Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 51 65

www.elsevier.nl/locate/aqua-online

Arrangement of aerators in an intensive shrimp

growout pond having a rectangular shape
Eric L. Peterson *, Lal C. Wadhwa, Jonathan A. Harris
School of Engineering, and the Aquaculture Cooperati6e Research Center, James Cook Uni6ersity,
Towns6ille 4811, Australia
Received 4 September 2000; accepted 9 April 2001

Abstract
Simulations have been conducted to suggest general principles for the arrangement of
aerators within a rectangular pond used for the growout of marine shrimp such as Penaeus
monodon and Penaeus japonicus. Computational fluid dynamic models were produced for
three schemes that were identified in a survey of Australian Prawn Farming Association
members. These arrangements are in-line (series), parallel (side by side), and diagonal
(diverting apart). Model results were assessed on the basis of benthic shear stress by
classifying regions of pond bottom as red zone (excessive stress), green zone (desirable),
and dead spots (sediment traps). A comparison of results indicates that conventional
aerators should be arranged diagonally or in parallel. It is also apparent that low-speed
operation would be advantageous. These recommendations are consistent with the long-established practice of establishing pond-wide circulation. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.
Keywords: Shrimp; Sediment; Aeration; Model; Simulation; Circulation; Pond

1. Introduction
Standard practice in Australian intensive shrimp growout ponds has been to
supply aeration night and day, so that circulation sweeps sediments clear from feed
areas. Circulation is a very important effect of mechanical aerators when aligned to
promote circular motion of water around the pond periphery (Boyd and Watten,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 61-7-47814420; Fax: + 61-7-47751184.
E-mail address: eng-elp@jcu.edu.au (E.L. Peterson).
0144-8609/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 4 4 - 8 6 0 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 7 2 - 3

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E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

1989). Primary pond circulation creates a secondary flow that diverges at the
surface and converges at the bottom, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The direction of
rotation is not important because the Coriolis force is very weak compared with the
propulsive thrust effect of aerators (Peterson, 1999a). Pond circulation may cause
soil erosion in intensive shrimp ponds, unless banks are protected with riprap
(Boyd, 1995). Aeration of marine shrimp ponds should be arranged in such a way
as to sweep the feed area of the pond, and such that these machines are switched
off during feeding (Chanratchakool, 1994). Each 1 kW of aeration will support an
additional 500 kg shrimp production, beyond a base of 2000 kg/ha that may survive
by natural re-aeration (Boyd, 1998). Consequently, a crop of 6500 kg can be
supported in a 1 ha pond with 9 kW aeration. Square ponds are easier to manage
because four paddlewheels can be arranged to wash out the corners (Peterson and
Pearson, 2000) while propeller aspirators can help centralise waste as illustrated in
Fig. 2. The present research involved the problem of rectangular ponds, where six
paddlewheel aerators are required to maintain an intensive biomass.
The focus of the present paper is to compare three alternative deployments of six
1.5 kW paddlewheel machines. These three arrangements share a common aeration
intensity of 9 kW/ha. Each case shares the same costs for maintenance, energy and
equipment, except for the length of electric power cables. The only other variation
between these three simulations is the positioning and alignment of the aerators.
Twenty members of the Australian Prawn Farmers Association returned a
questionnaire (Peterson, 1997) reporting on marine ponds they use for the growout
of P. monodon and P. japonicus. Survey respondents reported an average pond size
of 87 m wide by 121 m long with an area of 1.0 ha and an average pond depth of
1.6 m. These survey results justify the application of Pond X as a proxy typical
pond. Pond X bathymetry was 85 m 120 m, with a surface area of 1 ha allowing
for rounding in the corners, and 1.6 m deep at the outlet (Peterson, 2000). The
pond was stocked with about 30 PL/m2 with P. monodon, on the largest marine
shrimp farm in Australia at the time. Pond X was found to be a completely
turbulent quasi-steady-state closed system, driven primarily by mechanical aerators.
The survey (Peterson, 1997) also asked these Australian shrimp farmers to
compare their stocking and aeration strategies. The survey showed that paddlewheels were the dominant aerator type in Australia. The questionnaire also asked
each farmer to sketch the preferred arrangement of aerators in a pond. After
reviewing the responses, it was found that each had a unique scheme, but there
were some common themes. Some pond managers line up aerators one after
another in-line. A few arrange aerators side-by-side working in parallel. The use
of long-arm paddlewheel machines has been included in this classification because
they are similar to a side-by-side assemblage of smaller units. Half of the survey
sketches showed various arrangements of aerators that are directed diagonally in
one way or another. In some instances, the diagonal aerators were located in
corners and, in other cases, additional aerators were in the middle of reaches. All
diagonal arrangements involve the spreading apart of two aerator jets so that they
do not force against one another.

