JPH0783708B2 - Algae culture device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a culture apparatus for microalgae.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Mass production of valuables or C in waste gas
The use of microalgae such as chlorella has been considered for the purpose of large-scale treatment of O ₂ , and several algae culture tanks have been proposed for that purpose, and a culture tank using an optical fiber is one of them. In algae culture, adhesion of algae on the optical fiber or to the inner wall of the tank is a big problem because it causes a decrease in light utilization efficiency and causes microbial contamination in the algae culture tank.
Various anti-adhesion measures are taken. An example of the countermeasure will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, 1 is a main body of a culture tank, 2 is a side emission optical fiber, 3 is a gas dispersion port, 4 is a flow meter, and 5 is C.
O ₂ gas, 6 light source, 7 light receiving port, 11 gas outlet, 1
2 is a circulation pump. In the culture tank body 1, microalgae are dispersed and cultured in a liquid medium. Algae perform photosynthesis from light obtained from the light source 6 through the light receiving port 7 and the side output optical fiber 2 and the CO ₂ gas 5 supplied through the flowmeter 4 and the gas dispersion port 3, to fix CO ₂ and to recover valuables. It is in production. There are two algae adhesion countermeasures,
One is a stirring means by the circulation pump 12, and the other is a gas supply, in which a large number of injection needles are inserted into the gaps of the side surface optical output fibers 2 to generate fine bubbles, and the bubbles burst in the culture tank body 1. And a means for peeling off the algae attached by the action of ultrasonic waves generated by the coalescence.

[0004]

The above-mentioned means for preventing adhesion cannot completely prevent adhesion due to the following reasons. (1) Stirring with a pump cannot stir the stagnation portion in the culture tank (the stagnation in the culture tank cannot be completely eliminated). (2) Since the action of ultrasonic waves cannot be expected below the bubble injection port, once adhesion occurs, it cannot be peeled off.

In view of the above-mentioned state of the art, the present invention intends to provide a microalgae culture apparatus which does not cause algae to adhere to the optical fiber or the inner wall of the tank in the main body of the microalgae culture tank and therefore can smoothly grow the algae. It is a thing.

[0006]

The present invention relates to an algae culture tank using an optical fiber for mass production of valuables such as foods and functional foods, or for large-scale treatment of CO _{2 in} waste gas. A storage tank with a capacity larger than the volume, a pipe for transferring all the contents in the algae culture tank to the storage tank at a predetermined time, and the contents stored in the storage tank at a predetermined time from the upper part of the algae culture tank It is an algae culture device equipped with a pipe for dropping and supplying it into a tank.

More specifically, the device of the present invention will be described.
A storage tank having a larger capacity than that of the algae culture tank is provided, and the contents are moved between the algae culture tank and the storage tank as follows.

The medium in the culture tank is pumped up to the storage tank by a pump at a certain time interval using a timer to empty the culture tank, and when the culture tank is empty, the pump is stopped and the storage tank The contents are naturally dropped or a medium is injected into the culture tank by a pump.

The time interval varies from a few minutes to several hours depending on the algae adhesion condition. For algae that tend to adhere, run every few minutes. Even in the case of normal algae that are difficult to attach, if attachment begins due to changes in liquidity, etc., the attachment grows to a visible extent within a short period of 2 to 3 days. Therefore, it is necessary to operate at intervals of several hours. The method of injecting the medium into the culture tank is simpler by spontaneous dropping, but it is preferable to use a pump when a strong water flow is required due to the algae adhesion state.

[0010]

In the initial stage, the adhesion of algae in the culture tank can be easily separated by applying a water stream (spray). Therefore, once the culture medium in the culture tank is completely removed to expose the algae attachment part, and then to remove the algae attachment by creating a state where the attachment part is exposed to the water flow that can be performed when re-injecting the culture medium. You can By repeating this, adhesion of algae can be prevented.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1 to 7 and 11 mean the same as those in FIG. 8 is a pump, 9 is a timer, 10 is a storage tank, and 13 is a solenoid valve.

In the culture layer body 1 shown in FIG. 1, the medium was adjusted and seed algae was added at 100 mg / liter to grow the algae.
The following method was carried out at intervals of 5 minutes to prevent adhesion. (1) The storage tank 1 for storing the medium in the culture tank main body 1 by the discharge pump 8.
Discharge to 0. At this time, the solenoid valve 13 is closed. (2) Since the discharging is completed within 1 minute, the discharging pump 8 is stopped (using the timer 9). (3) The solenoid valve 13 is opened by the timer 9 and the culture medium in the storage tank 10 is reinjected into the culture tank main body 1 by spontaneous fall.

The results of the above operation are shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 2, in the apparatus of this embodiment, no adherent matter was observed on the side surface optical output fiber 2 of the culture tank body 1 and the side wall of the culture tank body 1, and the culture was started from 300 mg / liter on the second day of culture. The concentration for 6 days was about 3000 mg / liter, and the cells were growing well.

On the other hand, in the conventional culture tank shown in FIG. 3, the operation result was as shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 4, almost no algal cell concentration (in the medium) grew, and the initial concentration was 300 mg / liter, and it was 1 after 6 days of culture.
It had grown only up to 000 mg / l. However, when the test was completed, the algae adhering to the side surface optical output fiber 2 and the gas dispersion port 3 were scraped off and converted to an algal cell concentration of about 2000 mg / liter. That is, the adhesion of algal cells was about twice that of the algae dispersed in the medium.

From the above results, it is clear that the device of the present invention is remarkably effective as a countermeasure against adhesion of algae in the culture tank, as compared with the conventional microalgae culture device.

[0016]

According to the apparatus of the present invention, the amount of microalgae adhered to the main body of the culture tank during the culture of microalgae can be remarkably reduced, and the microalgae can be smoothly cultured and grown.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a chart showing the results of the growth of microalgae in one example by the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of a conventional culture apparatus for microalgae.

FIG. 4 is a chart showing the results of growth of microalgae by conventional microalgae.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An algae culture tank using an optical fiber for mass production of valuables such as foods and functional foods or mass treatment of CO _{2 in} waste gas, and storage of a larger volume than the volume of the algae culture tank. A tank, a pipe for transferring all the contents in the algae culture tank to the storage tank at a predetermined time, and a pipe for dropping the contents stored in the storage tank at a predetermined time from the upper part of the algae culture tank into the algae culture tank An algae culture device comprising: