JP2003265064A - Artificial seaweed bed material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an artificial seaweed bed material using an inexpensive material, maintaining flexibility over a long period, raising an affinity for organisms and saving labor and time for the final treatment required during disposal. <P>SOLUTION: The artificial seaweed bed material is obtained by using a foam of a polyolefin resin as a principal material, adding carbon powder to the foamed resin and forming the resultant artificial seaweed bed material into a sheetlike state. The artificial seaweed bed material is cut to a suitable size to form each sea tanglelike floating body 4. The resultant floating body 4 is connected to a weight 2 and a base 1 is installed in the water bottom of the sea, lakes or marshes or rivers. The floating body 4 drifts waveringly in water by buoyancy of its own to provide a habitat suitable for the organisms. Furthermore, a foam of a biodegradable resin is used as the principal material and the carbon powder is added to the foamed resin. Thereby, the artificial seaweed bed material is formed into the sheetlike state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an artificial seaweed bed material for inhabiting algae, adhering organisms, fish and small animals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, carbon fibers having excellent affinity with living things are bundled into a strand shape by weaving and used as a seaweed material, and a large number of carbon fiber bundles are floated in the sea by the buoyancy of a floating body. A technique for artificially forming a seaweed bed, which is a habitat for living things, is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). Also,
Polypropylene, polyethylene, foamed resin such as urethane rubber to form a thin ribbon-shaped leaf-shaped body, the leaf-shaped body is floated in the sea by its own buoyancy, a technique of forming an artificial seaweed bed is also known (for example, See Patent Document 2.).

[0003]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-136861 (pages 8-9, FIG. 2)

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-209971 (page 3, FIG. 1)

[0004]

However, the conventional artificial seaweed bed materials have the following problems. (1) The seaweed bed material using the carbon fiber bundle is expensive because the carbon fiber as the main material is expensive. (2) When a carbon fiber bundle is left in the sea for a long time, diatoms adhere to the carbon fibers, the carbon fibers adhere to each other in the diatom, and the carbon fiber bundle becomes hard and loses flexibility. For this reason, the fluctuation of the carbon fiber bundle is reduced, and sea urchins, starfish and the like actively move around on the seaweed bed material to eat and eat the seaweed attached to the seaweed bed material. (3) If the weight of the carbon fiber bundles increases due to the attachment of diatoms and adhering organisms such as barnacles and kanzashigokai, the buoyancy of the floating body will be insufficient, and the carbon fiber bundles will sink and will not function as a seaweed bed material. (4) Since the floating body is bonded to the uppermost part of the carbon fiber bundle, the carbon fiber bundles are entangled with each other by the ocean current, the fluctuation effect is reduced, and the function as a seaweed bed material is reduced.

(5) The fish sucks off the carbon fiber,
May cut seaweed material. (6) The seaweed bed material using a foamed resin is poor in biocompatibility as a simple substance such as polypropylene or polyethylene, and is not preferable as a habitat for living things. (7) The seaweed bed material consisting of a single resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene is difficult to be decomposed by microorganisms such as bacteria that survive in the environment of use, and the artificial seaweed bed material was prepared in an environment where natural algae can grow. It is environmentally unfavorable to leave it as it is in the installation place. Therefore, it is desirable to recover the functioning seaweed bed material from the installation site in order to bring it closer to the natural environment that existed originally, but the industrial waste generated by collecting the seaweed bed material should be landfilled or incinerated. It is necessary to perform the final processing such as.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to use an inexpensive material, maintain flexibility for a long period of time, improve affinity with living organisms, and further reduce the time and effort required for final treatment at the time of disposal. It is to provide an artificial seaweed bed material that can be omitted.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the artificial seaweed bed material according to the present invention uses a polyolefin resin as a main material, and carbon powder is added to the resin to form a sheet. It is characterized by In particular, it is preferable to use a polyolefin resin foam as a main material so that the seaweed bed material floats in water without a floating body. Further, it is preferable to use a mixed foamed resin of polyethylene and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer as the main material so that the seaweed material keeps flexibility for a long period of time and fluctuates in water. In addition, a biodegradable resin is used as a main material, carbon powder is added to the resin, and the resin is molded into a sheet shape. In particular, it is preferable to use a biodegradable resin foam as the main material so that the seaweed bed material floats in water without floating bodies.

Here, the artificial seaweed bed materials include algae such as seagrass, aquatic plants and algae, adhering organisms such as barnacles and kanzashigokai, seafood, and small animals such as crabs and shrimps in the ocean, lakes and rivers. Living thing (hereinafter referred to as "living thing") is meant to live. For example, an artificial seaweed bed material is installed in a body of water in which the ecosystem of a living organism is disturbed due to water pollution caused by landfill or industrial / household wastewater. And the artificial seaweed bed material,
To restore the normal state to have the biological purification function originally had in nature, prepare an environment where algae can grow, and finally,
It plays the role of a pilot that leads to a natural seaweed bed that restores the proper ecological balance of living things.

