Energy Management and Operational Planning of an Ecological Engineering for Carbon Sequestration in Coastal Mariculture Environments in China

Tiancheng Lin, Wei Fan, Canbo Xiao, Zhongzhi Yao, Zhujun Zhang, Ruolan Zhao, Yiwen Pan and Ying Chen
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Tiancheng Lin: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Wei Fan: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Canbo Xiao: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Zhongzhi Yao: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Zhujun Zhang: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Ruolan Zhao: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Yiwen Pan: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China
Ying Chen: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316000, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: China is now accelerating the development of an ecological engineering for carbon sequestration in coastal mariculture environments to cope with climate change. Artificial upwelling as the ecological engineering can mix surface water with bottom water and bring rich nutrients to the euphotic zone, enhance seaweed growth in the oligotrophic sea area, and then increase coastal carbon sequestration. However, one of the major obstacles of the artificial upwelling is the high energy consumption. This study focused on the development of energy management technology for air-lift artificial upwelling by optimizing air injection rate. The fundamental principle underlying this technology is that the mode and intensity of air injection are adjusted from the feedback of information on velocity variation in tidal currents, illumination, and temperature of the surface layer. A series of equations to control air injection was derived based on seaweed growth and solar power generation. Although this finding was originally developed for the air-lift artificial upwelling, it also can be used in other areas of engineering, such as water delivery, aeration, and oxygenation. The simulations show that using a variable air injection rate can lift more nitrogen nutrients of 28.2 mol than using a fixed air injection rate of 26.6 mol, mostly with the same energy cost. Using this control algorithm, the changed temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles prove the effective upwelling in the experiments and the average weights of kelp are 33.1 g in the experimental group and 10.1 g in the control group. The ecological engineering was successfully increasing crop yield for carbon sequestration in coastal mariculture environments.

Keywords: Ecological engineering; Artificial upwelling; Energy management; Mariculture; Carbon sequestration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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