JP5720337B2 - Incubator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a culture apparatus for culturing algae and the like.

  In recent years, algae (particularly microalgae) that can produce biofuels (hydrocarbons and biodiesel) and physiologically active substances such as astaxanthin have attracted attention. It is being studied to use it as energy to replace it, or to use it for medicines, cosmetics, foods, and the like.

  As an example of a culture apparatus for mass culture of algae and the like, there is an open pond (outdoor pond) type which is a culture apparatus having an open water surface (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). For plants such as algae, it is desirable to allow light to reach the inside of the culture tank because it grows and produces hydrocarbons etc. by photosynthesis, but light is only incident from the water surface in the open pond type Therefore, with the growth of algae, the algae itself blocks light, the light reach distance is shortened, and the photosynthesis efficiency of the algae is reduced. Moreover, other microorganisms may mix from the surface of the water, and the culture efficiency of algae may decrease.

  Therefore, a tube-type culture apparatus (for example, Non-Patent Document 1) configured with a tube-shaped culture tank and a panel-type culture apparatus (for example, Patent Document 1) configured with a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped culture tank have been studied. ing. In addition, the culture tank which comprises a tube-type or panel-type culture apparatus is comprised with members, such as glass and a plastic, which permeate | transmit light, in order to improve photosynthesis efficiency.

Elsevier, Bioresource Technology 101, 2010: 1406-1413 JP 2000-139444 A

  By the way, when culturing algae, if the culture solution containing algae is not circulated in the culture tank, the algae precipitate in the culture solution and the algae itself forms a cluster, and the photosynthesis efficiency and the consumption efficiency of the culture solution May decrease, resulting in a decrease in overall culture efficiency.

  Here, the tube type culture apparatus circulates the culture solution using the turbulent flow generated by the movement of the culture solution from one end of the culture tank to the other end. It is difficult to circulate enough. In addition, the panel type culture apparatus circulates the culture solution by aeration from the lower part of the culture tank, but the culture solution cannot be sufficiently circulated to the four corners of the culture tank. Will precipitate. Therefore, when culturing algae using a tube-type or panel-type culture device, it is necessary to circulate the culture solution using a dedicated device for circulating the culture solution, which increases the cost or culture. The occupied volume of the entire device has become large.

  Therefore, in view of such problems, the present invention can efficiently circulate the culture solution with a simple configuration without using a dedicated device for circulating the culture solution, and the photosynthesis caused by the precipitation of algae. It aims at providing the culture apparatus which can suppress the fall of efficiency and the fall of the consumption efficiency of a culture solution.

In order to solve the above problems, the culture apparatus of the present invention is a tank body filled with a culture solution, a gas introduction unit that is provided in the tank body and introduces a consumption gas consumed by the object to be cultured in the culture solution, A tank body, a light receiving surface portion that transmits received light into the tank body, and a light receiving surface portion that is located forward of the light receiving surface portion in the transmission direction of light transmitted from the light receiving surface portion; The back surface portion arranged at the opposite position, the lower end of the back surface portion, and the lower end of the light receiving surface portion are continuous, and part or all of the continuous process is inclined downward vertically from the back surface side toward the light receiving surface portion side. The distance between the light receiving surface portion and the back surface portion is such that the distance on the uppermost end side between the light receiving surface portion and the back surface portion is shorter than that on the lowermost end side .

  The distance between the light receiving surface portion and the back surface portion may be gradually reduced as it goes vertically upward.

  The gas introduction part may be provided in a continuous part of the light receiving surface part and the bottom surface part.

  Either one or both of the back surface portion and the bottom surface portion may have higher thermal conductivity or heat dissipation efficiency than the light receiving surface portion.

  You may further provide the cooling means which cools any one or both of a back surface part and a bottom face part.

  When the culture solution in the tank body reaches a predetermined water level, the overflow solution causes the culture solution in the tank body to overflow outside the tank body and the overflowed culture solution flows down along the outer surface of the back part. May be further provided.

  You may further provide the culture solution supply part which supplies a new culture solution in the downward position of the overflow part in the said tank main body.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently circulate the culture solution with a simple configuration without using a dedicated device for circulating the culture solution. It is possible to suppress a decrease in consumption efficiency.

It is an external appearance perspective view of a culture apparatus. It is XY sectional drawing in FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the circulation process of the culture solution M in a tank main body. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the flow process of the culture solution M which overflows an overflow part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a culture apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a culture apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a culture apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the modification of a culture apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

(Culture apparatus 100)
1 is an external perspective view of the culture apparatus 100, and FIG. 2 is an XY cross-sectional view in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the culture apparatus 100 includes a tank body 110 and a culture solution recovery unit 150.

