JP4920615B2 - Algae culture equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control culture conditions by quickly grasping the multiplication situation of algae even without measuring turbidity, dry weight etc. <P>SOLUTION: The culture apparatus for algae is equipped with a culture tank for storing a culture solution and culturing algae in the culture solution, a flow-in passage for making the culture solution flow into the culture tank, a flow-out passage for making the culture solution flow out from the culture solution, a bubble supply part for supplying micronized and foamed CO<SB>2</SB>to the culture solution flowing into the culture tank, a flow-in bubble measurement part for measuring a micronized foam amount in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank, a flow-out bubble measurement part for measuring a micronized foam amount in the culture solution flowing out from the culture solution, a bubble difference calculation part for calculating difference between the micronized foam amount in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank and the micronized foam amount in the culture solution flowing out from the culture tank and a control part for controlling the culture apparatus based on the difference in the micronized foam amounts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an algae culture apparatus capable of easily grasping the growth status of algae and controlling the culture conditions without measuring turbidity, dry weight or the like.

  For example, in the sea, a food chain connected to phytoplankton → zooplankton → small crustaceans → seafood is observed. If this food chain system can be constructed artificially, a so-called fish factory that has advanced from conventional aquaculture can be constructed. Of the phytoplankton located at the bottom of the food chain in the sea, algae are attracting attention because they produce various useful substances.

  When artificially cultivating algae, the growth state is usually grasped by the turbidity of the culture solution or the dry weight of the algae (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). As the concentration progresses and the concentration increases, it is necessary to dilute the culture solution, and the work becomes complicated. Moreover, since a step of drying algae is required to measure the dry weight, it is difficult to quickly grasp the growth state.

On the other hand, if the growth situation can be grasped from the consumption of CO ₂ , the dilution operation and the drying process of the culture solution are unnecessary, and the growth situation can be immediately grasped, and the growth situation over time is traced. Is extremely effective.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-346760 JP 2002-315569 A

However, CO ₂ aerated in the culture solution usually forms bubbles with a diameter of 0.1 mm or more, but since the residence time of such bubbles in the culture solution is short, it hardly dissolves in the culture solution, It is discharged almost as it is. For this reason, it is difficult to accurately grasp the consumption amount of CO ₂ simply by comparing the supply amount and the discharge amount of CO ₂ .

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable quick control of the culture conditions by quickly grasping the growth status of algae without measuring turbidity, dry weight, and the like.

That is, the algae culture apparatus according to the present invention includes a culture tank capable of containing a culture solution and cultivating algae therein, an inflow path through which the culture solution flows into the culture vessel, and a culture solution from the culture vessel. An outflow path for flowing out the gas, a bubble supply unit for supplying microbubbled CO ₂ into the culture solution flowing into the culture vessel, and an inflow bubble measurement for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture vessel Part, an outflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank, the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank, and the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank A bubble difference calculation unit that calculates a difference from the amount of fine bubbles and a control unit that controls the culture apparatus based on the difference in the amount of fine bubbles are provided.

  In the present invention, the fine bubbles mean bubbles (micro bubbles, nano bubbles, pico bubbles) having a diameter of micro (50 μm or less) to pico order. Such fine bubbles rapidly rise in the liquid and burst at the liquid level, whereas the rising speed is slow and the bubbles remain in the liquid for a long time. Then, the fine bubbles in the liquid are pressurized by the interfacial tension generated between the interface between the gas phase and the liquid phase, and become smaller. Furthermore, since the fine bubbles are negatively charged and repel each other, they do not combine and the bubble concentration does not decrease. For this reason, the fine bubbles can be dispersed in the liquid at a high density.

Therefore, according to the algae culture apparatus according to the present invention, the density of microbubbled CO ₂ (hereinafter referred to as “CO ₂ bubble”) in the culture solution can always be kept high, and the algae can be used for photosynthesis. It is dissolved CO ₂ concentration in the culture fluid by consuming with CO _{2 (CO} ^{3 2-density)} decreases, so always CO ₂ is supplied from the CO ₂ bubbles, substantially the saturation concentration of dissolved CO ₂ concentration Can be maintained. For this reason, the amount of decrease in CO ₂ bubbles can be roughly regarded as the amount of dissolved CO ₂ in the culture solution that has decreased with the growth of algae. Therefore, by treating the reduced CO ₂ bubble amount as a variable correlated with increased amounts of algae, even without measuring the turbidity and dry weight, etc., simply algae by measuring the decrease of CO ₂ bubble growth It becomes possible to quickly grasp the outline of the situation.

