Design of fish feeding mechanism for Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS)

Abstract: Fish farming or Aquaculture is a growing food-producing industry to culture the fish in artificially constructed tanks. A large number of fishes are reared in tanks for 100-150 days and produce food for the population. With increasing population and declining worldwide capture fishery, Aquaculture is perceived as a potential technique to meet the ever-expanding food demand without tarnishing the aquatic food chain. However, problems which are addressed in current systems like human intervention and unused feed material inhibit the production rate. This thesis provides methods and guidelines to resolve the challenges and simplify the mechanical design aspects of storage, transportation, and control of the dispensing process, which ultimately benefits the small-scale producers and entrepreneurs. Storing and distributing the fish feed along the fluid stream involves in considering multi-disciplinary engineering calculations. The fundamental knowledge of fluid mechanics, discrete element properties and mechanical design have been found to be an effective solution for such challenges. The results of this work provide information on designing the fish feeding mechanism incorporating fluid stream particle dispensing and evaluation of components present in the system. The thesis work provides solutions that serve as a starting point for low-cost design, validation and automation of components in a feeding mechanism for aquaculture industries.