Qua Aquarius RRRRscreen

4
INFORMATION FROM KR Ü GER KALDNES Business & Nature All the tackle in the backpack and enjoying going fishing with my youngest. Life doesn’t get much better! This is when you recharge your batteries in an otherwise pretty hectic working day. This opportunity to experience and use Norwegian nature is something that must be taken care of. That is why I really appreciate –not just because of my job – institutions like Nofima Marine in Sunndalsøra. They carry out all-round research including looking into the conditions surrounding the Norwegian fish-farming industry, or aquaculture as it is now known. At the same time whatever is best for our society is always a factor in their deliberations. For a passionate angler that’s always good to know. The Norwegian salmon industry has grown steadily over the past 10 years and there is no reason to believe that growth will stop yet. The industry is in full swing to ensure ample supply of alevins (smolts) for the future by building new and larger hatcheries. The trend in recent years has been a decline in the number of plants; however, production has gone up significantly. The focus, in other words is larger plants with optimized production. A disadvantage of the construction of larger plants may be the availability of freshwater resources required. Each fish needs the same amount of water growing up in a large or small system and in many cases the water supply is the limiting factor. One challenge will therefore be to exploit the freshwater resources effectively. To meet this challenge, Krüger Kaldnes developed Kaldnes® RAS, a water treatment solution for recycling water from aquaculture production. Typically, with Kaldnes® RAS water consumption can be reduced by up to 99% compared with production in traditional hatcheries. Our concept has been well received in the market and we have in recent years produced several turnkey facilities to our customers. Last out is Sundsord smolt in Gildeskål municipality where Krüger Kaldnes in partnership with the pipe- and fish tank supplier, Plast-Sveis AS, has supplied a turnkey recycling plant. The plant, which has the capacity to produce ~ 3 million smolts per year, was constructed in record time over the winter and spring of 2012, and the first batch is now in production. Special Edition: AQUACULTURE Marius Hægh Vice president / M.Sc. mob: +47 4804 9494 [email protected] 2 page “ low maintenance of the bio filter, stable operations plus sufficient capacity for both our needs and requirements3 page ” a stable production temperature with minimal input of energy. It was an ingenious idea that Krüger Kaldnes has refined to become a world export” 4 page “ previously we only had access to 6 m 3 of pre-heated freshwater a minute. Now we have 6 times that amount”

Transcript of Qua Aquarius RRRRscreen

Page 1: Qua Aquarius RRRRscreen

INFORMATION FROM KRÜGER KALDNES

Business & NatureAll the tackle in the backpack and enjoying going fishing with my youngest. Life doesn’t get much better! This is when you recharge your batteries in an otherwise pretty hectic working day. This opportunity to experience and use Norwegian nature is something that must be taken care of. That is why I really appreciate –not just because of my job – institutions like Nofima Marine in Sunndalsøra. They carry out all-round research including looking into the conditions surrounding the Norwegian fish-farming industry, or aquaculture as it is now known. At the same time whatever is best for our society is always a factor in their deliberations. For a passionate angler that’s always good to know.

The Norwegian salmon industry has grown steadily over the past 10 years and there is no reason to believe that growth will stop yet. The industry is in full swing to ensure ample supply of alevins (smolts) for the future by building new and larger hatcheries. The trend in recent years has been a decline in the number of plants; however, production has gone up significantly. The focus, in other words is larger plants with optimized production.

A disadvantage of the construction of larger plants may be the availability of freshwater resources required. Each fish needs the same amount of water growing up in a large or small system and in many cases the water supply is the limiting factor. One challenge will therefore be to exploit the freshwater resources effectively.

To meet this challenge, Krüger Kaldnes developed Kaldnes® RAS, a water treatment solution for recycling water from aquaculture production. Typically, with Kaldnes® RAS water consumption can be reduced by up to 99% compared with production in traditional hatcheries. Our concept has been well received in the market and we have in recent years produced several turnkey facilities to our customers. Last out is Sundsfjord smolt in Gildeskål municipality where Krüger Kaldnes in partnership with the pipe- and fish tank supplier, Plast-Sveis AS, has supplied a turnkey recycling plant. The plant, which has the capacity to produce ~ 3 million smolts per year, was constructed in record time over the winter and spring of 2012, and the first batch is now in production.