(Configuration of tank body 110)
The tank main body 110 includes a light receiving surface portion 112 and a back surface portion 114 that are disposed to face each other in the X direction in FIG. 1, a right side surface portion 116a and a left side surface portion 116b that are disposed to face each other in the Z direction in FIG. A bottom surface portion 118 that is continuous with the lower end of the surface portion 112 is provided.

  The light receiving surface portion 112 is configured by a member that transmits light such as glass or resin (for example, acrylic, polyethylene terephthalate, etc.), and mainly receives direct light (direct light) L emitted from the sun or illumination. The transmitted light is transmitted into the tank body 110.

  The back surface portion 114 is made of a member (for example, metal) having higher thermal conductivity or heat dissipation efficiency than the light receiving surface portion 112, and is positioned in front of the light receiving surface portion 112 in the transmission direction T (see FIG. 2). 112 is disposed at a position opposite to 112. Here, the transmission direction T is the direction of light transmitted from the light receiving surface portion 112.

  Like the light receiving surface portion 112, the right side surface portion 116a and the left side surface portion 116b are configured by a member that transmits light, mainly receive scattered light and reflected light, and transmit the received light into the tank body 110.

  The bottom surface portion 118 is made of a member (for example, metal) having higher thermal conductivity or heat dissipation efficiency than the light receiving surface portion 112, and continuously connects the lower end of the back surface portion 114 and the lower end of the light receiving surface portion 112 as shown in FIG. In addition, it is continuously inclined downward in the vertical direction from the back surface portion 114 side toward the light receiving surface portion 112 side.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the internal space of the tank body 110 surrounded by the light receiving surface portion 112, the back surface portion 114, the right side surface portion 116a, the left side surface portion 116b, and the bottom surface portion 118 has a vertical cross section (X− in FIG. The shape of the (Y cross section) is a triangle, and this internal space is filled with the culture solution M in which algae are dispersed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tank body 110 is provided with a gas introduction part 120, an overflow part 130, a culture solution supply part 140, and a gas extraction part 142.

  The gas introduction unit 120 is provided, for example, in a continuous portion 122 of the light receiving surface portion 112 and the bottom surface portion 116, and consumes gas (for example, carbon dioxide at the time of photosynthesis) consumed by an object to be cultured (algae, etc.) Introduce oxygen when breathing).

  The overflow part 130 is provided in the back surface part 114, and makes the culture solution M in the tank main body 110 overflow outside the tank main body 110 when the culture medium M in the tank main body 110 reaches a predetermined water level. In this embodiment, the overflow part 130 corresponds to a cooling unit that cools the back part 114 and the bottom part 118. The cooling process by the overflow section 130 will be described in detail later.

  The culture solution supply unit 140 is provided below the overflow unit 130 and supplies a new culture solution M.

  The gas extraction unit 142 is provided, for example, at a position higher than the draft surface in the back surface 114, and extracts oxygen generated by algae photosynthesis and carbon dioxide generated by algae respiration. As a result, oxygen is supplied to the culture medium M when the algae performs photosynthesis, and the photosynthesis efficiency is reduced, or carbon dioxide is supplied to the culture medium M when the algae respires, resulting in a decrease in respiratory efficiency. Can be avoided.

  Below, the circulation process of the culture solution M is demonstrated.

(Circulating process of the culture medium M in the tank body 110)
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the circulation process of the culture solution M in the tank main body 110. As described above, the light receiving surface portion 112 mainly receives the light L directly and transmits the received light into the tank body 110. Here, since the tank body 110 is filled with the culture solution M in which algae are dispersed, the received light is gradually attenuated by the algae in the culture solution M from the light receiving surface portion 112 toward the inside of the tank body 110. To do. As a result, a difference occurs in the temperature rise of the culture medium M generated by light reception for each region in the tank body 110.

  Specifically, the culture medium M located in the region A in the vicinity of the light receiving surface portion 112 shown in FIG. 3 is subjected to the received light by the region B in the vicinity of the back surface portion 114 and the region C in the vicinity of the bottom surface portion 118. Compared with the culture medium M located in the area, the temperature becomes high.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the culture medium M located in the region A rises vertically upward along the light receiving surface portion 112 (indicated by an arrow a in FIG. 3) and reaches the draft surface. The culture medium M that has reached the draft surface descends vertically downward (indicated by an arrow b in FIG. 3) along the back surface portion 114, and the culture medium M located in the region B is pushed out to be the bottom surface portion 118. To reach. Here, as described above, the bottom surface portion 118 is inclined vertically downward from the back surface portion 114 side toward the light receiving surface portion 112 side. (Indicated by an arrow c in FIG. 3) and flows toward the light receiving surface portion 112. Then, the culture medium M located in the region C is pushed out and reaches the lower end of the light receiving surface portion 112.

