JPH0484883A - Culture device for photosynthetic organism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to efficiently obtain a photosynthetic organism in high concentration and rate and large quantities by arranging a mobile illuminant in a specific tank and culturing the photosynthetic organism therein. CONSTITUTION:Light L obtained by collecting sun light SL or artificial light AL using a light-collecting device 3 consisting of a reflection miller, etc., and pre-treating the light SL or AL with light amount control device 6 provided with wavelength selector 4, heat radiation remover 5 and light amount sensor 14 and having 400-700nm wavelength is transmitted through a transmission light connector 9 and light transmitting shaft 10 to a mobile illuminant 11 consisting of a plane quartz of culture device 1 of light synthetic organism and the illuminant 11 is rotated in desired cycle by an agitating motor 8. Then the light L is transmitted from an optical fiber, etc., through a light transmission cable 7 to baffle plate 15 and gas sparjar 16 and simultaneously CO2 gas C is fed from gas inlet tube 17 to a culture medium 13 in culture tank 2. Then the photosynthetic organism is synthesized in the presence of light L and CO. gas C and simultaneously CO2 gas C is fixed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Fields] The present invention is directed to photosynthesis! ! ! This is related to culturing equipment for photosynthetic organisms such as bacteria, algae, and plant cells, and is particularly important when culturing these photosynthetic organisms in a culture tank by irradiating sunlight or light from an artificial light source. The present invention relates to a cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms that can uniformly and efficiently irradiate.

[Prior Art] Production of useful substances by culturing photosynthetic organisms has been carried out for a long time. Furthermore, since the photosynthetic reaction requires carbon dioxide (CO2), it is effective in fixing carbon dioxide, which is considered to be one of the causes of global warming.

As a method for mass-cultivating photosynthetic organisms, culturing them outdoors under sunlight using an open-boule method is already known. In this case, sunlight can only reach the water depth within 10 cm, so the water depth cannot be increased, and as a result, a vast site area is required to increase the light irradiation rate. Furthermore, this method has a serious drawback in that it is difficult to achieve pure culture of photosynthetic organisms because contamination with external bacteria cannot be avoided.

Therefore, a method has been adopted for culturing photosynthetic organisms by irradiating light into a culture tank containing photosynthetic organisms and a culture solution.

As a culture tank for culturing such photosynthetic organisms, a method of irradiating light from the outside of a culture wall made of a transparent material such as glass has been known for a long time. In this method, the light intensity is highest in a portion of the culture tank close to the outer wall, and decreases toward the center of the culture tank, resulting in an extremely non-uniform light intensity distribution. Moreover, when the concentration of organisms increases during the cultivation process of photosynthetic organisms, the light can only reach within a few centimeters from the outer wall due to absorption and scattering of the incident light, and the light intensity decreases extremely, especially inside the culture tank. , it becomes impossible to efficiently supply light.

Therefore, by strongly stirring and mixing the culture solution in the culture tank with a stirrer or pump, the organisms are circulated and moved to areas where light can pass through, thereby improving uneven light irradiation. methods have been adopted.

However, especially in the case of living organisms such as plant cells,
Such methods cannot be used because living organisms are susceptible to physical damage due to the shear forces generated by stirring and mixing.

Furthermore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1983-1999. When a material such as glass is used for the outer wall as in No. 1.57581, it is extremely difficult to increase the size of the culture tank from the viewpoint of structural strength.

Also, for example, as in JP-A-51-110089,
In order to improve the light irradiation rate, a culture device is known in which long circular tubes made of transparent material (glass, etc.) with a diameter of several centimeters or less are formed in a parallel or spiral shape, and the tubes are irradiated with light. ing. This device requires a wide light-receiving surface in order to effectively irradiate light, and especially when increasing the actual volume of the culture tank, the tube becomes quite long and the light-receiving area becomes large. Furthermore, it is difficult to use large-scale equipment for mass culture due to problems with the strength and structure of the tube material.

Also, for example, JP-A-50-142778, JP-A-5
No. 7-102181, JP-A No. 61-139382, etc., cultivate arc tubes to promote the introduction of light into the interior! !
It is also known to directly irradiate the inside of the culture tank by immersing the culture tank in the tank or by connecting light guided from an optical fiber to a light emitting device inside the culture tank.

