New aquaculture system for tilapia fish being developed

Five students of the College of Engineering at the UAE University has set up a project to invent an aquaculture system for fresh water tilapia fish.

The system has been designed to offer a healthy environment to fish and prevent high discharge of polluted water, said Dr Abdulla Al Amiri, Head of the Training and Graduation Programme Unit at the college.

He said the objectives of this project are to enable students to trust their abilities and put their knowledge and skills into practice.

The project enjoys the support of a Dubai-based international company Asmak, which has promised to introduce the system on a commercial basis if proved successful.

Mohammed Al Musharfy, a student working on the project, said all the students working on the system, called 'Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production System', are the final year students of chemical engineering.

The work has been divided into two phases and the students are fully prepared for it. Dr Farid Benyahia, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Research Coordinator, will supervise the project.

Theoretical designing is the first phase that involves extensive study of literature on fish farming's design-related issues, water quality criteria, design calculations based on a viable small scale commercial production unit, and a profit analysis.

The second phase includes detailed designing of equipment and making a small-scale demonstration unit.

"The novel approach adopted is the use of polymer based immobilised nitrifying bacteria in a special reactor in the integrated water treatment units," said the students.

Bernard Durin, General Manager of Asmak, an international farming company, said the project includes a study of the unit's commercial viability.

"We are very much interested in the unit's commercial production but it depends on its success and feasibility," he said, adding that Asmak is happy to be part of this project.

He said the project deals with two very important aspects which are water conservation and reproduction of Tilapia fish. Both these are required in the Arabian region and give a high commercial value to the units.

The college graduation project is an integral part of the studies mainly considered as a joint collaboration among the faculty, senior students and the industry. It results in implementing professional engineering design practices and benefiting the community.

The team of three to five students, who are selected carefully, undertake these projects. The sponsors provide project description, a representative to supervise the project, participation in student evaluation, and payment of all expenses associated with the construction of prototypes or gathering of information.