  Therefore, the culture apparatus 100 can circulate the culture medium M in the order indicated by arrows a, b, and c in FIG. 3, and can avoid a situation where algae precipitate in the culture medium M. Become. Thereby, the fall of the photosynthesis efficiency of algae and the fall of the consumption efficiency of the culture solution M can be suppressed.

  In addition, with the configuration in which the gas introduction part 120 is provided in the continuous part 122, the consumption gas can be uniformly supplied to the culture medium M, and the rise of the culture medium M in the region A can be assisted.

  Furthermore, as described above, the back surface portion 114 and the bottom surface portion 118 according to the present embodiment are composed of members having higher thermal conductivity or heat dissipation efficiency than the light receiving surface portion 112. The culture medium M located in the region C in the vicinity of the bottom surface part 118 can be made to have a lower temperature. Therefore, the culture medium M located in the region B and the region C can be efficiently flowed to the vicinity (region A) of the light receiving surface portion 112.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the tank main body 110 is formed so that the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 gradually decreases as it goes vertically upward. In this way, by reducing the flow distance of the culture medium M from the light receiving surface 112 side to the back surface 114 side on the draft surface, the culture medium M that has been heated by light and reaches the draft surface reaches the back surface 114. It is possible to avoid a situation in which the flow descends in the middle of the process and disturbs the circulation flow. Therefore, the circulation efficiency of the culture solution M can be improved.

  In addition, by tilting the light receiving surface portion 112, the light receiving area can be increased, and the photosynthesis efficiency of algae can be improved.

  Here, the circulation of the algae will be described. Since the algae are dispersed in the culture medium M, the algae circulate in the order indicated by arrows a, b, and c in FIG. . In addition to the circulation of the culture medium M, as described above, the bottom surface portion 118 is inclined vertically downward from the back surface portion 114 side toward the light receiving surface portion 112 side. The algae located on the end side can flow to the lower end side of the light receiving surface portion 112. And the algae which moved to the lower end side of the light-receiving surface part 112 reach | attain to a draft surface with supply of the consumption gas by the gas introduction part 120, and descend | fall toward the bottom face part 118 by gravity after that.

  By the way, algae has a feature that the photosynthetic efficiency is improved by culturing so that the periods in which light is applied and the periods in which light is not applied are alternated (light dark effect). However, as described above, the tube-type and panel-type culture apparatuses are composed of a member that transmits light so that the light reaches the inside of the culture tank. However, there is a problem that light is applied to the entire culture tank, the brightness in the culture tank becomes uniform, the light dark effect cannot be obtained, and photosynthesis efficiency is suppressed or strong light inhibition is caused. there were.

  The culture apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 becomes shorter as it goes vertically upward, that is, the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 becomes longer as it goes vertically downward. According to the configuration, a region D where the culture medium M is thick can be formed in the transmission direction of the light transmitted from the light receiving surface portion 112 (see FIG. 2). Here, since the culture apparatus 100 can continuously circulate the culture solution M inside the tank body 110, the algae can be uniformly dispersed in the culture solution M. Thereby, in the area | region D, the layer of algae with low light transmittance will be formed, and light can be attenuate | damped gradually as it goes to the back surface part 114 from the light-receiving surface part 112. FIG. Therefore, even during the daytime when the amount of sunlight is high, the bright region A and the dark region D can be formed in the tank body 110 in parallel, improving the photosynthetic efficiency of the algae and the algae. It is possible to suppress the strong light inhibition against the light.

(Cooling process by overflow section 130)
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow process of the culture medium M that overflows the overflow section 130. As shown in FIG. 4, when the culture medium M in the tank body 110 reaches a predetermined water level, the culture medium M in the tank body 110 flows over the overflow part 130 and flows out of the tank body 110. That is, the algae cultured in the tank main body 110 will overflow the overflow section 130 together with the culture medium M and be discharged to the outside.