Further, the biodegradable resin is a synthetic resin which is decomposed into water and carbon dioxide as a result of metabolism performed by microorganisms such as bacteria in water or soil and finally disappears so as to be assimilated with nature. Say. The biodegradable resin is not limited to a completely degradable type in which all the constituent components are decomposed, but includes a partially degradable type that contains a general-purpose resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene and is partially decomposed. In the case of the partial decomposition type, the constituents that remain without being decomposed have negligible effects on the surrounding environment, and safety is guaranteed.

Further, the biodegradable resin, when classified according to the material and the manufacturing method for convenience, contains (1) a polyhydroxyalkanoic acid ester as a main material, which is obtained by culturing the microorganism by feeding it with nutrients. Main ingredients are microbial biodegradable resin, (2) plant-derived natural polymers such as starch and cellulose, or animal-derived natural polymers such as chitin and chitosan contained in shrimp and crab shells. Natural high molecular weight biodegradable resin, (3) Chemical synthesis such as polylactic acid system synthesized by lactic acid fermentation of starch and PBS (polybutylene succinate) system consisting of dehydration polycondensation reaction of glycol and dicarboxylic acid Chemically synthesized biodegradable resins prepared by synthetic methods are roughly classified into three types.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a base 1 of this artificial seaweed bed is formed in a net shape by connecting a number of weights 2 with ropes 3 and is installed on the bottom of the ocean, lake or river. A kelp-shaped floating body 4 is connected to each weight 2 at the lower end, and these floating bodies 4 flutter in the water by their own buoyancy so as to provide a suitable habitat for living things.

The floating body 4 is formed by cutting a sheet-shaped artificial seaweed bed material into an appropriate size. The artificial seaweed bed material uses a foamed material of a polyolefin resin as a main material, and carbon powder is added to the foamed resin to form a sheet-like shape as a whole. As the polyolefin resin, a single substance or a mixture of polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer and the like can be used. In particular, a mixed foamed resin of polyethylene and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer can be preferably used because the material cost can be reduced and the flexibility is high.

The expansion ratio of the foamed resin is preferably 3 to 30 times so that the floating body 4 drifts by its own buoyancy. As a method of adding carbon powder, a method of mixing fine carbon powder into a resin material at the time of molding can be adopted. In this case, the higher the mixing ratio of the carbon fine powder, the higher the affinity with living organisms, but in view of the slower molding speed, it is preferably 5 to 30%. Alternatively, a method of coating the entire surface of the seaweed material sheet with a paint containing carbon fine powder after foam molding can also be adopted.

According to the artificial seaweed bed material of the first embodiment having the above structure, the following operational effects can be obtained. (A) Since a polyolefin resin is used as the main material, there is no risk of the artificial seaweed beds contaminating the ocean, lakes and rivers, and the environmental load can be reduced. (B) The polyolefin resin is cheaper than carbon fiber and can be molded into a sheet with simple equipment, so that the material cost and the molding cost can be suppressed, and the seaweed bed material can be manufactured at low cost. (C) Since carbon powder is added and formed into a sheet shape, the biocompatibility of the seaweed bed material can be increased and the surface area of the floating body 4 can be increased to provide a living place suitable for living things.

(D) Since the polyolefin resin foam is used as the main material, it is not necessary to attach the floating body to the floating body 4, and there is no possibility that the floating bodies are entangled with each other by the water flow. (E) Since the buoyancy of the foam uniformly acts on the entire floating body 4, the floating body 4 does not lose its flexibility for a long period of time like natural algae, and the seaweeds attached to the floating body 4 are removed from fish and sea urchins. Can be protected from starfish, etc. (F) In particular, the mixed foamed resin of polyethylene and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is highly flexible and lightweight,
Even if the diatoms adhere to the surface of the floating body 4, the fluctuation effect can be maintained, and even if the weight of the diatoms increases, there is no risk of sinking, and the diatom functions as a seaweed bed material for a long time.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The second embodiment is configured similarly to the first embodiment of FIG. That is, the base 1 of this artificial seaweed bed is composed of a plurality of weights 2 and ropes 3 and is installed on the bottom of the ocean or the like. A floating body 4 is coupled to each weight 2.