Special Edition: AQUACULTURE

Marius HæghVice president/M.Sc. mob: +47 4804 9494 [email protected]

2page“... low maintenance of the bio filter,

stable operations plus sufficient capacity for both our needs and

requirements”

3page ”... a stable production temperature with minimal input of energy. It

was an ingenious idea that Krüger Kaldnes has refined to become a

world export”

4page “... previously we only had access to 6 m3 of pre-heated freshwater

a minute. Now we have 6 times that amount”

user
Sticky Note
2
Page 2: Qua Aquarius RRRRscreen

page 2

”Fresh-water is becoming scarce”

Bendik Fyhn Terjesen at Nofima Marine, Sunndalsøra, Norway, has many years of experience tackling challenges in the aquaculture industry.

As the plane descends on Molde airport there is little to indicate that fresh-water for industrial purposes will become scarce. Further, as we continue our journey by car, dark, laden clouds hang over the mountains. The weather is chucking it down! In some parts of the country this is the wettest summer since the turn of the century. However, according to Senior Researcher Bendik Fyhn Terjesen, employed by Nofima at Sunndalsøra Norway, nature, as a sole-supplier of water, will not be able to supply our needs if the development in the fish-farming industry continues to grow at its present rate.

Aquaculture is our second biggest export activity. A poor second we might add because the biggest is oil and gas! Nonetheless, Aquaculture represents an annual export value of a whopping 30 billion NOK. In 2006, NIVA, SINTEF and Nofima looked into the challenges posed by process-water that would be encountered in the future. According to Fyhn Terjesen, the resulting report was both informative and a bit alarming. Data had been gathered about rivers, water-tables and watershed districts. Consideration was given to EU water directives. The conclusions were clear: If the development continued at the present rate then water would become a scarcity! Especially so when we also need water for other important aspects of our society such as hydroelectric power, recreational activities etc.

Nofima has facilities at several different sites throughout Norway. It is a government research facility dealing with the complete value-adding process of aquaculture. This includes the breeding of salmon fry (smolt), feed ingredients, harvesting,

into fresh-water by reverse osmosis. However the present day costs of the technology to achieve this is prohibitive. The best solution is recycling of the process water since this has the added advantage of reducing the total demand for fresh water. This means that the process water must be thoroughly reconstituted before it can again be used in the breeding facilities.

“We know a lot about free-flow water but a lot less about process water that must be cleaned and returned to its original condition before it is reused. However our new recycling centre will give us much more know-how about this challenging area” says Fyhn Terjesen, before adding that ideally it would be best to carry out the complete fish-farming process on-shore.“We are concentrating on finding the most sustainable solution. We need to see the process as a whole: using other fish for feed, using natural vegetable food such as rape and soya oil, considering the welfare of the fish themselves, etc. The optimal solution could easily be six of one and a half dozen of the other.”

At present a suggestion is being considered as to whether the permitted weight of the fish in the initial stage should be increased to 1 kilo. If adopted – and it probably will be – it will create a need for larger on-shore facilities and more process water.

Fyhn Terjesen goes on to say, “For

us as a research institution this will increase the scope of our involvement. In my opinion such a decision will bring several advantages. Although Nofima doesn’t support the view that salmon-lice reduces the number of wild Atlantic salmon as a species, we do however agree that salmon die once the amount of lice gets above a certain level - whether they are wild salmon and farmed salmon. It is possible that an extension of the initial breeding stage on land (or in a closed tank off-shore) will reduce the lifetime of the parasites by a whole generation. The result would be a reduction in salmon mortality. May I also add that an increased smolt size would pose lots of exiting challenges to the industry itself.”

A popular destinationBecause of its size the Nofima aquaculture recycling centre at Sunndalsøra is unique in Europe. Inquisitive colleagues and potential clients - not only from Norway – but worldwide, are frequent visitors. Today Spanish is being spoken in our conference room!The recycled water is reconstituted using the recognised Kaldnes TM MBBR process supplied by Kruger Kaldnes.

Finally Fyhn Terjesen concludes, “As an independent research institution we wish to avoid recommending specific suppliers of technology. However, if asked about our experiences we have no problem in answering: so far we are well satisfied. Low maintenance of the bio filter, stable operations plus sufficient capacity for both our needs and requirements.”

The expanding Aquaculture industry:

marketing and consumption. More than 50 % of their assignments come from the industry itself. The remainder is financed by research bureaus and local authorities. Last year a new recycling department was opened by our Minister for Fisheries and other VIP’s at the Research Centre here in Sunndalsøra. Among the assignments we were given were pilot projects and further research into improving conditions for the present and future aquaculture industry. Included in this was the acceptance of, and responsibility for, protecting the environment.