  Then, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 4, the overflow part 130 causes the culture medium M that has overflowed to flow down along the outer surface of the back part 114. Here, since the outer surface of the back surface portion 114 is exposed to the atmosphere, the culture medium M that has overflowed the overflow portion 130 is vaporized while flowing down along the outer surface of the back surface portion 114. Then, the back surface portion 114 is cooled by the heat of vaporization of the culture medium M. Further, in the present embodiment, at least a part of the culture medium M that has flowed down along the outer surface of the back surface portion 114 subsequently flows down along the outer surface of the bottom surface portion 118. As a result, the culture medium M is vaporized even while it flows down along the outer surface of the bottom surface part 118, so that the bottom surface part 118 is cooled by the heat of vaporization of the culture medium M.

  Here, as described above, the back surface portion 114 and the bottom surface portion 118 are made of a member having higher thermal conductivity or heat dissipation efficiency than the light receiving surface portion 112, so that the culture medium M located in the region B and the region C is cooled. In addition to the effect, by providing the overflow section 130, the temperature of the culture solution M located in the region B and the region C can be further lowered, and the circulation efficiency of the culture solution M in the tank body 110 is improved. Is possible.

  By the way, algae has a temperature range suitable for culturing, and if it deviates greatly from this temperature range, the culturing efficiency of algae will decrease. For example, if the temperature of the culture solution is too high, there arises a problem that the proteins constituting the algae are denatured. However, as described above, the tube-type and panel-type culture apparatuses are composed of a member that transmits light so that the light reaches the inside of the culture tank. However, there is a problem in that light is applied to the entire culture tank, the temperature of the culture solution in the culture tank is increased, and proteins, nucleic acids, and the like constituting the algae are denatured.

  The culture device 100 according to the present embodiment can cool the back surface portion 114 and the bottom surface portion 118 with a simple configuration in which only the overflow portion 130 is provided, and can further reduce the temperatures of the region B and the region C. It becomes possible. Therefore, even during the daytime when the amount of sunlight is high, the temperature of the culture medium M can be maintained within a temperature range suitable for algae culture without using a cooling device, and the photosynthesis efficiency of algae can be improved. Thus, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the protein, nucleic acid, or the like constituting the algae is denatured and difficult to grow.

  In addition, a part of the culture solution M is vaporized while flowing down the outer surface of the back surface portion 114 and the outer surface of the bottom surface portion 118, whereby the concentration of algae contained in the culture solution M can be improved.

  Furthermore, the culture medium M that has overflowed the overflow part 130 flows down between the overflow part 130 and the guide part 132 by gravity. That is, there is no situation in which the culture medium M that has overflowed to the outside from the overflow section 130 flows back into the tank body 110, so that contamination from the outside into the tank body 110 can also be prevented.

  Further, as described above, in the present embodiment, since the culture solution supply unit 140 is provided at a position below the overflow unit 130, a new culture solution M having a low algal concentration (equal to 0) is introduced into the overflow unit 130. It is possible to prevent the culture medium M having a high algae concentration from being discharged from the overflow section 130.

  Returning to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the culture medium recovery unit 150 recovers the culture medium M that has overflowed the overflow part 130 and has flowed down the outer surface of the back part 114. The culture solution M containing algae recovered by the culture solution recovery unit 150 is used for the subsequent biofuel production process and the like through the culture recovery port 152.

  As described above, according to the culture device 100 according to the present embodiment, the culture solution M and the algae can be efficiently circulated with a simple configuration without using a dedicated device for circulating the culture solution. It is possible to suppress a decrease in photosynthetic efficiency and a decrease in the consumption efficiency of the culture solution due to the precipitation of algae. Therefore, the overall culture efficiency of algae can be improved.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Is done.

  For example, in the embodiment described above, the example in which the tank body 110 is formed so that the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 gradually decreases in the vertical direction has been described. For example, FIG. As shown, even if the light receiving surface portion 112 is convex toward the outside of the tank body 110, the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 becomes shorter as it goes vertically upward, that is, the light receiving surface portion 112. The tank main body 110 may be formed such that the distance between the uppermost end side of the back surface portion 114 and the rear surface portion 114 is shorter than the distance between the lowermost end side. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5B, the distance between the light receiving surface 112 and the back surface 114 is constant at a predetermined height from the lower end of the light receiving surface 112, and gradually decreases from a predetermined height or higher toward the vertically upward direction. Even if it is the shape to perform, as shown in FIG.5 (c), the shape which becomes short in steps as the distance of the light-receiving surface part 112 and the back surface part 114 goes vertically upwards may be sufficient. Further, if the culture medium M and the algae can rise in the region in the vicinity of the light receiving surface portion 112, the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 is a predetermined (constant) distance as shown in FIG. (The structure in which the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 are arranged in parallel) may be used.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the entire bottom surface portion 118 is continuously inclined vertically downward from the back surface portion 114 side toward the light receiving surface portion 112 side. For example, FIG. As described above, the bottom surface portion 118 may be convex toward the inside of the tank body 110. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, even if a part of the bottom surface portion 118 is inclined vertically downward, the bottom surface portion 118 is gradually lowered vertically as shown in FIG. 6C. The shape may be inclined.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (d), if the distance between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114 is formed so as to decrease vertically upward, the culture solution and the algae are removed in the region near the light receiving surface portion 112. Since the bottom portion 118 can be formed horizontally, the culture solution and the algae can be circulated in the order indicated by arrows a, b, and c in FIG.