In the case of such devices, although it is possible to directly irradiate light into the culture tank, the light intensity is uneven, with high light intensity near the arc tube or light emitter, but low light intensity at positions further away. A distribution occurs. In order to improve this light intensity distribution, it may be possible to increase the number of arc tubes or light emitters, but this would increase the proportion of the arc tubes or light emitters in the contents of the culture tank, and as a result, photosynthesis There is a problem that the actual volume for culturing living organisms becomes extremely small.

Also, for example, as in JP-A-58-9808.1,
There is a method of arranging many arc tubes and light emitters closely together in a culture tank to make the light intensity uniform, but even with this device, the ratio of arc tubes and light emitters to the contents of the culture tank is high. As a result, there is a problem that the actual volume for culturing photosynthetic organisms becomes extremely small. Furthermore, when installing arc tubes and light emitters in the liquid inside the culture tank, there is a serious drawback that photosynthetic organisms adhere to the surface of the arc tube or light emitter as they multiply, blocking light irradiation. There is.

Also, for example, as in JP-A-53-20481, as a method of uniformly scattering light inside the culture tank, a light guide made of a transparent material is installed inside the culture tank. There is also a method in which the light introduced into a part of the culture tank is transmitted through the light guide and transmitted through the culture tank through repeated transmission, scattering, reflection, and refraction. However, in this method,
Since the light guide is suspended in the tank, the actual culture volume becomes smaller, and there is another problem in that the light guide and the culture medium must be separated after the culture is completed.

[It's what the invention tries to solve! IQ] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to uniformly and efficiently supply light necessary for culturing photosynthetic organisms into a culture tank depending on the type of photosynthetic organisms. By making it possible to cultivate photosynthetic organisms under optimal light conditions and mass culturing them, it is possible to realize low-cost production of useful substances through photosynthesis and efficient fixation of carbon dioxide gas. We aim to provide a cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms that can [! shall be.

[1! i! Means for Solving the Problem] That is, the present invention is a cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms that cultivates the photosynthetic organisms by supplying light and carbon dioxide gas into a culture tank containing a photosynthetic organism and a culture solution, This is a cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms characterized by having a movable light emitting body provided inside.

The movable light emitter may be made of a transparent material, and light may be transmitted to the movable light emitter from outside the medium.

Further, the movable light emitting body may have a built-in lamp.

Any method can be adopted as the movable method for the movable light emitting body, but for example, it may be rotated in a culture tank,
Alternatively, a mechanism for reciprocating movement may be used.

[Function] In the cultivation apparatus for photosynthetic organisms according to the present invention, a movable light emitter that irradiates the inside of the culture tank with light transmitted from the outside, a movable light emitter with a built-in light emitting device such as a lamp, or any other arbitrary configuration. Since we decided to irradiate light without moving the movable light emitter within the culture tank, the light source approaches the photosynthetic organisms in the culture solution. Therefore, by moving the movable light emitter within a predetermined period, light can be uniformly and efficiently supplied to the photosynthetic organisms in the culture tank, and the photosynthetic organisms can be cultured under optimal light conditions.

Moreover, unlike conventional methods, this movable method does not have the primary purpose of stirring and mixing the culture solution, so it depends on the type of photosynthetic organism, the amount of light irradiation per unit time, and the culture. By appropriately setting the moving speed of the movable light emitter depending on the content of the liquid, it is possible to irradiate and supply light to the entire inside of the culture tank while preventing damage to the living organisms.

Of course, as the movable light emitter moves within the culture tank, it stirs and mixes the culture solution, which has the secondary effect of uniformly distributing the culture solution or the photosynthetic organisms themselves within the culture tank. .

In this way, even if a culture tank with a desired capacity is used, it is possible to supply sufficient and uniform light to the inside of the tank, making it possible to perform mass culture efficiently and at low cost.

[Embodiment] Next, a photosynthetic organism culturing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the entire culture device 1 for photosynthetic organisms, and FIG. An i-side view,
A cultivation device 1 for photosynthetic organisms includes a reactor main body of a predetermined capacity, that is, a culture tank 2, a light concentrator 3, a wavelength selector 4, a heat ray remover 5, a light amount control device 6, an optical transmission cable 7, and a stirring device. It has a motor 8, an optical transmission connector 9, an optical transmission shaft 10, and a movable light emitter 11.

