Water Pumps and Oxygen Pumps Adapt to Extreme Environments, Expanding the Boundaries of Aquatic Breeding

In the field of aquaculture and ecological research, the adaptation of equipment in extreme environments has always been a challenge. Nowadays, water pumps and oxygen pumps have successfully broken through the limitations of high-altitude, deep-sea and low-temperature scenarios by virtue of material innovation and structural optimisation, thus expanding the boundaries of aquaculture and research. The low air pressure and temperature difference in the high-altitude environment puts severe requirements on the stability of the pump. Traditional water pumps at an altitude of more than 3000 metres above sea level, easy due to insufficient air pressure, resulting in a decline in water output of more than 30%, and a large temperature difference between day and night is likely to lead to component aging. The new plateau pump adopts a strengthened seal design, through the thickening of seals and pressure compensation valve, balancing the internal and external air pressure, to ensure that the efficiency of the water flow in a low-pressure environment is only reduced by 5% or less. At the same time, the pump body is made of high and low temperature resistant engineering plastics, which can withstand temperature fluctuations from - 15℃ to 60℃, and can still operate stably in the plateau area where there is a great difference in temperature between day and night. In a plateau lake ecological monitoring project, these pumps successfully realise lake water circulation and water quality sampling, providing continuous power support for plateau aquatic life research. The high pressure and corrosiveness of deep-sea environment promote the upgrading of oxygen pump technology. For deep-sea aquaculture and scientific research needs, the deep-sea oxygen pump adopts titanium alloy shell, the corrosion resistance is 5 times of the traditional stainless steel, and it can be used for a long time in seawater with salinity of 35‰ without aging. Its internal structure has been optimised after pressure testing, and can withstand high pressure (about 100 standard atmospheric pressure) at a water depth of 1000 metres, ensuring stable oxygen output pressure. In addition, the oxygen pump's pipeline adopts high-strength hose, which can automatically adjust its shape with the water pressure to avoid the pipeline rupture due to the change of water pressure. In deep-sea net tank aquaculture, these oxygen pumps provide sufficient oxygen for salmon and other cold-water fish, and even in the dark, high-pressure deep-sea environment, the dissolved oxygen concentration of the aquaculture water can be maintained at more than 8mg/L, which greatly improves the survival rate of deep-sea aquaculture. The problems of anti-freezing and energy efficiency of the equipment in the low-temperature polar environment have also been effectively solved. The polar pump and oxygen pump are equipped with a low-temperature start-up system, which preheats the core components to over 5℃ under -30℃ environment through the built-in heating module to ensure the smooth start-up of the equipment. At the same time, the motor adopts low-temperature grease, which can maintain good lubrication performance under low-temperature environment, avoiding the increase of energy consumption due to the increase of friction of components. In the indoor aquarium of the Antarctic research station, this type of equipment successfully simulates the water flow and dissolved oxygen environment of the Antarctic sea, providing stable conditions for the laboratory culture of Antarctic krill and other organisms, and helping polar ecological research.

Despite the technological breakthrough, the cost of extreme environment equipment is still high, and mass production scale is limited, resulting in greater difficulty in popularisation. In the future, with the advancement of material technology and the maturity of the production process, the cost is expected to gradually decline, so that more extreme environments of aquaculture and scientific research projects can be implemented. The breakthrough of water and oxygen pumps in extreme environments is not only a technological victory, but also reflects the wisdom of human beings in exploring and utilising nature, and provides a powerful equipment guarantee for expanding the boundaries of life activities.