Fig. 1. Primary and secondary circulation.

E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

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E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

Fig. 2. Recommended arrangement of four paddlewheels and four propeller-aspirators in a square pond (after Peterson and Pearson, 2000). Note that each
paddlewheel is directed into the following corner.

E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

55

Pond X was observed with a deployment of four propeller-aspirators and two

paddlewheels, having a total aeration capacity of 9 kW (Peterson, 2000). A
real-world simulation of Pond X was validated by Peterson et al. (2000) by
assuming that turbulence is generated and dissipated entirely within the system. The
present paper presents three new simulations of Pond X, each with varied arrangements of aerators.

2. Methods
The computational methods used in present research were described in Peterson
et al. (2000). The methods were validated in the context of the same Pond X
bathymetry as was used for the present set of simulations. That manuscript made
reference to Figure 17, which was not included in the earlier paper, presented here
as Fig. 3. The R 2 linear regression correlation coefficient of 0.7983 indicates that
the model is good at predicting the direction of flow within the bottom boundary
layer. The implication is that our model is a valid predictor of the trajectory of
uneaten feed pellets and detritus.
The methodology employs the AUTOPOND program by Peterson (1999a). In the
interest of solving these large problems with finite computer resources, it was found
that convergence criteria needed to be adjusted from the nominal set point of 0.1%
and liberalised to 1% relative error between succeeding iterations. Questing for
tighter convergence criteria was found to be elusive, and ultimately may have
become an exercise in futility due the chaotic flapping of jets (Peterson et al., 2000).
Acceptance of results on face value provides the opportunity to illustrate some of

Fig. 3. Bottom flow direction correlation of simulation and observations (Should have been included in
Peterson et al. (2000) as Fig. 17).

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E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

the important processes that contribute to the dynamic interactions at play in a real
pond microcosm.
For comparison purposes, the performance index has been taken to be the
percentage of the pond bottom experiencing various intensities of shear stress
(N/m2). Peterson (1999b) argued that benthic shear stress is a significant factor
determining sediment condition. Portions of the pond bottom found to experience
high shear stress will suffer from erosion, unless armoured with stones, cement, or
plastic. In the present paper, those regions exposed to high stress are referred to as
the red zone.
Soil particles scoured from the red zone follow a conveyor-belt process to fall
onto surfaces experiencing less shear stress. Sedimentation tends to smother feed in
a process of anaerobic degradation. Meijer and Avnimelech (1999) found that there
is an anaerobic layer in the sediments of fishponds, below the penetration of
bioturbation and molecular diffusion. Dead spots are those places where benthic
shear stress is so weak that sediment oxygen demand exceeds the rate at which
oxygen can diffuse down from the water column, and so anaerobic conditions may
exit at the upper surface of the sediment (Peterson 1999b).
Regions of a pond bottom experiencing moderate stress, bounded by the red zone
and dead spots are referred to herein as the green zone. The green zone is that
area where mineral particles are undisturbed while the overlying water column is
well mixed. This corresponds to a benthic shear stress in the range 0.0010.01
N/m2, being the area where single cells are kept in suspension and feed is on the
threshold of resuspension. Clay minerals tend to be cohesive and withstand higher
stress after they have settled on the bottom, and so stresses up to 0.03 N/m2 have
been included in the green zone.

3. Results
Three alternative simulations were obtained in the course of the present research.
Each simulation represented the same pond with six 1.5 kW paddlewheels arranged
in-line, parallel, and diagonally. Graphical presentations of the three simulations
are given in Figs. 4 6, with plot axes that map the co-ordinates of integration
points where benthic shear stress was calculated. These axes have units of metres in
the north and west directions, respectively, while contours represent the magnitude
of shear stress (N/m2) tangential to the alignment in three-dimensional space of the
bottom and banks of Pond X. The upper-right corner of each simulation plot
reports the average benthic shear stress. The interpretation of these results involved
integration of the magnitude of benthic shear stress at each of the bottom and bank
finite elements of each simulation. These integrated results are tabulated in Table 1
in terms of the percentage of the pond bottom covered by dead spots, cells, feed,
clay, silt and sand. The total area of desirable green zone covered 26.4, 34.5, and
39% of the bottom of Pond X in the in-line, parallel, and diagonal simulations,
respectively. Conversely, the adverse red zone covered 61.8, 61.2, and 50.7% of the
in-line, parallel, and diagonal simulations.

