ES1287590U - aquaculture facility - Google Patents

Abstract

Aquaculture installation, comprising one or more floating cages (1), with a mouth, a submerged mesh (12) and a bottom (13), characterized in that the bottom (13) of the cages (1) is closed and has funnel-shaped, with a conduit (2) for pumping the fluid, with faeces and food or animal remains, towards a reactor (3) or filter on the surface.

Description

DESCRIPTION

aquaculture facility

TECHNICAL SECTOR

This application relates to an aquaculture facility. It is a solution to reduce the environmental impact of aquaculture. It implies an improvement in the current system of marine farms to favor the filtering of water contaminated by waste and excrement from fish during cultivation.

STATE OF THE ART

The intensive production of marine species begins with the fertilization of the eggs in ground laboratories, from there they go to some ponds where they are incubated until they become juveniles, then they go through an acclimatization and fattening process to introduce them into salt water in pools set up for this purpose. .

Aquaculture generates waste, either from the food that is delivered to the farmed organisms and is not consumed or from the faeces they produce. So that the fauna of the seabed can continue to assimilate this waste, aquaculture should be developed within certain limits.

The applicant does not know of any device that allows these problems to be solved in such a simple way as the invention.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of an aquaculture installation according to the first claim and whose variants solve the problems of the state of the art.

The aquaculture installation starts from a known structure, which comprises one or more floating cages, with a mouth, a submerged mesh and a bottom. On top of this basic version, the features that are considered novel are provided. Specifically, the bottom of the cages is closed and has the shape, totally or partially, of a funnel. A fluid pumping line, with faeces and food or animal remains, takes the water from that funnel to one or more filters or reactors, for example bioreactors, on the surface.

The reactors, for structural simplicity, can be coupled to the mouth of a cage. They may also be floating for easy replacement, for example in maintenance processes.

Other variants are seen in the rest of the report.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For a better understanding of the invention, the following figure is included.

Figure 1: View of an embodiment.

MODES OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the invention is briefly described, as an illustrative and non-limiting example of the latter.

Figure 1 shows an example of the invention, formed by a floating cage (1), intended to be placed in the sea and to raise a series of fish in it. This type of cage (1) is normally fixed to the bottom by anchors and comprises a floating walkway (11) in the mouth, a rigid or flexible net or mesh (12), a bottom (13) to prevent the exit of the fish down the bottom. The cage (1) is usually placed next to other cages (1) to form the farm.

In the invention, the bottom (13) is closed, without openings or holes, so that any object that falls through the cage (1) is received in it. The background (13) It is funnel-shaped with a lower part where waste accumulates. A conduit (2) allows the fluid, with faeces and food or animal remains, to be pumped towards a reactor (3) on the surface. The reactor (3) can be common to several cages (1).

The preferred reactor (3) will be a bioreactor that degrades nitrates, phosphates and other compounds by means of biological agents such as bacteria, for example mounted on resin biopellets. The reactor (3) may have agitators to create turbulence, oxygenation systems to eliminate odors and oxidize harmful compounds. The bioreactor will have filters, biocidal elements (such as ultraviolet light with a wavelength close to 252nm),...

The reactor (3) can be fixed to the walkway (11) or be independent, either floating (fixed to the sea/lake bed or to the cage (1)) or on land if it is close enough. The water treated by the reactor (3) will be returned to the body of water (sea, lake.) and any concentrated or dry residue can be stored to be sent to the mainland later.

The mesh (12) can have a smaller mesh size in the area near the bottom (13) to help concentrate the waste, but allowing the passage of water. This smaller mesh passage performs filter functions, leaving the residues at the bottom (13).

The impulsion pump, which must be able to pump solids, will generally be submerged and will be powered from the mouth, for example by means of a solar panel (4), with a storage battery. It is also possible to use tidal energy, from waves through systems known in the art or any other type of renewable or non-renewable energy.

The cage (1) can have sensors to monitor in real time the quality of the water leaving or entering the reactor (3). For example, you can measure pH, turbidity, salinity, temperature. it can also have cameras to control the installation or the reaction.

Claims (1)

1- Aquaculture installation, comprising one or more floating cages (1), with a mouth, a submerged mesh (12) and a bottom (13), characterized in that the bottom (13) of the cages (1) is closed and it is funnel-shaped, with a conduit (2) for pumping the fluid, with faeces and food or animal remains, towards a reactor (3) or filter on the surface. 2- Aquaculture installation, according to claim 1, characterized in that the reactor (3) is coupled to the mouth of a cage (1). 3- Aquaculture installation, according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a reactor (3) which is a bioreactor. 4- Aquaculture installation, according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a renewable energy system such as a solar power panel (4). 5- Aquaculture installation, according to claim 1, characterized in that the mesh (12) has a smaller mesh pitch in the area near the bottom (13).