Both rivers and seasFarmed salmon is the biggest single export product from the Norwegian aquaculture industry. Salmon is a so-called anadromous fish that means it breeds in fresh-water, swims out to sea to mature and then returns to

its origins to spawn. The first stage in fish-farming is the breeding of fry or smolt. This is done under artificial conditions in on-shore fresh-water tanks. Here the young fish grow to a maximum of 250 grams after which they are transferred to special nets suspended off-shore. This initial stage in the production process demands that the quality of water used is equivalent to that found in nature. This is usually achieved by a constant through-flow of water that is subsequently discharged as waste.

An alternative would be the use of sea-water that has been desalinated

Page 3: Qua Aquarius RRRRscreen

page 3

Yngve Ulgenes helped to prepare. “Marine species such as halibut, turbot and cod are also bred in onshore plants but they live only in sea water - and we have lots of it! However, the production of say salmon demands so much water that we need to think differently - whether we like it or not. We have to limit water consumption per fry produced. Moreover recycling has many other benefits as well so the sums shouldn’t be difficult to work out. According to one of the largest players in the market, the end product, i.e., fry, is of very good quality when bred in recycling plants.” said Yngve Ulgenes. Predictable production and quality of recycling is currently possible because of the improvement in technology that has taken place in Norway“As noted above, the first plants were relatively inefficient. The biggest reason was the accumulation of faces from the growing fish and other unwanted waste such as powder from the feed. The accumulated waste caused ”clogging” of the staticbio filters. At worst, it could produce toxic matter that took the lives of the young fish. But then Professor Hallvard Odegaard arrived on the scene with his biological ”moving bed” concept which has now become the basis of Kaldnes ™ RAS. A moving biomass is always in circulation, which prevents the enrichment of unwanted material.The solution enables the reuse of process water in fish-breeding plants and gives an extended dwell time of an entire, and a stable production temperature with

minimal input of energy.It was an ingenious idea that Krüger Kaldnes has refined to become a world exporttechnology. That others have jumped on the band-wagon just proves we are best. However, no-one has the experience that Krüger Kaldnes has. The company is to me a very serious player with proven results.” says Yngve Ulgenes, “especially in the light of other challenges posed by the increased activity in the industry. To date, the weight limit for salmon fry to be released to the sea is 250 grams. Then follow the 24-month-cycle in the sea to final harvest of 5-6 kilos. With regard to threats such as sea lice, it is better that the fry spend less time in the sea-cages and more time in the onshore facilities. Therefore we want to increase the weight limit for the fry a kilo and then let the fish grow further in a sheltered environment. This however will increase both the number and weight of the fish in the system with a corresponding increase in waste products in the process water. This sludge must be treated and disposed of in an efficient manner. Also here Krüger Kaldnes has good solutions. “As part of Veolia, the company has access to an impressive range of innovative solutions”, says Yngve Ulgenes. .

In the 1980’s and 90’s he spoke to deaf ears when the subject of recycling as a future-orientated technology industry was raised. Today the situation is completely different and Yngve Ulgenes, who became associated with Krüger Kaldnes this May, anticipates an exciting future for Kaldnes ™ RAS.SINTEF in Trondheim has been working with Yngve Ulgenes for over 20 years. He arrived initially after first graduating in nutritional biology at the University of Bergen, followed by three years at the Institute, and then a five-year stint at Fosen Peninsulain Bjugn. There he was head of the establishment and subsequent operation of a salmon-fry breeding plant. Later, at SINTEF in Trondheim he has been involved in a number of projects, most of which have been focused on water treatment on a broad scale - industrial, public sector, but most of all fish-breeding. It is therefore a real resource person who now gives Krüger Kaldnes added expertise in aquaculture whenever we need it. Yngve is not a moment in doubt that the strong scepticism for recycling that was experienced in the 90s is now turned to enthusiasm. But first a look back at the development:“Since Norway has access to large amounts of freshwater, salmon and trout breeding plants have mainly been so-called flow-through systems, i.e. where the water is used only once. In such systems the water is taken directly from nature, treated to a very limited extent and has a maximum dwell time of approximately one hour in the plant.Since water in nature can vary somewhat widely in quality, this provides little opportunity to achieve stability. A fluctuating water environment has a negative effect on the ability of the fry ability to grow. In a recirculation system a comprehensive water treatment establishes a control of water quality in the system. The design and operation of a recycling plant strives constantly strives to achieve an optimal and stable water quality where robust, high quality fry can thrive before being released to the maritime fish farms. The same good intentions were behind the design of the first recycling plants in Norway almost 30 years ago. In those days such facilities were built to heat the water and thus produce fry ready for release in one year. However in practice the

results were often disappointing: Some farmers tried their best to create their own solutions. Others listened to the advice that was not always good. Recycling facilities that built at the time were largely not fit for purpose, to use a quality expression. When heat pumps became common they were usually used to recycle the fish-breeding plants.” says Yngve Ulgenes. “At that time Norway - in relation to the size of its aquaculture industry- had a lot of fresh water at its disposal. Countries such as Denmark, England and Holland were not so fortunate. This advantage actually stifled development of recycling technology in Norway. There was little interest in finding new methods and this continued far into the 2000s. But then it turned!

