Projects:2016s2-255 Solar Aquaponics

Project Team

Team members

Yuqiang Li

Xinyu Dai

Supervisors

Rastko Zivanovic

Said Al-Sarawi

Project Introduction

Background

Aquaponics has a long history but the technologies are still developing. The fundamental idea is to transform fish waste into nutrient for plants in the process of nitrification, meanwhile the water is cleaned and recycle back to fish. This system is reasonably complex, because many parts are involved and many factors should be considered, such as dimension, symbiotic environment, chemicals, microbes, fish kinds and plants kinds [1]. An aquaponics system is basically sustainable but still requires electricity power. One of the sustainable power sources available is solar power. By carefully design and management, a solar aquaponics system can be feasible and scalable to large layout for commercial purpose.

Motivation

Aquaponics technologies are more and more demanded globally, with the increasing awareness of sustainable development. Bigger and bigger layout of aquaponics sites are seeking advanced technologies to ensure a robust system. So, the project developed technologies which can be utilised in a system which aims at scalable increasing and commercial purpose.

Solar Aquaponics is a continuous project. In the previous stage of this project, Group 1 has established the first software model with adapted and limited data, using a software named AnyLogic. They also developed a small solar aquaponics model for demonstration. Group 2 improved the software model, maintained the demonstration model, and initialise a bigger solar aquaponics model [3]. However, there are some constraints within this model that:

• Better system modelling required improved sensing and sensors,

• More feasible solutions were to be identified for industrial applications,

• Energy harvesting efficiency could be improved,

• Model scalability to allow larger system modelling with better fish and plants yield estimation.

Project Aim

Aiming industrial and commercial applications, we would like to build up an improved solar aquaponics module, where more parameters could be monitored, solar energy is harvest more efficiently, more fish are raised and more plants are cultivated. Our group are focusing on these targets:

a) to develop an integrated monitoring subsystem for data collection,

b) to improve the demonstration model, by increasing the size, adding growing methods and improving the structure,

c) to optimise the solar power conversion, by attaching a sunlight tracker to solar panels.

As group 3, we worked with group 2 during first half of our project, and worked with Group 4 during the second half. We were to develop a monitoring subsystem to which sensors were to be integrated, to improve and finish the design of the aquaponics model which would contain more fish and plants, and to design a sunlight tracker that would allow solar panels to follow the angle to the sun. The collected data would be exported from the software simulation model, where the yield can be predicted and then compared to the real amount.

Software Model Simulation

Software Model Simulation was developed by Group 2. Please see their: Software Model Simulation