March | April 2012 Feature title: Filtration in recirculation particle control

International Aquafeed is published five times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom. All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies, the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of information published. Copyright 2012 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1464-0058

The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

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Filtration in recirculation
by Mr Kurt Carlson, Key Accounts Manager at Hydrotech AB, Sweden

ou need to produce your fish with some advantages when comparing your product to the market in general, that is, if you want to be successful. Recirculation is a technology in growth and a major factor in economic production and as an overall control of particles.

the oxygen and filtration systems. So you will normally always have to employ: Pumps, here the overview of options include: - Propeller pumps at lower lifting height - Centrifugal pumps when the lift is higher and at smaller flow

particle control

Figures 2 & 3: Sturgeon RAS plant in a parallel cycle with sedimentation filtration installed in connection with drumfilters.

table1 Parameter Particle bound Max potential removal efficiency, % 84 32 80 91

table 2 race-way efficiency % tot-P tot-n BoD tSS 40 50-75 20-25 45-75 50-80 60 40-70 15-25 40-65 45-75 90 35-65 10-20 30-60 35-70 40 65-84 25-32 55-80 60-91 Self cleaning tank 60 50-80 20-27 50-75 55-85 90 45-75 15-22 35-70 50-80

After leaving the fish, the waste products should be kept in suspenson and moved towards the filtration unit gently and quickly. When looking at particle control in general, we are limited to filter away COD/BOD that actually are in the water as particles. Below a table shows the percentage of total waste flow that typically appears as particle waste from self-cleaning tanks on fish farms.

tot-P tot-n BoD5 tSS

Up to 90 Up to 32 Up to 90 100

The best cost-effective tool

You have the opportunity for large reduction for COD/BOD by removing particles and it is the best cost effective tool in order to control the water quality. If you do not make any good particle control, you risk the: Flow through plant being shut down due to tight regulations RAS will prove less economical as loading of the biofilter will explode A particular risk in RAS is clogged biofilter that can kill your loop So, here is a lot to win and to lose, but how much? Below please find Table 1 showing the typical efficiency of filtration measured on trout. Note the large tolerance on efficiency values that makes the results less useful (see Table 2). This was found through deep research in the study made in Germany and clearly shows that particle control is more than just talking about microns (see Image 4). To find the actual results Dr Alexander Brinker has worked for years with a unique laser instrument that measure all suspended particles passing in a stream in 3D. The laser instrument are calibrated and verified to count correctly and measure the particles with 0.02 micron accuracy.

almost twice as good removals with good setup even when using same micron filtration. This is normally not a matter is addition equipment, but simply a question of design.

Here I have listed some typical reasons for the tolerance shown: Tank design is surely best when self-cleaning

Outlet of the tank should be fast and gentle Piping to the filter section should have the correct velocity

Recirculation - terms and selection

The term recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in normally understood as the hardcore advanced system that needs very little new water to keep useful water quality. However, RAS has also got a sister term called re-use systems to indicate the water is recirculated. From the individual fish farmers point of view, recirculation does not always fit these terms, but can be the compromise of technology complexity that suits his particular production process. Low complexity is always good, but to gain advantages, you must see the whole picture which includes: Water at the location Temperature control Control with diseases Energy consumption Knowledge of the area Capital available for investment Clearly, the complexity of a system selected is a major issue for aquaculture production.

Main technology in recirculation

With any kind of re-use of water you need a pump. The next in line of accessories is

- Airlift as combined pump (not recommended due to particle destruction) Oxygen, here the overview of options include: - Liquid oxygen that are simple and safe, but sometimes expensive to keep full - Oxygen generator Filtration, here the overview of options include: - Drumfilter on the main flow - Discfilter when filtration demands are 30 micron or smaller - Cyclone at the fish tank outlet (not recommended due to particle destruction) It should be noted that all kinds of sedimentation in a RAS loop are all strongly forbidden. This will dissolve the particles and release all COD/BOD back into the water (see photos from two parallel systems illustrated here). There are alternative components to those listed above, but very rare to see! The general value of good particle control (see imiages two and three). The critical factor of particle control is to remove waste particles before they dissolve.
8 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | March-april 2012

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March-april 2012 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 9

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FEATURE

Drumfilter 1. Water to be filtered enters the inside of the drum. 2. The water is filtered through the drums filter screens. The difference in water level inside/outside the drum is the driving force for the sieving. 3. Solids are trapped on the filter screen and lifted to the backwash area by the rotation of the drum. 4. Water from rinse nozzles is sprayed and the solid material is washed out of the filter elements into the sludge tray. 5. Sludge flows by gravity out of the filter.

