Design and Testing of Aquaculture Feed Conveyors

In response to the challenges of high labor intensity and low efficiency in traditional cage aquaculture when delivering viscous feed, it is essential to develop equipment capable of automatically and continuously transporting viscous feed in aquatic environments. Based on the requirements of actual cage aquaculture, the process begins with the intake of crushed viscous feed at the inlet using an interactive negative pressure suction principle within a sealed pipeline. Subsequently, hydraulic control technology is employed to drive a hydraulic circuit, creating high pressure within the pipeline to extrude the viscous feed to the equipment's feed outlet, which then transports it to various cage feeding points. Additionally, certain parameters of the power oil pump, hydraulic cylinder, and hydraulic pipeline are determined based on demand. Finally, components are manufactured and assembled into a prototype according to the design plan. This prototype was tested in a cage aquaculture site, demonstrating the equipment’s capability to normally transport viscous feed over a distance of up to 102 meters, with a delivery capacity of 5 cubic meters per hour, meeting actual aquaculture needs. The equipment operates on-site without requiring an external power source and allows for adjustments to the power equipment threshold based on aquaculture requirements. The development of this aquaculture equipment offers practical application reference value for feed transportation in aquatic, especially marine, cage aquaculture.