Furthermore, the microbubbled CO ₂ also has an action of improving the absorption rate of CO ₂ (CO ₃ ²⁻ ) into the algal cells, a bactericidal action, and a water purification action. For this reason, photosynthesis of algae is activated by the microbubbled CO _{2 and} the culture environment of algae can be kept clean.

In addition, a culture tank capable of containing the culture liquid and culturing algae therein, an inflow path for flowing the culture liquid into the culture tank, an outflow path for discharging the culture liquid from the culture tank, A bubble supply unit for supplying microbubbled CO ₂ into the culture solution flowing into the culture vessel, an inflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture vessel, and an outflow from the culture vessel An outflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of microbubbles in the culture broth, a system for controlling the culture apparatus, the amount of microbubbles in the culture broth flowing into the culture tank, and the culture An algal culture control system comprising: a bubble difference calculation unit that calculates a difference between the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the tank; and a control unit that controls the culture apparatus based on the difference in the amount of fine bubbles. This is one of the present inventions.

A culture tank capable of containing the culture medium and culturing algae therein; an inflow path for allowing the culture liquid to flow into the culture tank; an outflow path for allowing the culture liquid to flow out of the culture tank; A bubble supply unit for supplying microbubbled CO ₂ into the culture solution flowing into the culture vessel, an inflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture vessel, and an outflow from the culture vessel An outflow bubble measuring unit that measures the amount of fine bubbles in the culture broth, and a computer for operating a system that controls the culture apparatus, the amount of fine bubbles in the culture broth flowing into the culture tank, In order to realize the functions of a bubble difference calculation unit that calculates the difference between the amount of fine bubbles in the culture medium flowing out of the culture tank and a control unit that controls the culture apparatus based on the difference in the amount of fine bubbles. The program of the present invention is also It is one of.

Thus, according to the present invention, without measuring turbidity or dry weight, simply measuring the amount of CO ₂ bubble reduction, it is possible to quickly and easily obtain an overview of the algal growth status, Can be controlled promptly. For this reason, the operation of the culture apparatus can be automated.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the algal culture apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment stores a culture solution and can culture the algae therein, and the culture solution in the culture vessel 2. An inflow path 3 for inflow, an outflow path 4 for outflowing the culture medium from the culture tank 2, a bubble supply unit 5 for supplying CO ₂ bubbles into the culture liquid flowing into the culture tank 2, and a culture flowing into the culture tank 2 transmitting a inflow bubble measuring unit 6 which measures the CO ₂ bubbles of the liquid, the outflow bubble measuring unit 7 for measuring the CO ₂ bubbles amount of culture solution flowing out from the culture tank 2, a control signal to the culture tank 2, etc. And an information processing apparatus 8 that performs the processing.

  The culture tank 2 is for containing the culture solution and culturing the algae therein, and includes a stirring unit 21 for stirring the culture solution, a temperature adjusting unit 22 for adjusting the temperature of the culture solution, and the culture vessel 2. A light irradiating unit 23 for irradiating light therein.

The agitating unit 21 agitates the culture solution in the culture tank 2 and uniformly disperses algae, CO ₂ bubbles, and the like in the culture solution. A fin is provided, and the fin provided at the tip is configured to stir the culture medium when the stirring rod rotates.

  The temperature control unit 22 is for adjusting the temperature of the culture solution in the culture tank 2 to a temperature suitable for algae growth. For example, a seat heater, a block heater, a device for circulating constant temperature water, and a Peltier device The apparatus etc. which were used are mentioned.

  The light irradiation unit 23 irradiates the algae in the culture tank 2 with light from above. For example, the light irradiation unit 23 includes a fluorescent lamp, an LED, or the like as a light source, and appropriately emits light having a wavelength or light amount suitable for growth. It is configured to irradiate.