The condenser 3 is for condensing either the sunlight SL or the artificial light source light AL, or both at appropriate time intervals, and is constituted by a reflecting mirror or the like.

The wavelength selector 4 removes harmful rays such as ultraviolet rays, if necessary, from the light taken in by the condenser 3, depending on the type of photosynthetic organism, and selects light with the optimum wavelength for photosynthesis, for example. It is possible to supply light of 400 to 700 nm.

The heat ray remover 5 prevents as much as possible the upper limit of the temperature inside the culture 4w2 due to the introduction of light into the culture tank 2.
This is to remove heat rays such as infrared rays in advance. However, the culture tank 2 can also be used in combination with a configuration in which the culture tank 2 is housed in water, such as a constant temperature bath 12 (imaginary line in FIG. 1), and the heat ray remover 5 may be omitted.

The light amount control device 6 controls the amount of light to be supplied and the irradiation time or irradiation timing (continuous or intermittent irradiation, etc.) according to the culture solution 13 containing photosynthetic organisms housed in the culture tank 2. Light amount sensor 1 installed in
Feedback control is performed based on the detection signal of 4.

The optical transmission cable 7 is for transmitting and supplying a predetermined amount of light to the culture solution 13 in the culture tank 2, and is made of an optical fiber, a mirror conduit, or other material capable of transmitting light.

Note that there are two optical paths for supplying light from this optical transmission cable 7 into the culture tank 2, namely, a first optical path 7A that is transmitted to the movable light emitter 11 via the optical transmission connector 9 and the optical transmission shaft 10; A second optical path 7 that transmits to the side of the culture tank 2
B, and by providing a third optical path 7C for transmission on the bottom surface of the culture tank 2, it is possible to transmit light into the culture tank 2 more efficiently. Cultivation: Il! The light transmitted from the upper part of flF2 is connected to the optical transmission shaft 10 at the transmission optical connector 9 and transmitted, and as the optical transmission shaft 10 is rotated by the stirring motor 8, the movable light emitter 11 is also moved to the center of the culture tank 2. It rotates at the section.

As shown in FIG. 2, the movable light emitter 11 has a flat plate shape and is made of a transparent material such as quartz, glass, or acrylic. The movable light emitter 11 is made of a material that can withstand steam sterilization and sterilization operations, and by sterilizing the inside of the culture tank 2, it is possible to aseptically and purely culture photosynthetic organisms.

Further, the shape of the movable light emitter 11 is not limited to a flat plate shape, but may be a rod shape, a spherical shape, or any other shape, and a shape suitable for supplying light and stirring is adopted in consideration of the culture tank 2, photosynthetic organisms, culture solution 13, etc. For example, as shown by imaginary lines in FIG. 1, a predetermined number of long windows 11. By forming A, the stirring efficiency can also be improved.

The rotation speed of this photosynthetic organism culture device 1 is as follows:
Not for the purpose of stirring.

In line with the main purpose of supplying light by the movable light emitter 11, it can be within a range that does not damage the photosynthetic organisms in the culture solution 13.

In addition, the culture medium NlF2 is located around the movable light emitter 11.
A baffle plate 15 is provided to protrude from the inner wall of the housing (see also FIG. 2). This baffle plate 15 and the movable light emitter 11
Due to the relative relationship between the two, the culture solution 13 can be stirred as uniformly as possible, and light can be uniformly supplied into the culture solution 13. Furthermore, if the baffle plate 15 is made of a transparent material and light is supplied to it from the optical transmission cable 7, more sufficient light can be supplied.

A gas sparger 16 is disposed at the bottom of the culture tank 2, and carbon dioxide C can be supplied to the gas sparger 16 through a gas inlet pipe 17, a sterilization filter 18, and an inlet valve 19. That is, carbon dioxide gas C is supplied to the culture solution 13 in the culture tank 2 from the supply hole 20 of the gas sparger 16 . The gas generated in the culture tank 2 is filtered through a sterilization filter 21.
and discharge it from the gas outlet pipe 23 via the outlet valve 22.

