Aquaculture barge

HeliXir is an entirely new way of treating fish. The fish is moved through the treatment bath in a controlled fashion. This allows you to reuse your chemicals and reduce pollution. Treating a cage of 200.000 3,5 kilo fish for 20 minutes requires only 350 m³ of process water. This is a reduction of 96 % compared to treating the fish in the cage and a 90 % reduction compared to treating it in a well boat. The treatment water is very homogenous. There are no hot spots with higher concentrations of medicine. This reduces mortality rates and ensures a uniform exposure of each individual fish. Consequently, fewer lice survive to produce immune generations. Because the waste water is filtered, all the lice and most of their eggs are captured. On the prototype, the tank holds 20 tons. The required retention time defines the capacity. Given a retention time of 20 minutes, the capacity is 78 tons per hour. Because of the controlled environment the concentration of chemicals may be increased to reduce the retention time. This is beneficial for the fish and further increases the capacity. Sedatives may be added to the treatment bath, reducing the time it takes for the fish to regain its appetite when it is released back into the cage. HeliXir is developed in cooperation with Måsøval Fiskeoppdrett AS. The project received the innovation award at AquaNor 2015.