FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY
MULTIZONE AUTOMATIC FEEDING SYSTEM by Westair, France Why make things complex when they can be simple? That’s the question French engineer Sébastien Termet asked himself, when he was approached by a fish farmer to come up with a feeding system. The first Westair product was built in his garage, and the unique solution he came up with was delivered to the customer, who was delighted with the results. That was in 2017, and now Westair’s workshop in Brittany designs and builds systems for the transfer of a variety of substances via pipes, along with equipment for dosing, cleaning and pipe inspection, as well as providing aftersales service. The Multizone® automatic feeding system for aquaculture is a direct development of that very first system, built in Sébastien’s garage, the key to which is the unique Multiway® three-way valve that makes it possible to route a variety of powders and liquids through a network to deliver feed in precise quantities as required, based around the concept of real-time feeding. Feed passes from storage silos to the DosAir® dosing management system, which routes all feed along a single pipe way, fitted with Multiway® valves, leading to each cage or tank in the farm, with options for one or more feeders for each tank. ‘To keep the system clean, we came up with the CleanPipe®”, Henri Herledan, CEO, says. ‘This is a mechanical crawler that passes through the pipes in between feed deliveries, and it automatically removes condensation, or any sludge left in the pipes, making sure that they remain clean all the time.” The smart ideas that go into Westair’s systems don’t end there, as the package includes a control and management system, based around a single PC coupled to a pocket controller, that can be used to stop and start feeding processes. ‘The touchscreen PC is loaded with all the software needed to manage the whole site, while the pocket controller is also ideal for remote locations,” Henri Herledan says. ‘There are also remote control options and site managers can
control, monitor and check systems and equipment status via remote PC, tablet or smartphone,’ he says and explains that the Multizone® system collates data from a variety of sensors throughout an aquaculture installation, measuring oxygen and NH4 levels, temperature and water turbidity, and it communicates constantly with the feeder software, interrupting the feed process and flagging up an alert if parameters are exceeded.
40 | January 2019 - International Aquafeed