Feed loaders used in aquaculture
Solid pellets are the most common feed used for fish or shrimp growth in aquaculture farms. As the feed is not usually transported to its consumption right after its arrival at the farm, it needs to be stored and just later distributed among the tanks with fish or shrimp, depending on scheduled daily consumption. Therefore, there is a storage place for incoming feed delivered to the farm and then local storage places within the farm. The transportation between different feed spots can be done manually or, to simplify the work for the operators and better control the supplied quantity, automatic systems are used.
In general, depending on the applied feeding system, whether individual or centralized, there are usually one or several silos that can have different storage capacities, based on the daily amount of feed to be supplied.
These silos used to be refilled on a regular basis, depending on their capacity and consumption. It can be done:
- Manually if they are small silos or hoppers
- Automatically or semi-automatically if they are large or very large silos
Types of chargers
Among the types of chargers used in aquaculture, we can find:
1.- Mechanical loaders
Hoist Chargers
These types of feed loaders are often used in aquaculture farms for fish feed delivered in big bags. By using a hoist, the silos are loaded from the top of the silo.
Screw Feeding Conveyor
In some aquaculture farms, it is not possible to raise the bag above the silo. In such cases, it is better to use loaders that, with a screw auger, can reach the top of the silo and reload it.
2.- Pneumatic loaders
Pneumatic loaders are an ideal aid when the pellets storage is a long distance from the silos used to feed fish or shrimp in tanks.
Pneumatic feeders for aquaculture use air to transport feed from a central position to silos connected to the feeding system. This system can be optimized by adding a selector that permits reloadingnot just one, but several silos.
The initial charging point of a pneumatic loader can be:
Hopper
It is an ideal form for manual reloading, that permits the feed transport to the silo.
Hoist Loader
As explained above, the hoist loader could be used for feed supplied in big bags and helps to transfer the pellets to silos located within the fish farm.
The use of pneumatic loaders requires the installation of cyclones in the hoppers, the purpose of which is:
- to reduce the speed at which the feed reaches the hopper,
- facilitating its loading by reducing the speed at which it is deposited in the hopper and
- avoiding the breakage of the feed and the generation of dust.
3.- Transport with chains
For distances of up to 60 meters approximately, feed can be transported using a chain-driven pipeline. One of the options of moving feed from a central storage to the silos connected to the feeding system or even directly to feed the fish on the farm.
4.- Loading with trucks
For large capacity silos, the feed reloading is usually done directly from the trucks that transport it, without including any intermediary equipment.
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