JPH04200382A - Fermentation tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the profitability and production efficiency of a fermentation tank by installing a raw material-injecting means, a product-discharging means, a vibration-stirring means, etc., to the closed fermentation tank holding microorganisms carriers. CONSTITUTION:A raw material is injected into the main body 11 of a fermentation tank through an injection opening 12, controlled to a desired reaction condition and moved in the vertical direction with a vibration plate 15 through a motor 17 and an eccentric cam 18 to allow a solution solution comprising a mixture of the raw material and the product to flow. Carriers 10 are immobilized to the main body 11 with supporting members 11a, and microorganisms are brought into contact with the raw material without peeling from the carriers 10 for the good proceeding of the reaction. The reaction product is taken out through a product-discharging opening 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a fermenter in which fermentation is carried out by microorganisms, and particularly to a closed fermenter with automatic stirring.

[Prior Art] Substances that are used in large quantities for industrial and daily use, such as ethanol, are generally produced by two methods. Specifically, there are two methods: a chemical method to obtain ethanol by hydrating ethylene, and a biological method to obtain ethanol by fermenting carbohydrates with yeast or the like.

Is it appropriate to apply industrial chemical production methods to obtain ethanol in large quantities? With the recent advances in biological methods, it is possible to use biological production methods in the same way as chemical production methods.
A large amount of ethanol can be obtained.

In other words, by increasing the concentration of microorganisms in the raw materials, the reaction rate can be increased, making it possible to mass-produce products. Specifically, microorganisms are attached to a porous substance (a so-called carrier), the carrier with the attached microorganisms is accumulated, and the raw material is fermented there for a certain period of time, and then the product is obtained. Since the carrier, which is a porous material, has a large surface area, many microorganisms can be attached thereto, and the density of microorganisms relative to the raw material becomes high, so that the fermentation rate can be improved.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the size of the fermenter is increased in order to achieve mass production, an imbalance occurs within the fermenter, resulting in biased reaction and poor efficiency. To solve this problem, it has been considered to stir the fermenter, and in reality, gas agitation using the gas in the fermenter and pump agitation using a pump to agitate the liquid in the fermenter are being carried out. I was worried. However, pump agitation does not sufficiently eliminate the imbalance within the fermenter, while gas agitation is too powerful, which can cause microorganisms carried on the carrier to become weaker, especially anaerobic bacteria that are difficult to adhere to the carrier. This resulted in peeling, which resulted in a deterioration of efficiency.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of fermentation by stirring the inside of the fermenter without removing the microorganisms supported on the carrier.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for producing a closed fermenter in a closed fermenter having an inlet for injecting raw materials and an outlet for taking out a product. It is characterized by installing a diaphragm that stirs the inside of the tank by vibration, thereby vibrating and stirring the raw materials in the closed fermenter.

[Function] In the fermenter according to the present invention configured as described above, the liquid in the closed fermenter is moved by the vibration stirring of the diaphragm, so that the concentration of the raw material is made uniform and the contact between the microorganisms and the raw material is prevented. This promotes fermentation by microorganisms.

[Example] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a fermenter according to the present invention.

In this figure, a carrier 10 carrying microorganisms is immobilized by a support member 11a in a fermenter body 11, and a raw material injection port 1 for injecting raw materials is provided in the fermenter body 11.
2 and a product outlet 13 for taking out the product.

Furthermore, a diaphragm 15 is installed inside the fermenter main body 11, and in the embodiment, a motor 17 for driving this diaphragm 15 is installed outside.

The rotation of the motor 17 causes the eccentric cam 18 to rotate, causing the diaphragm 15 to move up and down. On the other hand, at the bottom of the fermenter main body 11, the portion where the diaphragm 15 is inserted is configured with a diaphragm 21 to prevent the contents from leaking even if the diaphragm 15 moves.

First, raw materials are injected from the injection port 12, and the fermenter body 11
After the reaction conditions are set, the diaphragm 1
5 up and down movements are performed. At this time, the carrier 10 carrying microorganisms cannot move because it is immobilized by the support member 11a in the fermenter body 11, while the carrier 10 carrying the microorganisms cannot move. The liquid portion 14 flows in the fermenter under the action of the diaphragm 15.

This makes the composition of the raw material in the liquid portion 14 uniform,
Furthermore, good contact between microorganisms and raw materials can be achieved.

Here, since the action of the diaphragm 15 is vertical movement, it is not as violent as gas agitation, and the microorganisms are not separated from the carrier.

In addition, the composition of the raw material in the liquid portion 14 is made uniform;
In addition, since the contact between the microorganism and the raw material can be improved, the time required to obtain the product can be shortened.

After the reaction is completed, the product is taken out from the product outlet 13, and at the same time, a new raw material is injected from the raw material inlet 12. After that, the same process is repeated to commercialize the product. Therefore, if the reaction conditions are set appropriately, the product can be taken out at the same time as the raw materials are injected, making it possible to form a continuous reaction system.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a raw material inlet 12 is provided at the bottom of the fermenter main body 11, and a diaphragm 15 is provided in the middle of this raw material inlet 12, as a means for mixing the raw material and the carrier carrying microorganisms. You may also use

Further, the means for vibrating the diaphragm 15 is not limited to a combination of a motor and an eccentric cam, and any mechanism for vertical movement may be used.

In the present invention, microorganisms also include enzymes that have the same catalytic action as microorganisms.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention configured as described above, since the efficiency of fermentation is increased, the production efficiency of the biological production method is improved, and the cost of product production can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fermenter according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a fermenter according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 10 ... carrier 11 ... fermenter body 12 ... raw material inlet 13 ... product outlet 15 ... diaphragm 17 ... motor 18 ... eccentric cam 21 ... diaphragm] d Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A closed fermenter that holds a carrier carrying microorganisms, an injection means for injecting a raw material to be fermented by the microorganism into the closed fermenter, and a product produced in the closed fermenter. It is comprised of: a take-out means for taking out an object; a diaphragm installed in the closed fermenter to apply vibration to the inside of the closed fermenter; and a means for driving the diaphragm, A fermenter characterized by vibratory stirring of raw materials.