Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS

© Adobe Stock / Jakub Rutkiewicz -stock.adobe.com

mioty® in the aquaculture sector - ISOLA

The overfishing of oceans, rivers and lakes as well as changing climatic and ecological conditions have been leading to a decline in wild catches for years. As a result, the interest of restaurateurs, retailers and end customers in shrimp and fish from aquacultures is increasing.

 

One of the methods used is the land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). In this type of fish farming, the water in which the fish are kept is continuously recycled in a recirculation system. The water is constantly mechanically filtered, biologically purified and enriched with oxygen. The clean water is then fed back to the fish. Only a very small proportion of the process water needs to be replaced with fresh water.

Initial situation

RAS systems have many advantages: the quality of the products remain consistently high, the work is resource-efficient, there is a low environmental impact on natural water systems and the production environment can be controlled and optimized. In addition, shorter delivery routes and times due to production close to the customer mean that the product is particularly fresh.

 

However, recirculating aquaculture involves high operating costs, is subject to legal requirements and is associated with high personnel costs. The highly complex interactions between technical and economic operational design and management on the one hand and animal physiological optimization on the other require a high degree of interdisciplinary expertise on the part of the operators.

Solution

As part of the project on "Innovative sensors, system models and IoT technologies for the optimization of land-based recirculating aquaculture systems" (ISOLA), existing solutions are being revised and improved. New sensor technology and the expansion of systemic sensor technology coupled with standard sensor technology will create an IoT condition monitoring system for aquacultures. The development of a new turbidity sensor with spectral resolution helps to ensure water quality. The power consumption of central components of the circulation system is recorded via current sensors.

 

In the project, the new sensor technology is being tested for the first time in a real RAS environment at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Individualized and Cell-based Medical Engineering (IMTE). mioty® is used to transmit measured sensor data. In addition, a model-based simulation (digital twin) for aquaculture recirculation systems will be developed, the accuracy of which will be compared with the real measurement data. Optimization possibilities in operational management and breeding success are thus developed via the installed sensor technology.

Benefit

RAS systems make fish farming almost independent of natural water sources, so fish farms can also be operated on land. Water quality and temperature are easier to control and disease outbreaks can be better avoided without major losses. Thanks to the use of sensor technology, it is possible to increase yields and minimize costs overall.

 

Through the additional development of a digital twin, the entire system operation can be optimized in terms of water quality and energy consumption, even during the planning phase of the system. A comparison of the simulation with real process data during operation can also predict and prevent critical operating states and inefficiencies.