Worked example · published figures
Worked example: aeration for a 10-hectare shrimp farm
This is a worked example, not a buyer project. It sizes aeration for an intensive whiteleg shrimp pond farm using only the rule of thumb and Thai farm observations published by Claude Boyd (Global Seafood Alliance).
Example assumptions
- Farm size: 10 ponds of 1 hectare each (example size).
- Harvest: 80 tonnes of shrimp per crop, 8 tonnes per hectare — inside the 7–9 t/ha Boyd observed on Thai farms.
- Aeration rule: about 1 horsepower of aerators per 300–500 kg of shrimp harvested (Boyd).
1. Total aeration
80,000 kg ÷ 400 kg per horsepower (mid-range) ≈ 200 horsepower. The full range is about 160–267 horsepower.
2. Per hectare check
200 horsepower over 10 hectares is 20 hp/ha. Boyd saw Thai farms producing 7–9 t/ha using 24–36 hp/ha, so this example sits at the lean end — worth a margin.
3. Number of aerators
With 2-horsepower paddlewheels, 200 horsepower is about 100 paddlewheels, around 10 per pond.
4. Energy per crop
Running that aeration through a crop works out to roughly 256,000 kWh — about 3.2 kWh per kg of shrimp. Multiply by your local power price to get the aeration energy cost.
What a buyer can take from this
- Size aeration from the harvest you plan, not from pond area alone.
- Ask suppliers for horsepower and oxygen transfer per unit, so offers can be compared.
- Power supply and backup generators must cover the full aerator load at night.
The farm size is an example and the rates are published planning figures, not a supplier quote. No buyer, supplier or result is implied.