Flow-through raceways have velocities below that needed to remove solids from rearing areas and thus require intermittent, manual sweeping to remove the solids producing long solid residence times and exposure to mechanical breakage which results in increased phosphorous leaching and poor fish health. This SBIR proposal offers a novel moving baffle as a new technology to solve these concerns. OBJECTIVES: The proposal objectives are aimed at resolving identified barriers and moving the concept towards commercialization. Specific objectives are to: (1) improve the design of the baffle so that it can travel freely as well as address issues with fish movement, crowding, and mechanical breakage addressed by earlier reviews, (2) develop strategies to retrofit the moving baffle to various raceway conditions, and (3) evaluate the performance of the baffle in terms of fish health, water quality parameters, and cleaning effectiveness. Objectives will be accomplished through a team comprised of AEB Engineering, WSU researchers, and Andgar Corporation, an industrial fabricator. APPROACH: Phase I research will be comprised of fabrication and installation of a prototype baffle in a test commercial raceway. After a period of preliminary testing and associated adjustments to the design, the baffle will be studied against a parallel raceway control for determination of effects of the moving baffle on water quality, fish health and solids removal
