Exergetic performance analysis of a recirculating aquaculture system

This paper examines exergetic aspects of a Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS) for Black Sea trout (Salmo, trutta labrax) fingerling rearing at the Trabzon Central Fisheries Research Institute, Turkey. In its thermodynamic analysis, each component of the RAS is treated as a steady-state steady flow system and its exergetic efficiencies are studied. In addition, the following parameters are measured and recorded in experiments: the mass flow rates, inlet and outlet temperatures and of the system components, surrounding temperatures, and electrical work utilized by the components in the RAS. Based on these experimental data, inlet and outlet exergy values, exergy losses, and exergetic efficiencies of each component in the system are determined to assess their performance. Moreover, the overall system exergy efficiency is determined. The results show that exergy efficiencies of the system components are highly affected by varying input exergy flows as a function of the surrounding temperature and chiller's operating period. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.