  Moreover, although the gas introduction part 120 is provided in the continuous part 122 in embodiment mentioned above, as long as consumption gas can be supplied to algae, you may distribute | arrange to any position of the tank main body 110. FIG.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, by providing the overflow part 130, the culture medium M that has overflowed the overflow part 130 is used as a cooling means for cooling the back part 114 and the bottom part 118. The bottom surface portion 118 may be cooled with separate cooling water.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a cooling water circulation path 162 formed by a bottom surface portion 118, a bottom portion 160, and a back surface portion 114 is provided separately from the culture medium recovery unit 150, and cooling water N is supplied to the cooling water circulation path 162. It can also be circulated. In this case, the back surface portion 114 is cooled by the culture medium M that has overflowed from the overflow portion 130, and the bottom surface portion 118 is cooled by the cooling water N that circulates in the cooling water circulation path 162.

  By providing the cooling water circulation path 162 in this way and circulating the cooling water N through the cooling water circulation path 162, the bottom surface portion 118 can be efficiently cooled even in a region where the temperature is high or when the sunlight is strong. Is possible. Moreover, since the cooling water circulation path 162 is a closed space except for the supply section that supplies the cooling water N and the extraction section that extracts the cooling water N, the cooling water N that is circulated through the cooling water circulation path 162 is recovered. can do. As a result, the bottom surface portion 118 can be efficiently cooled with a small amount of water.

  In the above-described embodiment, the light receiving surface portion 112, the back surface portion 114, the bottom surface portion 118, the right side surface portion 116a, and the left side surface portion 116b are described as examples formed by plate-like members, but as shown in FIG. The light receiving surface portion 112, the back surface portion 114, the bottom surface portion 118, the right side surface portion 116a, and the left side surface portion 116b are formed of a soft resin, the boundary between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the back surface portion 114, the boundary between the back surface portion 114 and the bottom surface portion 118, The tank body 110 can also be formed by bridging the boundary between the light receiving surface portion 112 and the bottom surface portion 118 with a cable (indicated by 170a, b, c in FIG. 8) or the like.

  The present invention can be used for a culture apparatus for culturing algae and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Culture apparatus 110 ... Tank main body 112 ... Light-receiving surface part 114 ... Back surface part 118 ... Bottom part 120 ... Gas introduction part 130 ... Overflow part (cooling means)
140 ... culture solution supply unit

Claims (7)

A tank body filled with a culture solution;
A gas introduction unit that is provided in the tank body and introduces a consumption gas that is consumed by the subject to be cultured in the culture medium,
The tank body is
A light receiving surface that transmits the received light into the tank body;
A rear portion located in front of the light receiving surface portion in the transmission direction of the light transmitted from the light receiving surface portion and disposed at a position facing the light receiving surface portion;
A bottom surface portion that is continuous with the lower end of the back surface portion and the lower end of the light receiving surface portion, and that part or all of the continuous process is inclined vertically downward from the back surface portion side toward the light receiving surface portion side;
Equipped with a,
The distance between the light receiving surface portion and the back surface portion is such that the distance between the uppermost end side of the light receiving surface portion and the back surface portion is shorter than the lowermost end side . The culture apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the light receiving surface portion and the back surface portion gradually decreases as it goes vertically upward. The culture apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the gas introduction part is provided in a continuous part of the light receiving surface part and the bottom surface part. The culture apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein one or both of the back surface portion and the bottom surface portion has higher thermal conductivity or heat dissipation efficiency than the light receiving surface portion. The culture apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising a cooling unit that cools one or both of the back surface portion and the bottom surface portion. When the culture medium in the tank body reaches a predetermined water level, the culture medium in the tank body overflows outside the tank body, and the overflowed culture medium flows along the outer surface of the back surface portion. The culture apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , further comprising an overflow section for flowing down. The culture apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising a culture solution supply unit for supplying a new culture solution at a position below the overflow section in the tank body.