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Fig. 4. In-line deployment-simulation results.

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Fig. 5. Parallel deployment-simulation results.

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Fig. 6. Diagonal deployment-simulation results.

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Arrangement

In-line
Parallel
Diagonal

Dead spots (%)

Green zone (desirable) (%)

Red zone (%)

Dead, B0.001
N/m2

Cells, 0.0010.003
N/m2

Feed, 0.0030.01
N/m2

Clay, 0.010.03 N/m2

Silt, 0.030.1 N/m2

Sand, \0.1 N/m2

11.7
4.3
10.4

5.6
5.4
7.9

8.2
12.3
12.6

12.6
16.8
18.5

41.9
45.5
31.1

19.9
15.7
19.6

E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

Table 1
Relative zones of sediment quality predicted by the simulations

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Table 2
Convergence achievements (%) of pond models
Arrangement

Velocity

Degree of freedom
In-line
Parallel
Diagonal

u
0.34
0.51
0.54

Turbulence
6
0.21
0.49
0.56

w
0.05
0.08
0.10

P
0.77
0.88
0.68

k
0.97
0.86
0.72

m
0.66
0.98
0.81

Ideally, each simulation should converge such that the integrated shear stress
vector is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the net applied driving
force (Newtons law). The integrated shear stress reaction was under 16 N in each
of the simulations, resolved with a Cartesian coordinate system. This is remarkably
well balanced considering that the six aerators imparted a total of 1200 N thrust in
a circular pattern around the centre of the pond. The relative error of velocity of
each simulation is presented in Table 2, which is a measure of how closely the last
two iterations varied. Velocity errors were nearly within 0.5% in each case, while
the relative error of turbulent kinetic energy, k, diverged as much as 1%. The
relative error of velocity of simulations presented in the present paper is comparable with those achieved in the validated real-world simulation of Pond X (Peterson
et al., 2000).
Some of the aerator jets appear to be distorted in Figs. 46. In each case, the
northwest and southeast jets are blocked by the primary pond circulation flow, so
they tightly recirculated into corners of the pond. This is not consistent with
observations of the paddlewheel jet in the northwest corner of Pond X (Peterson
2000), except that there was real oscillatory flapping that suggests bifurcation of
flow patterns. The simulations of the present research were formulated as a
steady-state problem because there was not sufficient disk space to archive and
analyse transient output data. The practical application of these simulations is
taken from the percentage of benthos that may be classified as red zone (undesirable) and green zone (preferred), without prejudice as to the exact location and
shape of individual patches.

4. Discussion
The present paper has considered a typical rectangular pond having an aspect
ratio of 1.4. Circulation and sediment quality may be better in square and round
ponds. The present study has simulated the effects of the common Taiwanese
four-wheel paddlewheel driven at 100 r.p.m. Other aerator types may have other
effects, and the same paddlewheels would certainly produce better sediment quality
if driven at lower speeds (Peterson and Pearson, 2000; Peterson and Indran, 2001).
Comparing the three alternative deployments of six paddlewheels, the diagonal
arrangement of Fig. 6 provides a greater area of green zone and a lesser area of red

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E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