Important exportToday, aquaculture is one of Norway’s largest export industries with significant growth from about

100,000 tons in 1990 to 10 times as much in the year 2011 and growing! The prevailing forecasts however say that, access to fresh water for fish-breeding plants will diminish in the years to come. This was also the conclusion of the 2006 report, ”Water Resources in Norway for Fish-breeding Production” that

Yngve Ulgenes about Kaldnes® RAS:

Complete faith in recycling!

KONTAKT :[email protected]

+47 9242 2713

Page 4: Qua Aquarius RRRRscreen

Hegnasletta 11 NO-3217 Sandefjord, Norway Phone: +47 91 60 80 00 | Fax + 47 33 48 50 01 e-mail: [email protected] | www.krugerkaldnes.no

Publisher: Krüger Kaldnes

JHR

Prod

uksj

on |

sept

201

2

page4

”At first sight it is easy to believe that in our low-populated part of the country we would have more than enough space. However, with a churchyard on one side and a river on the other, things aren’t quite that easy. Therefore we looked for a solution that took up less space. – and we found it!” says John-Ivar Sætre.

After a trip by ferry and then a few kilometres by car from Volda on Norway’s West coast, we end up in Dalsfjorden. Here you will find one of the 8 smolt-production plants that belong to Marine Harvest – a world leader in salmon export. This is where John-Ivar works as the fresh-water Regional Manager. The installation was built in 1968 and for a time it was the biggest plant of its kind in Norway. The time has arrived to upgrade it! In 2009 Krüger Kaldnes delivered the first recycling solution for reclaiming process-water – a process that took place outdoors in large tanks. At the time of writing it is the inside plant that is being upgraded – again by Krüger Kaldnes. They have delivered the leading-edge technology for reclaiming the freshwater that the salmon smolt are bred in. John-Ivar is excited about what is happening. “Recycling is a major development in a very conservative industry. It provides us with a unique opportunity to optimise our operation – and costs” he says, and adds:

” As a producer we want to provide the best possible conditions for the young fish so that they can rapidly reach their minimum weight before they are transferred to the off-shore facilities. At the same time we do not want to compromise the welfare of the fish. Traditionally our smolt tanks were fed with a continual flow of freshwater that the authorities allowed us to extract from our neighbouring river. This meant that the temperature of the water varied considerably – sometimes down to 2 degrees during the winter. Smolt are unhappy with these conditions and it restricts their growth. The result was that our large production tanks effectively became storage

Year-round optimal production!tanks during the period of November to March. However, by means of recirculation we can maintain an evenly higher temperature 14-16 degrees Celsius throughout the year, giving our production a much better continuity.” says John-Ivar.

Pressure variationsUnder gravity the water runs out of the tanks to the drum-filters that remove solid waste. Then dissolved organic material and ammonium is removed by means of a Kaldnes™ Moving Bed process while CO2 is extracted by a gravity filter where air is forced against the flow with a ripple-filter. Finally oxygen is introduced through cones that have their bases placed 6-7 metres under the surface, giving in effect a deep-shaft solution.”In my mind this is a stroke of genius. By placing the cones in this way the pressure differential contributes to an efficient and cost-effective method of supplying oxygen to the process. A pressure head of only 1 metre below the rim of the production tanks means that we only need one pumping stage to feed the whole circuit. Previously we only had access to 6 m3 of pre-heated freshwater a minute. Now we have 6 times that amount. All we need now is 6-700 litres of pre-heated water in the corresponding period. In total this has become a real energy-saver” says John-Ivar Sætre, who is also highly satisfied with the adoption of the new recycling techniques.

“Concrete costs money! The fact that the solution from Krüger Kaldnes didn’t require more floor-space is a great advantage.”

Less area - higher smolt production:

John-Ivar Sætre is

Regional Manager, freshwater for Marine

Harvest. In his opinion recycling process-water is a good investment that will make the breeding of smolt (salmon fry) even more effective.