use of a feedback control system. The effect of the diffused aeration system was simulated for a 100 m3 pond in Bangladesh for extensive and intensive fish farming. The interaction between the aerators and the pond was simulated on ANSYS FLUENT and was used with a DO model to predict the oxygen dynamics of the pond. Results indicated that the addition of a feedback control system could result in 78.66%, and 52.48% in energy cost savings compared to continuous operation for extensive and intensive fish farming respectively. Further work in smart instrumentation has the potential to decrease the energy requirements of aeration technologies and improve production for farmers in the developing world.