The carbon dioxide gas C supplied from the gas inlet pipe 17 is a factory,
Exhaust gas from a steel mill, a thermal power plant, etc. can be used, but any gas supply requiring carbon dioxide C fixation can be connected to the gas inlet pipe 17. Perform pretreatment if necessary. Furthermore, if the purpose of culturing is to produce the products of photosynthetic organisms produced by the culture solution 13, pure carbon dioxide gas C may be supplied.

In the cultivation apparatus 1 for photosynthetic organisms having such a configuration, the light is taken in through the concentrator 3, the wavelength selector 4, the heat ray remover 5,
The light pretreated by the light amount control device 6 is transmitted to the movable light emitter 11 via the transmission optical connector 9 and the optical transmission shaft 10, and is also transmitted to the baffle plate 1 via the optical transmission cable 7.
5 and gas sparger - 16 section. At the same time, carbon dioxide gas C is supplied from the gas inlet pipe 17 to the culture solution 13 in the culture tank 2. Thus, in the presence of light and carbon dioxide C, photosynthesis is carried out by the photosynthetic organisms in the culture solution 13, and carbon dioxide C is immobilized.

As the movable light emitter 11 rotates at a predetermined period, the light source moves toward the photosynthetic organisms in the culture solution 13, so that the light supplied to the culture tank 2 is absorbed by the floating photosynthetic organisms. As a result, light is uniformly supplied to the culture tank 2, and there will be no part of the culture tank 2 where the light is insufficiently supplied. That is, when the movable light emitter 11 is in a stationary state, even if there is a part with low light intensity at a remote position from the movable light emitter 11, this will move as the movable light emitter 11 rotates. Therefore, the light intensity also increases at this position. Continuous movement of the movable light emitter 11 results in the elimination of non-uniform distribution of relative light intensity.

Thus, in this culture device 1, the movable light emitter 11
By moving, the light can be uniformly irradiated into the culture N2, and the culture solution 13 and the photosynthetic organisms can be stirred and mixed, so that all the photosynthetic organisms in the culture solution 13 are always exposed to a constant and uniform light. can receive light, and culture can be performed under a stable light environment.

In addition, the stirring and mixing forces required are extremely small compared to conventional immobile luminescent systems, which saves energy and prevents damage to photosynthetic organisms by preventing them from being damaged. It is also suitable for cultivating photosynthetic organisms that are extremely sensitive to force.

Furthermore, since the movable light emitter 11 itself performs rotational movement,
There is also the additional effect that the surface is constantly cleaned by the liquid flow generated by the movement, and unlike immobile light emitters, photosynthetic organisms do not adhere to the surface and reduce the light irradiation efficiency, and the light irradiation efficiency is always high. Light can be stably irradiated for a long period of time.

In addition, in the culture apparatus 1 of the present invention, the shape, size, etc. of the movable light emitter 11 can be arbitrarily set according to the type of photosynthetic organism to be cultured, the concentration of the organism during culture, and the required amount of irradiation light. It is possible to scale up the culture layer 2 to a desired capacity, and also realize an efficient structure that saves space.

Incidentally, by appropriately selecting the number of transmission cables 7 or the connection positions to the culture tank 2, it is possible to further improve the light irradiation efficiency.

In the first embodiment described above, a case has been described in which sunlight SL or artificial light source light AL from outside the culture M2 is used as a light source, but other configurations can be adopted in the present invention.

For example, FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a photosynthetic organism culturing apparatus 30 according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the entire culture device 30 for photosynthetic organisms, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-rV in FIG.
Hereinafter, the same parts as in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this photosynthetic organism cultivation apparatus 30, a light emitting source such as a lamp 32 such as a halogen lamp or a xenon lamp is built into a movable light emitter 31 corresponding to the movable light emitter 11. The outer surface of the lamp 32 is coated with a transparent material that allows selection of the optimal light wavelength band for photosynthetic reactions depending on the type of photosynthetic organism to be cultured.

A lamp light amount control device 33 for supplying power to this lamp 32 is provided, and this lamp light amount control device 33 is connected to an electric cable 34 and an electric contactor 35 corresponding to the transmission optical connector 9.
．． It is connected to the lamp 32 by a shaft 36 with a built-in electric wire, which corresponds to the optical transmission shaft 10. Note that the lamp 32 can also be built inside the baffle plate 15. Although not shown, it may be built into the gas sparger 16.