  The inflow path 3 is for allowing the culture medium to flow into the culture tank 2, and has an inlet 31 provided in the culture tank 2 as a downstream end thereof. The culture solution flowing through the inflow path 3 flows into the culture tank 2 from the inlet 31.

  The outflow path 4 is for letting a culture solution flow out from the culture tank 2, and uses the outflow port 41 provided in the culture tank 2 as the upstream end. In this embodiment, the outlet 41 is provided in the upper part of the culture tank 2, and when the culture liquid in the culture tank 2 exceeds a predetermined liquid amount and the height of the liquid level of the culture liquid exceeds H, surplus The culture solution is configured to flow out from the outlet 31 to the outlet 4.

  In this embodiment, by opening the valve 11, the inflow path 3 and the outflow path 4 are connected to form a circulation path.

The bubble supply unit 5 is provided on the inflow path 3 and is used to supply CO ₂ bubbles into the culture solution flowing into the culture tank 2 from the inflow path 3. A method in which fine bubbles are generated using cavitation or the like from a state where more gas is dissolved), a method using ultrasonic waves (a method in which bubbles are vibrated and split by applying ultrasonic waves), a method using shearing (violent A method of blowing gas into the flow to tear the gas to make the bubbles finer), a method using a shock wave (a method using a shock wave generated by a Benchery tube), or a method of venting a gas through a hollow structure with micropores Etc. are used to make CO ₂ into microbubbles to picobubbles.

The inflow bubble measuring unit 6 measures the amount of CO ₂ bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank 2 from the inflow channel 3, and uses an electric resistance method, a laser shading method, or the like to measure the amount of CO ₂ bubbles (several , Density, etc.), and a measurement signal of the measured CO ₂ bubble amount is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 8 described later.

The outflow bubble measuring unit 7 measures the amount of CO ₂ bubble in the culture solution that has flowed out of the culture tank 2 into the outflow channel 4, and similarly to the inflow bubble measuring unit 6, an electrical resistance method or a laser shading method is used. The amount of CO ₂ bubble (number, density, etc.) is measured and a detection signal of the measured amount of CO ₂ bubble is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 8 described later.

  The information processing apparatus 8 is a general purpose or dedicated device including a CPU, memory, input / output channels, input means such as a keyboard, output means such as a display, A / D converter, D / A converter, etc. The CPU and its peripheral devices cooperate with each other according to a program stored in a predetermined area of the memory to function as at least a bubble difference calculation unit 81 and a control unit 82. Note that the information processing apparatus 8 does not have to be physically integrated, and may be divided into a plurality of devices by wire or wireless.

The bubble difference calculation unit 81 receives a detection signal of the amount of CO ₂ bubble in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank 2 from the inflow bubble measurement unit 6, and receives CO ₂ in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank 2 from the outflow bubble measurement unit 7. _{The two-} bubble amount detection signal is received, and the difference between the CO ₂ bubble amount in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank 2 and the CO ₂ bubble amount in the culture solution flowing out from the culture tank 2 is calculated. And when the amount of CO ₂ bubbles has decreased (inflow CO ₂ bubble amount> outflow CO ₂ bubble amount), the amount of CO ₂ bubble decreased due to the growth of algae and the amount of dissolved CO ₂ in the culture solution Can be considered. The bubble difference calculation unit 81 outputs a detection signal of the calculated difference in the CO ₂ bubble amount to the control unit 7.

The control unit 82 receives the detection signal of the difference in the CO ₂ bubble amount from the bubble difference calculation unit 81, and based on this, the control signal is sent to the stirring unit 21, the temperature adjustment unit 22, the light irradiation unit 23, the bubble supply unit 5, and the like. And appropriately control the culture conditions.

  The algae culture apparatus 1 further has a culture medium tank 9, and when the algae in the culture tank 2 has sufficiently grown, the valve 11 is closed while the valves 10 and 12 are opened to obtain a new culture medium. The algae in the culture tank 2 may be discharged to the outside of the algae culture apparatus 1 together with the culture liquid and collected and supplied to, for example, zooplankton in a fish factory, while being supplied from the culture tank 9 to the culture tank 2.

