THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF AN AQUACULTURE FACILITY USING SYSTEMS ANALYSIS ...

369 Pages·2010·19.62 MB·English

THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF AN AQUACULTURE FACILITY
USING SYSTEMS ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES:
A BRITISH COLUMBIA CASE STUDY.
by
Don D. MacKinlay
B. Sc., University of British Columbia, 1974
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER
OF SCIENCE
IN
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Interdisciplinary Program With The Departments Of
Bio-Resource Engineering, Agricultural Mechanics,
and The Institute Of Animal Resource Ecology.
We accept this thesis as conforming
to the required standard
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
May, 1984
f £) Donald Drew MacKinlay, 1984
In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for an advanced degree at the University
of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make
it freely available for reference and study. I further
agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis
for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my
department or by his or her representatives. It is
understood that copying or publication of this thesis
for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written
permission.
Department of *Q/o 'iJfSQfCe
The University of British Columbia
1956 Main Mall
Vancouver, Canada
V6T 1Y3
i i
ABSTRACT
A method is presented for the selection of a conceptual
design of an aquaculture f a c i l i ty using a systems approach
whereby many alternatives for each facility component are
generated and evaluated before selection and detailed design
are carried out. Included are extensive literature reviews of
design and operation of aquaculture f a c i l i t i es and mathematical
modeling methodology for analysing the production of aquatic
organisms.
The method is applied to the design of a facility to f it
into an existing cattle ranch in the dry interior of British
Columbia near Nicola Lake. The two operations (agriculture and
aquaculture) are seen as mutually beneficial: the ranch can
provide husbandry and technical manpower, shared machinery and
equipment and loan collateral to the fish farm; and the fish
farm can provide income diversification and waste nutrient rich
water for irrigation to the ranch.
The chosen design was that of an intensive culture trout
farm using gravity fed surface water from Moore Creek feeding
into above ground plastic raceways (10,000 trout per raceway).
The raceways are arranged down the natural slope of the land
with serial recycling of the water, biological filtration after
every third reuse and re-aeration before entering each raceway.
Gross economic analysis indicates that although some trout
farm sizes would not be profitable, a very small operation (one
or two raceways) would pay for itself and a moderately large
operation (six to ten raceways) would produce a good return on
investment.
Mathematical models for fish, invertebrate and algal
growth and fish respiration were adapted to the design process
by incorporating them into interactive computer programs in the
BASIC language for the APPLE microcomputer. Calculation
procedures for the design of solar and conventional heating and
biological f i l t r a t i on of the process water, pipeline design
selection, and capital and operations costing were developed as
formatted matrices on a commercial spreadsheet program so that
many options could be evaluated with ease. A tabular evaluation
format was developed to quantitatively rank the suitability of
various potential alternative design configurations for each
component of the overall system to aid in alternative
select ion.
The steps required to turn this conceptual design into a
working pilot plant leading to a viable production f a c i l i ty are
outlined, along with the areas of greatest uncertainty in the
design.
i v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract i i
Table of Contents iv
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiv
List of Formulae xvi
Acknowledgements x v i ii
I . Background 1
1 . Introduction 2
A. Justification 2
B. Problem Formulation 7
a. Introduction 7
b. Hypothesis Statement 8
c. Analysis Objectives 10
C. Thesis Outline 11
II. Related Research 13
2. Aquacultural Operations 14
A. General 14
a. Purpose 14
b. History 15
c. Importance 18
B. Principles of Aquaculture 20
a. Squeeze 20
b. Seed And Breed 21
c. Feed 24
d. Growth 25
e. Health 26
V
C. Canadian Aquaculture 29
a. Status . 29
b. Policy 31
c. B. C. Potential 33
D. Salmonid Culture 36
a. Introduction 36
b. Extensive Culture 37
c. Intensive Culture 38
E. Other Fishes 40
F. Lower Trophic Culture 43
3. Aquacultural System Design 46
A. Def initions 46
a. General 46
b. Scale 47
B. Design Process 49
a. Approaches 49
b. Orientation 53
c. Biological Criteria 54
d. Fish Culture Operations 55
e. Economic Factors 56
C. Process Requirements 61
a. Technical Suitability 61
b. Flow Requirements 66
c. Space Requirements 69
d. Feed Requirements 70
D. Enclosures 72
a. Introduction 72
vi
b. Extensive Culture 73
c. Cage Culture 75
d. Pond Culture 78
e. Raceway Culture 82
f. Salmonid Facilities 86
E. Post Rearing 93
a. Introduction . . 93
b. Harvest 93
c . Processing 94
d. Storage 96
e. Transport 97
F. Lower Level Culture 98
a. Introduction 98
b. Primary Producers 101
c. Secondary Producers 103
G. Water Reuse 106
a. Justification 106
b. Physical-Chemical Filtration 107
c. Biological Filtration 108
d. Aeration 110
e. Recycling Systems 113
H. Water Control and Measurement 114
a. Introduction 114
b. Flow Measurement 115
c. Flow Control 116
d. Temperature Control 118
4. Modelling Aquatic Production 121
v ii
A. Approaches to Organic Growth 121
B. Aquatic Production 127
a. Factors Involved 127
b. Modelling 129
C. Algal Growth . 131
a. Light 132
b. Nutrients 134
c. Respiration 135
d. Carrying Capacity 136
D. Zooplankton Growth 137
a. Factors Involved 137
b. Modeling 139
E. Fish Growth 140
a. Factors Affecting Growth 140
b. Models 143
F. Abiotic Factors 146
III Methodology 149
5 Systems Analysis Methods 150
A. General 1 50
a. Definitions 150
b. Approach 151
B. Procedure Outline 153
a . Overview 153
b. Problem Definition 157
c . Object ives 157
d. Alternative Generation 159
e. Alternative Evaluation 159
v i i i
f . Dec ision 160
6. Modelling Methods 162
A. Types of Models ....162
B. Modelling Process 163
C. Flowcharting 166
IV. Results 176
7. Site Characteristics 177
A. Logistics 177
B. Environmental 183
8. Systems Analysis 185
A. Problem Definition 185
B. Objectives Defined 187
C. Measures of Effectiveness ....188
a. Lack of Agricultural Interference 189
b. Degree of Aquatic Production 190
c. Economic Viability 191
D. Generation of Alternatives 192
a. Framework of Aquatic Production 192
E. Evaluation of Alternatives 194
a. Tabular Evaluation Overview 194
b. Water Source 196
c. Water Conveyance 198
d. Volume Water Use 200
e. Water Reuse 201
f. Water Treatment 204
g. Fish Type 213
h. Fish Enclosure 214
ix
i . Fish Food 215
j. Energy Source 220
k. Energy Intensity 222
1. Labour Intensity 223
F. Conceptual Design 224
a. Outline 224
b. System Sizing 227
c. Economic Alternatives 233
9. Model Development 241
A. Problem Definition 241
B. Objectives 242
C. Measures of Effectiveness 243
D. Generation and Selection of Alternatives 244
a. Mathematical Alternatives 244
b. Computer Alternatives 245
c. Common Program Features 246
E. Fish Model 249
a. Black Box 249
b. Mathematics 251
c. Computer Outputs 255
F. Invertebrate Model 259
a. Black Box 259
b. Mathematics 260
c. Computer Outputs 262
G. Algae Model 266
a. Black Box 266
b. Mathematics 267