ADVANCED ENGINEERING REDESIGN OF THE AQUAPONICS GREENHOUSE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA WITH A DECOUPLED AND COUPLED SYSTEM

The University of Arizona has become a world leader in research, teaching and extension regarding controlled environment agriculture (CEA).  Up to this point, CEA at the University of Arizona has included and focused on sensor technology and computer-controlled greenhouse production, vertical farming, space life support agriculture systems, and hydroponic plant production.  

Aquaponics, an alternative and sustainable form of plant production with fish, has largely been driven by hobbyists and small-scale growers and until more recently has not been part of CEA. However, it is increasing in both popularity as a potential way to grow plants commercially.  The idea here was to redesign the 200-m²  aquaponics greenhouse at the University of Arizona to showcase  intensive aquaponics systems including  a coupled version which would be suitable for mid-scale production and a decoupled aquaponic system to model how aquaponics can be scaled for large-scale commercial production.

The redesign included multiple sensors and controls to optimize plant production.  The fish culture systems or RAS systems included advanced filtration for intensive fish production.  In addition, the decouple aquaponics system included an anaerobic bioreactor to maximize nutrient availability to plants from the fish waste.  The goal for the redesign is to demonstrate how aquaponics can be viable on a commercial scale as an option for efficient and sustainable plant production. In addition, an alternative design plan was considered with complete ADA accessibility and compliance to demonstrate agriculture to an inclusive population.