- The company successfully concludes its Hydroalgal project, carried out in the waters of Mallorca with the collaboration of the Universitat Jaume I and the Universitat de les Illes Balears
The intense recreational use of coastal waters and the increasingly evident phenomena linked to climate change have led to a surge in algae blooms in marine waters. This trend, which is expected to continue intensifying in the coming years, prompted FACSA to launch its innovative Hydroalgal project.
An initiative focused on developing a system for preventing and mitigating algal blooms in coastal waters based on advanced hydrodynamic modeling, which aimed to develop systems that would allow for adaptive, orderly and evaluable management of this problem.
To this end, an exhaustive analytical campaign of different chemical species and nutrients was carried out in two coves of Mallorca during the summer period, thanks to which a model has been developed in which the concentration of chlorophyll has been defined as a key parameter to monitor for the detection of microalgae blooms.
Similarly, hydrodynamic models of the coves have been developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, validated by "in situ" experimental measurements and capable of reproducing the dilution and microalgae drag effect generated by pumping systems, taking into account the geometry and characteristics of the beach.
This project - developed in collaboration with the Universitat Jaume I and the Universitat de les Illes Balears - has allowed FACSA to promote knowledge about the mechanisms of bloom proliferation in the Balearic Islands and to develop a product with which to offer a differentiated service in the market, which is currently being complemented with more tools such as the detection of changes in water coloration or the implementation of a control system.
