Posts Tagged ‘Power generation’


Aquaculture Industry + Power Generation Industry

Nik, a member of the finfish.org community, is interested in aquaculture from an energy point of view.  He has spent a lot of time and effort in the cooling tower and condenser areas within power.

Nik writes:

There are vast amounts of low temperature energy ie (45 – 50 C) that is rejected to the atmosphere through evaporation of water.  I was reading a study about fish and prawn growth rates (particularly Kuruma prawns) adversely affected by lower temperature waters.

I would like to know if anyone had considered coupling the two industries on a large scale (ie 100 ha size farms) and if so, with what result?  The concept is not exactly new, European countries have been utilising the “waste heat” for district heating of dwellings… But there is not much call for district heating in Australia especially since the power stations are located in rural areas.

So I’ve been looking for an industry in Australia that could utilise large amounts of “waste heat” in rural areas.  I think that a primary industry on a large enough scale could warrant some further investigation.  A brief investigation was done during a study for solar thermal desalination of the Murray.

If anyone has any information or would like to discuss this topic, please comment on this post, or create your own post.  Click here for information on how to comment or create your own post.


Contra Rotating Tidal Turbine for Aquaculture

The Energy Systems Research Team at the University of Strathclyde is developing a contra-rotating marine current turbine with integral power take off. Using patented new rotor technology this design enables more energy to be delivered from the flowing stream while reducing mechanical complexity.

Compared to existing turbines of similar dimensions contra-rotating rotors are more efficient, yield a higher power output, and reduce the environmental impact associated with the downstream disturbance of the seabed and aquaculture.
Some of its features which might make it attractive for the aquaculture industry are its
reduced environmental impacts, low maintenance and that there is no expensive piled seabed structure requirement.

Click here for the source of this information