Solutions for industrial fish farming
What are the challenges in monitoring Aquaculture process?
Intensive fish farming always requires close monitoring and control of the production process in order to maintain the optimal conditions for fish and shellfish. Equipment failures can easily result in damage to the welfare of the stock and therefore substantial financial losses can be incurred. Being able to monitor this equipment in real-time and raise alarms when issues occur are vital for securing the operation.
Maintaining a perfect and stable water temperature, water level and oxygen level in the recirculating aquaculture systems is most important as the growth rate and health of the livestock are directly related to these values. A heat exchanger for air can utilise energy from the out-going air and transfer it to the in-going air, thereby reducing the need for heating significantly.
What solutions does ifm offer?
Real Time Maintenance
ifm sensors monitor and report the condition of the system to give information to the user before unplanned stoppages affect the complete plant operation.
Energy Efficiency
Stable conditions help to reduce costs for water, oxygen and energy and optimize the Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) for the operator.
Process Optimization
For permanent reliability of a process which has many complex stages ifm offers sensors, connection systems and control components.
How to ensure the right quantity and the best quality of the feed system?
With reliable level control of silos, accurate pressure control system and correct position of the gate valves, ifm can improve the system operation. All sensor information including diagnostic data can be transferred digitally without loss to the PLC via industrial ethernet modules with IO-link interface.
The product range includes interfaces to Profinet, EtherCat, Ethernet/IP, Profibus or AS-Interface. Through the simple use of ‘Plug & Play’ M12 connection cables that are food industry approved and IP69K protected the system is easily put together and maintained.
How to ensure the treatment water?
The control of the level and pressure of oxygen in the Speece cone are fundamental to the process, as is the water level in the livestock tank. Conductivity of the tank water is also an important variable in the process. Detecting the conductivity and concentration of different media that differentiate between e.g., cleaning agents, rinsing water, and the tank water. This means that it is not only possible to track the quality constantly but also to reduce the waste of chemicals and rinsing water.
How to ensure the correct operation of pumps in the process?
Vibration monitoring systems are used for condition-based maintenance of machines and installations.
Continuously monitoring vibrations caused by cavitation or mechanical failures, controlling water pressure peaks that break pipes and avoiding running out of water in hydraulic circuits can help to detect machine damage in good time and prevent costly consequential damage.