📖 iRAS User Guide
iRAS is an open-source engineering tool for designing Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS). This in-app guide is intentionally brief — the full documentation lives in the README, and the engineering models are documented inline in the source as function-level technical notes.
What it does
Starting from an annual market-size yield target, iRAS back-calculates the multi-stage culture scale, simulates steady-state water quality along the treatment train (TAN / TSS / DOM / NO₃ / DO / CO₂), sizes the equipment, and estimates operating cost and project investment. It then generates a P&ID, an equipment schedule, and a financial evaluation.
Quick start
- Pick a species in section ① and enter the annual yield — results compute automatically.
- Expand each stage card to see the water-quality simulation, equipment list, and cost breakdown.
- Adjust process parameters (turnover, removal efficiency, aeration mode, etc.) for an instant refresh.
- Set the global climate, building envelope, and heat pump in section ① to drive the heat balance.
- Review financial parameters and unit prices in section ② (all costs in EUR).
- Use the toolbar to open the P&ID, equipment list, and financial evaluation, or to save/print.
Key concepts
- Multi-stage scale-up — upstream stage sizes are derived from the final yield using tailwater mass conservation and Little’s Law.
- Process topology — mainline-series treatment with optional bypass loops (protein skimmer / AOP / denitrification), plus mainline/bypass oxygen-cone modeling.
- Investment estimate — equipment purchase × project multiplier, with a regional factor and a scale-effect (Lang) exponent. Accuracy is roughly ±40%.
- Redundancy — parallel modules with N+1 sparing; site-level equipment (LOX tank, genset, transformer) is shared plant-wide.
Full documentation
Process principles, design formulas, calibration sources, the financial-evaluation methodology, the complete symbol table, species parameter tables, and references are documented in:
- The project README on GitHub
- Function-level technical notes documented inline in the source (governing equations, coefficients, and literature references)
Disclaimer
Results are for concept-estimate purposes only. Real projects must incorporate on-site water-quality monitoring, pilot-batch data, local regulations, and professional engineering judgment. Investment estimates are approximate (≈ ±40%); actual cost depends on supplier quotes and tendering. The author accepts no liability for engineering decisions made on the basis of this software’s output.
© 2026 Cheng Sun · Polarlys Innovation AS (Norway) · License:
AGPL v3