Swivel Valve Cooler MkII

No hollow spaces | No cross contamination Excellent cleaning access | Filtered air inlet Temperature control | Moisture control | Cleaning in Place

Discfilter 1. Water to be filtered enters the inside of the rotor with discs. 2. The water is filtered through the disc panel filter screen. The difference in water level inside/outside the disc element is the driving force for the sieving. 3. Solids are trapped on the filter screen and lifted to the backwash area by the rotation of the rotor. 4. Water from rinse nozzles is sprayed and the solid material is washed out of the filter elements into the sludge tray. 5. Sludge flows by gravity out of the filter.

Fish feed used Level weir that forces a waterfall and just a few cm may cost you less efficiency The filter itself shall lift and remove the particles in a gentle a manner as possible Below I have also listed factors that are not normally seen and will have a extreme negative effect: Turbulence-like aeration or pumping is strongly forbidden between tanks and filter Sedimentation is strongly forbidden, dead corners, cyclones systems, sludge cones and just low load can create such unplanned problems

No wild spreading of larvae, that is, Tilapia Improving turbidity of water Improved performance of the UV disinfection system

Filtration of inlet water

In some high value processes, it is useful to filter the water introduce into the RAS. This could be for hatchery and fry production. The low water consumption for RAS makes it economical possible to filter the inlet water as low as 10 microns. This will remove a large range of potential problems and make the UV installation (when used) much smaller (see Image 6).

Specific value of particle control in RAS

In a re-circulating system, microfiltration is an integral part of a complete water treatment system. There are specific benefits of micro-screen filtration in RAS which include the following (see Image 5): Cheap reduction of organic loading on the biofilter Parasites are removed by stopping the lifecycle of larvae and eggs Improving conditions for nitrification Stabilising function of biofilters as clogging is reduced

The filter
The way you make filtration work is by using micro screening. The screen is mounted in drum or on disc filters. In over 90 percent of all installations there are drum filters used, as they are most cost effective in the classic range of 40 to 90 micron filtration. The micro screen unique characteristics are: Absolute size filtration independent of inlet TSS concentration Removes particles fast out of the water flow Are high capacity units Removes particles above applied mesh

size, not dependent on density of particles Low running costs in energy and maintenance For example, the patented Hydrotech micro screen panels (see Image 7) also: Lifts all particles gentle in the cell structure so they are removed without leaching Avoids the wash machine effect inside the drum as even heavy parts are lifted and removed The cell structure on the Hydrotech panel is the final touch to make the filtration 100 percent perfect. In some cases, like in abalone and marine farming, you can have a risk of the washing machine effect in a drum filter. Here, sand or similar materials stay in the drum bottom and destroy the other particles. However, the Hydrotech cell will lift all of the material out and the problem is completely avoided.

Function of drum and disc filters

Hydrotech has about 5000 drum- and discfilters in operation in aquaculture widespread all over the world (see Images 8 and 9). Their unique design of filter cloth and hydraulic design secures the gentle removal of particles. Hydrotech filters are all made for automatic operation that only rotate and backwash the filters as needed. This way faciclities will filter more fine particles out of the water as the operate.

cool and dry

clean and lean

More

inforMation:

Hydrotech Hydrotech AB Industrigatan 1 SE 235 32 Vellinge, Sweden Tel. +46 40 429530 Website: www.hydrotech.se

Geelen Counterflow
Holland / USA / Argentina / China

info@geelencounterflow.com www.geelencounterflow.com T +31-475-592315

10 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | March-april 2012

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