The shape of the movable light emitter 31, the shape, number and built-in method of the lamps 32 built into the movable light emitter 31 will depend on the type of photosynthetic organism to be cultured, the culture conditions, the shape of the culture flF2, etc. Accordingly, this is appropriately set so that the inside of the culture tank 2 can be uniformly irradiated with light.

In the culture bag M30 for photosynthetic organisms with such a configuration,
Similar to the above-mentioned culture device 1 for photosynthetic organisms, the movable light emitter 31 moves toward the photosynthetic organisms, so that the culture solution 13 in the culture tank 2 can be uniformly supplied with light.

Furthermore, the culture 11F is detected by the detection signal from the light sensor 14.
By automatically controlling the light intensity inside the culture tank 2 or the irradiation intensity of the lamp 32, the light intensity of the culture tank 2 can be freely set and adjusted to a desired value.

Since this photosynthetic organism cultivation device 30 has a built-in light source, it is particularly suitable for regions where sunlight SL is insufficient or irregular.

In the present invention, the movable method of the movable light emitting body 11.31 is arbitrary, and it is not limited to the rotation method, and other methods such as a reciprocating method in the vertical direction or horizontal direction, a method in which the rotation direction is reversed, etc. can be adopted. In short, cultivate! ! The movable light emitters 11 or 31 are movable so as to uniformly supply light to the photosynthetic organisms in the culture solution 13 inside M2.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when culturing photosynthetic organisms and fixing carbon dioxide, a movable luminous body is moved within the culture tank as a method of supplying light. , it is possible to uniformly and efficiently supply the necessary and sufficient light into the culture medium at a much higher concentration and faster than conventional culture devices, and without damaging the organisms. , it is possible to realize a bioreactor for efficient mass production of useful substances and an efficient bioreactor for carbon dioxide fixation by high-density culture.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view showing the whole of a photosynthetic organism culturing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line nn in FIG. 1. FIG.
It is a sectional view taken along the line ■-rV in the figure. 1. Cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms 2.
, Culture tank (reactor body) 3 , Condenser 4 , Wavelength selector 5 , Heat ray remover 6 , Light amount control device 7 , ,,,,,Optical transmission cable 7A,,,,,First optical path 7B,,,,Second optical path 7G,,,,fJ,Three optical path 8,,,, Stirring motor 9,,,, ,,Transmission optical connector 10, ,Optical transmission axis 11, ,Movable light emitter 11A, ,Long window 12, ,Thermostatic chamber 13, , Culture solution containing photosynthetic organisms 14.
, , , Light amount sensor 15 , , , Baffle plate 16 , , Gas sparger 17 , , Gas inlet pipe 18 , , , M-bacteria filter 19 , , , Inlet valve 20 , Supply hole 21 , Sterilization filter 22 , Outlet valve 23 , Gas outlet pipe 30 , Photosynthesis Biological culture device 31...
...Movable light emitter 32 , Lamp 33 , Lamp light amount control device 34 , ...
, Electrical cable 35 , Electrical contact 36 , Electric wire built-in shaft C, Carbon dioxide gas S L, Solar light AL, , ,,Artificial light source light,,,,,,,supply light Patent applicant: Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. Sub-agent Patent attorney: Hiroshi Ikezawa Figure

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms that cultivates the photosynthetic organisms by supplying light and carbon dioxide gas into a culture tank containing photosynthetic organisms and a culture solution, wherein a movable light emitting body is provided in the culture tank. A cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms characterized by the following. (2) The apparatus for culturing photosynthetic organisms according to claim (1), wherein the movable light emitter is made of a transparent material, and light is transmitted to the movable light emitter from outside the culture tank. (3) The cultivation device for photosynthetic organisms according to claim (1), wherein the movable light-emitting body has a built-in lamp. (4) The apparatus for cultivating photosynthetic organisms according to claim (1), wherein the movable light emitter is rotated within the culture tank. (5) The apparatus for culturing photosynthetic organisms according to claim (1), wherein the movable light emitter is moved back and forth within the culture tank.