final 5th year project defense 2015
TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
FEB 540: ENGINEERING PROJECT ORAL EXAMINATION
2014/2015 ACADEMIC YEAR
PROJECT TITLE: DESIGN OF AN AQUAPONIC SYSTEM
BY: WAMBUA LYDIA WAYUA
REG NO. F21/1731/2012
SUPERVISOR: MR. S.C. ONDIEKI
8TH May 2015
INTRODUCTION: DID YOU KNOW…?
1. Fish water is loaded with nutrients?
2. Crops can grow to their maximum potential
using fish water as they would in well fertilized
soil?
3. Crops can grow without soil?
GROWING WITHOUT SOIL (HYDROPONICS)
FISH WATER: INTENSIVE FISH FARMING
DEFINITION: AQUAPONIC SYSTEM
Aquaponics is the marriage of intensive modern fish farming in tanks to intensive modern hydroponic farming.
Hydroponic farming: “Hydro” –water, “Ponos”- working.
It is the art of growing crops in sand, gravel or liquid with added nutrients without soil.
Main crops grown in hydroponics: local vegetables, tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, cucumber, peppers as well as ornamental crops such as herbs, roses and foliage plants.
Main fish type kept: tilapia, cat fish, Nile perch e.t.c
LITERATURE REVIEW: PIONEERS IN
AQUAPONICS
The pioneer of aquaponic system was in USA, at the
University of Virgin Islands.
The system was developed in the 1970s and has been
operational commercially since then.
LITERATURE REVIEW CONT…
Interest is expanding in sustainable agriculture and producing food closer to urban centers, stimulating involvement from a small but growing aquaponics industry.
This technology is slowly being adopted in Kenya .
Hydroponics, in Kenya :Mr. Chege Peter from Zambezi area in Kikuyu and the nutrient solution is named ‘hydropeter’.
An aquaponic farm has been operational in Kinangop by Mr. Daniel Kimani
LITERATURE REVIEW: COMPONENTS OF THE
SYSTEM
DID YOU KNOW…?
1. Aquaponics can grow 90% more food on 90%
less space?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Problem statement
Addresses two major issues;
(1) The issue of limited land
(2) Low yields
Hypothesis
An aquaponic system can grow 90% more food on 90%
less land.
OVERALL OBJECTIVE
To design a system that integrates crop and fish farming
for a potential farmer in Kamulu area, Nairobi.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1. Evaluate and select the most suitable design alternative
2. Design of:
a) A strawberry hydroponic system
b) fish tanks and a sump.
c) Mechanical filtration devices
d) Biofilter
d) A water recirculating system: pumps, piping, and fittings
GENERATION OF CONCEPT DESIGN
FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION METHOD
GENERATION OF ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS
HYDROPONIC ALTERNATIVES
HYDROPONIC ALTERNATIVES
EVALUATION & SELECTION OF DESIGN
Decision matrix was used for evaluation
MOST SUITABLE SELECTION
Selected components are:
Fish tank………………………...circular fish tank
Settable solids removal…………settling basin
Suspended solids removal………filter tank
Hydroponic system…………......vertical tower configuration
Pump………………………........centrifugal type
PRODUCT DESIGN: DESIGN STEPS
1. Design of a vertical strawberry farming system Farm dimensions
The farm dimensions were measured with a tape measure and the elevation profile obtained using a GPS and Google earth.
Number of towers (Zipgrow, 2014)
Number of crops per tower (Zipgrow, 2014)
.
DESIGN CONT…
2. Calculation of the fish tanks volume
fish rearing area ratio 1 ft3 of fish rearing to 2 ft3 of
media, (Rakocy, Masser and Losordo, 2006)
critical standing crop, a value of 0.5 pounds per
gallon recommended fish density
DESIGN CONT…
3. Calculation of the flow rate
The system flow rate was calculated using the
empirical formula:
DESIGN CONT…
4. Design of the inlet and outlet water structures for the fish tanks.
DESIGN CONT…
5. Design of the settling basins.
DESIGN CONT…SEDIMENTATION BASIN
DESIGN CONT…
6. Design of the piping network.
fluid flow continuity equation Q = AV
From which,
A=Q/V
A=∏r2; r = ; d=2r, where d is the pipe diameter.
The head loss in the pipes is determined as:
hf =
DESIGN CONT…
Selection of a suitable pump for the system
Calculation of system head:
pump power requirement will be obtained using the
equation:
SYSTEM LAYOUT
RESULTS
CONCLUSION: ESTIMATED ANNUAL PRODUCTION
FROM THE DESIGNED SYSTEM.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Solar power harnessing
Rain water harvesting
REFERENCES
LOSORDO.T.M, MASSER.M.P and RAKOCY.J, (1998),
Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production System: An
overview of critical considerations, SRAC Publication No. 451,
New York
MALONE .R. (2013), Recirculating Aquaculture Tank
Production System: A review of current design practice, Southern
Regional Aquaculture Centre (SRAC) Publication No. 453
MASSER .M.P, RAKOCY.J and LOSORDO .T.M, (1999),
Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production System:
Management of Recirculating Systems, SRAC Publication No. 452,
New York
THE END
THANK YOU
EXTRA SLIDES
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
SITE ANALYSIS
Tilapia thrive in the temperature range of 21.11° C to
29.44° C while the recommended temperature for
strawberries is 15-30°C. Thus these two fall exactly
within the temperature range in Kamulu.
electricity supply to the area
Strawberries require maximum sunlight exposure
BILL OF QUANTITIES