zone. The parallel arrangement of Fig. 5 produced a broad front of sweeping effect,
which reduced the area of dead zone to less than one-half of that resulting from the
other arrangements. The parallel arrangement would be recommended if minimisation of dead zones were the only selection criteria, but it is believed that maximisation of the green zone area should be the prime objective. Adversity of the dead
zone is reduced if sedimentation rates are controlled. Minimising the area of
red-zone would control sedimentation most directly. On the basis of the forgoing,
the diagonal arrangement is superior, the parallel arrangement has been found to be
mediocre, and the in-line arrangement is the least desirable.
In-line and parallel arrangements were both situations with aerators positioned
closely together. The result was an increase in the area of red zone. The concentration of excessive stress is most pronounced in the in-line arrangement of Fig. 4,
where the outlet of one aerator is directed at the inlet of another.
The trend of the simulations suggests how the area of green zone might be
increased. The diversion of flow obtained with the diagonal aerator arrangement
tends to increase the green zone. Spreading apart of jets is seen as a crucial element
of any effective deployment of aerators to achieve this end.
The findings of the present paper do not conflict with the long-established
practice of establishing pond-wide circulation. It is important to recognise the
benefit of any aeration arrangement that tends to clean the peripheral feeding areas
of a pond and concentrate detritus at the centre. Pond managers should consider
the conclusions of the present paper and evaluate what actually happens within the
particular pond geometry and aeration equipment they have to work with.
Benthic monitoring with a facemask and snorkel is not practical unless there has
been an algal crash in a pond. Pond walking refers to a wading transit in search
of dead spots where soft sediment is detected with the feet. Pond managers often
use this technique to decide where to place aerators. A floating orange and
stopwatch can be used to estimate pond surface velocity at various locations, and
this can indicate the benthic shear stress resulting from pond circulation (Peterson,
1999b). Surface velocities of 3 7 cm/s indicate ideal benthic conditions (green zone)
under as much as 2 m water column.
Surface velocity is not a good indicator of benthic conditions in the vicinity of an
aerator. Propeller-aspirators may impinge on the bottom and consequently create a
scour crater. Paddlewheel aerators create a sheet of fast-moving surface water,
overlaying dead water that may recirculate into the inlet (Peterson, 2000). Drain
harvesting will ultimately reveal a complete picture of the sources and sinks of
sediment transport in a pond, and whether these patterns are uniform and
manageable. Scoured depressions (puddles) usually appear downstream from paddlewheels at a distance of greater than seven times the water column depth, which
is consistent with the normal expansion angle of turbulent jets (Peterson et al.,
2000). For example, in a 1.5 m water column, scour is expected to start about 10
m downstream from a paddlewheel. Scouring is expected to continue downstream
until the surface velocity drops below 7 cm/s.

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63

5. Conclusions
The present research has quantified the simulated effects of re-arranging aerators
in a particular pond. The possible permutations are endless, but only three
alternatives have been investigated in this paper. Fig. 7 presents a sediment-quality
pie chart for these arrangements. The following are some possibly general principles
drawn from the three cases in which we have invested our computer-simulation
capability.

5.1. Rearrangement of aerators will not completely sol6e the problem

The red zone (stress exceeding 0.03 N/m2) occupies most of the pond area in all
of the arrangements investigated. Rearrangement of aerators has not completely
solved the problems of scour, and other management actions are certainly required.
Increasing pond depth might help to diffuse aerator jets before they impact on the
bottom. The red zone should be recognised and armoured with geotextiles, gravel,
or cement. Sand will withstand most of the red zone stress in the feed area, but
gravel or pavement is needed on banks and in scour-holes associated with individual aerators. The shear stress in the red zone may be temporarily relieved during
daylight feeding by switching off aeration. One possible strategy is to reduce the
thrust of paddlewheels during daylight feeding, temporarily converting the red zone
to the green zone, which can be achieved with a variable frequency drive (Peterson
and Pearson, 2000; Peterson and Indran, 2001).

Fig. 7. Pie-chart comparison of simulation results.

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E.L. Peterson et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 5165

Provision of continuing pond circulation during daylight is recommended to

prevent pond stratification. Simply switching the power on and off with a time
clock is further discouraged because of the high in-rush amperages and mechanical
shock at start up, and because a shut down of aerators allows moisture to enter
windings and seals.

5.2. In-line aerators are the least desirable arrangement

All indications are that series in-line arrangements are inferior. The possible
motivation for the widespread use of this strategy may have been to minimise the
length of electric cabling used in ponds. But the result is that high stress is
concentrated at the outermost portion of the pond periphery, with erosion of pond
banks and lowing away feed pellets being likely consequences.

5.3. Parallel aerators minimise the dead zone

There was found to be a broad front of sediment sweeping that dramatically
reduced the area of dead spots in the parallel simulation. Unfortunately, the extent
of sand and silt scouring consumed nearly as much of the pond bottom as the
in-line arrangement. The results of the parallel arrangement suggest that, if the
speed were reduced, then a large proportion of pond bottom area could be
controlled uniformly within desirable shear stress limits.

5.4. Aerators should be di6erted apart

Normally, at least one aerator is provided in each corner of a rectangular pond.
More than four aerators may be required to maintain pond oxygen levels in an
intensively stocked pond. In such cases, the added units should be diverted
diagonally apart from those that they are placed aside. The objective is to distribute
stress over a wider region, so that individual jets do not force against one another.

Acknowledgements
This paper was made possible with support from James Cook University, under
a Merit Research Grant administered by the Postgraduate Students Office and
computer time provided by the High Performance Computer Centre, administered
by Dr Ian Atkinson.

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