The floating body 4 is formed by cutting a sheet-shaped artificial seaweed bed material into an appropriate size. The artificial seaweed bed material uses a foam of a biodegradable resin as a main material, and carbon powder is added to the foamed resin to form a sheet-like shape as a whole. The biodegradable resin is a polylactic acid-based chemically synthesized biodegradable resin synthesized from polylactic acid produced by fermenting starch extracted from agricultural crops such as corn and potato to make lactic acid, and polymerizing the lactic acid. Is used. The foaming ratio of the foamed resin is preferably the same as that of the first embodiment. In addition, the method of adding carbon powder, the mixing ratio of the carbon fine powder, and other configurations and functions are also the first.
It is similar to the embodiment.

According to the artificial seaweed bed material of the second embodiment having the above structure, the following effects can be obtained. (A) Since a biodegradable resin is used as the main material, it is possible to give the seaweed bed material itself complete or partial degradability by microorganisms such as bacteria in the environment of use. It can be left as it is to decompose and disappear. Therefore, it is possible to save the conventional labor of collecting the functioning seaweed bed material from the installation place and performing final treatment such as landfill or incineration as industrial waste. Due to various circumstances, even when the seaweed bed material has to be collected and subjected to final treatment as industrial waste, it is possible to decompose and destroy it by landfilling or composting, and to eliminate residual industrial waste.

(B) Since carbon powder was added to the biodegradable resin and molded into a sheet, the biocompatibility of the seaweed bed material was increased,
Moreover, the surface area of the floating body 4 can be increased to provide a living place suitable for living things. Also, as biocompatibility increases,
For example, barnacles, which are one of the adherent organisms, tend to adhere, but seaweed beds made of biodegradable resin can be easily peeled off from the calcareous material at the adhered parts of the barnacles. Therefore, in particular, even if attached organisms such as barnacles are attached, they can be naturally detached with the passage of time, and the high biocompatibility of the seaweed bed material can be maintained. (C) Since the foam of biodegradable resin is used as the main material, it is not necessary to attach the floating body to the floating body 4, and there is no possibility that the floating bodies are entangled with each other by the water flow. (D) Since the buoyancy of the foam uniformly acts on the entire floating body 4, the floating body 4 does not lose its flexibility as long as natural algae for a long period of time, and the seaweeds attached to the floating body 4 are removed from fish and sea urchins. Can be protected from starfish, etc.

The artificial seaweed bed material according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the floating body 4 is formed to be narrower or wider than that shown in FIG. The shape and configuration of each part of the seaweed bed can be appropriately changed and implemented without departing from the spirit of the present invention, such as forming a hole or forming the base 1 into a plate shape. Similarly,
Polyolefin resin other than the above may be used as the main material of the seaweed bed material, and not only polylactic acid-based chemically synthesized biodegradable resin, but also cellulose-based, PBS (polybutylene succinate) -based, PCL ( A polycaprolactone-based chemically synthesized biodegradable resin may be used. In addition to changing the original material such as molecular weight, it is possible to change the decomposition characteristics of the seaweed material by mixing inorganic and organic materials, respectively. In addition, a microorganism-producing biodegradable resin or a natural polymer biodegradable resin may be used, or a composite of these may be used to form the seaweed bed material.

[0021]

As described in detail above, according to the artificial seaweed bed materials of claims 1 to 3, since carbon powder is added to the polyolefin resin to form a sheet, an inexpensive material is used. It has an excellent effect of maintaining flexibility for a long period of time and enhancing affinity with living things.

According to the artificial seaweed bed material of claim 4, since the biodegradable resin is used as the main material, the artificial seaweed bed material itself is provided with complete or partial decomposability by microorganisms in the environment of use. It is possible to disassemble and extinguish by leaving it in the installed state. Therefore, it becomes possible to save the labor of the final treatment at the time of disposal as in the conventional case. Further, since carbon powder is added to the biodegradable resin and molded into a sheet, it is possible to enhance the affinity with living things. In particular, even if attached organisms such as barnacles are removed with the passage of time, it is possible to maintain high biocompatibility of the seaweed bed material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an artificial seaweed bed showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Base, 2 ... Weight, 3 ... Rope, 4 ...
Floating body.

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Inoue             3-22-5 Aoi, Higashi-ku, Nagoya-shi Yahagi green             Kaika Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Konishi             Sekisui, 1-4-1, Mei Station, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi             Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Gonda             1-7-23 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya Kiso Kogyo             Within the corporation F term (reference) 2B003 AA01 BB09 DD03 EE04

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An artificial seaweed bed material obtained by using a polyolefin resin as a main material, adding carbon powder to the resin, and molding the sheet into a sheet. 2. The artificial seaweed bed material according to claim 1, wherein a polyolefin resin foam is used as a main material. 3. The artificial seaweed bed material according to claim 1, wherein a mixed resin of polyethylene and an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is used as a main material. 4. An artificial seaweed bed material obtained by using a biodegradable resin as a main material, adding carbon powder to the resin, and molding into a sheet.