  On the other hand, in the initial stage of culture, the algae is diluted by opening the valve 11 and closing the valves 10 and 12 and circulating the culture solution without supplying a new culture solution from the culture solution tank 9. In addition, the burden associated with the change in the composition of the culture solution is not applied to the algae, so that it is possible to quickly shift to the logarithmic growth phase.

  Although it does not specifically limit as algae cultured with the algae culture apparatus 1, For example, single-celled algae, such as ketoceros, Nannochloropsis, isochrysis, pavlova, tetracermis, are suitable.

According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the amount of CO ₂ bubbles that can be reduced can be roughly regarded as the amount of dissolved CO ₂ in the culture solution that is reduced as algae consume CO ₂ during photosynthesis. Therefore, the decreased amount of CO ₂ bubbles can be treated as a variable that correlates with the increased amount of algae. For this reason, since the outline of the growth status of algae can be grasped from the amount of CO ₂ bubble decrease, it is possible to immediately grasp the growth situation without measuring turbidity, dry weight, etc. The situation can be easily tracked.

Then, immediately the grasped proliferation conditions on the basis of the reduction amount of CO ₂ bubbles, light (light intensity, wavelength, etc.), (the speed of the stirring bar) stirring state, temperature, CO ₂ bubbles controlled culture conditions of the supply amount, etc. Thus, the growth rate and the like can be adjusted.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

  The stirring unit 21 may be a shaker, a magnetic stirrer, or the like.

  The installation position of the light irradiation unit 23 is not limited to the upper side of the culture tank 2 and may be provided so as to irradiate light from the side or lower side of the culture tank 2 or from a light source inserted in the culture solution. Moreover, even if the light irradiation part 23 guides and irradiates the artificial light or sunlight from artificial light sources, such as LED provided in the exterior of the culture tank 2, in the cultivation tank 2 using an optical fiber. Good.

  In addition, it is needless to say that some or all of the above-described embodiments and modified embodiments may be appropriately combined, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The typical block diagram which shows the algae culture apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Algae culture apparatus 2 ... Culture tank 3 ... Inflow path 4 ... Outflow path 5 ... Bubble supply part 6 ... Inflow bubble measurement part 7 ... Outflow bubble measurement part 81- ..Bubble difference calculation unit 82 ... control unit

Claims (5)

A culture vessel capable of containing a culture solution and culturing algae therein;
An inflow path through which the culture solution flows into the culture tank;
An outflow path for allowing the culture medium to flow out of the culture tank;
A bubble supply unit for supplying microbubbled CO ₂ into the culture solution flowing into the culture tank;
An inflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank;
An outflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank,
A bubble difference calculation unit for calculating a difference between the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank and the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank;
A control unit that controls the culture device based on the difference in the amount of fine bubbles.   The algae culture apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fine bubbles are microbubbles, nanobubbles, or picobubbles. A culture vessel capable of containing a culture solution and culturing algae therein;
An inflow path through which the culture solution flows into the culture tank;
An outflow path for allowing the culture medium to flow out of the culture tank;
A bubble supply unit for supplying microbubbled CO ₂ into the culture solution flowing into the culture tank;
An inflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank;
An outflow bubble measuring unit that measures the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution that has flowed out of the culture tank, and a system for controlling a culture device comprising:
A bubble difference calculation unit for calculating the difference between the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank and the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank;
A control unit that controls the culture apparatus based on the difference in the amount of fine bubbles. A culture vessel capable of containing a culture solution and culturing algae therein;
An inflow path through which the culture solution flows into the culture tank;
An outflow path for allowing the culture medium to flow out of the culture tank;
A bubble supply unit for supplying microbubbled CO ₂ into the culture solution flowing into the culture tank;
An inflow bubble measuring unit for measuring the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank;
An outflow bubble measuring unit that measures the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution that has flowed out of the culture tank, and a computer for operating a system that controls the culture apparatus,
A bubble difference calculation unit for calculating the difference between the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing into the culture tank and the amount of fine bubbles in the culture solution flowing out of the culture tank;
The program for implement | achieving the function as a control part which controls a culture apparatus based on the difference of the amount of said fine bubbles.   A method for culturing algae using the algae culture apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
  Microbubbled CO ₂ A method of culturing algae in a culture solution supplied with algae.