JPH11275965A - System for cultivating plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the productivity of cultivated plants by suppressing the energy cost for controlling a cultivation environment and further controlling the cultivation environment and the carbon dioxide concentration in a cultivation space. SOLUTION: This system for cultivating plants comprises a biomass gas producing apparatus 10, a reformer 12, a fuel cell device 14, a plant cultivation facility 16 and an environmental controller 18. The biomass gas producing apparatus 10 is capable of putrefying and fermenting a biomass substance B in a fermenting tank 20 and producing methane from the biomass substance B. The resultant methane is reformed to hydrogen and carbon dioxide with the reformer 12 and then fed to the fuel cell device 14. The environmental controller 18 is capable of controlling the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16 and the light irradiation of cultivated plants with an artificial light source 96 by utilizing the electrical energy produced from the fuel cell device 14 fed with the hydrogen and a high-temperature discharge gas discharged from the reformer 12 and containing the carbon dioxide and regulating the carbon dioxide concentration in the plant cultivation facility 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plant cultivation system for artificially controlling a cultivation environment for plants in a plant cultivation facility to improve plant productivity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, a plant growing facility for growing plants,
Development of a completely controlled plant cultivation system (plant factory) having an artificial light source device, a temperature adjustment device, and the like for artificially controlling the cultivation environment for plants in the plant cultivation facility is being promoted. In such a plant cultivation system, it has been demonstrated that cultivation of a plant under optimum environmental conditions can greatly increase the productivity of the plant relative to cultivation in a natural environment (alley cultivation). Further, according to such a plant cultivation system, the plant can be grown in an environment separated from the external natural environment, so that it is not necessary to spray pesticides on the plant by isolating it from pests and pathogens, and to consume it. Since plant cultivation in an area close to the land is facilitated, it is possible to sell the crop with added value such as pesticide-free, ripe or fresh.

[0003]

However, in the plant cultivation system as described above, the cost burden for energy such as electric power and city gas becomes very large as compared with the alley cultivation. This makes the production cost of the harvest produced by the plant cultivation system extremely high, which is one of the reasons that the plant cultivation system is not widely used.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to improve the productivity of cultivated plants by controlling the cultivation environment and carbon dioxide concentration in the cultivation space while suppressing the energy cost for controlling the cultivation environment in consideration of the above facts. It is to provide a plant cultivation system that can be used.

[0005]

The plant cultivation system according to the first aspect of the present invention forms a cultivation space partitioned from the outside, and a plant cultivation facility in which plants are cultivated in the cultivation space is provided with a hydrocarbon or alcohol. A reforming unit that generates hydrogen and carbon dioxide as raw materials, a fuel cell device that reacts hydrogen supplied by the gas generating unit with oxygen in the air to generate thermal energy together with electric energy, and the reforming unit includes: The generated carbon dioxide is supplied into the cultivation space to adjust the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, and the cultivation environment for the plants in the cultivation space is controlled using the electric energy and the heat energy supplied from the fuel cell device. Environment control means.

According to the plant cultivation system having the above-described structure, the carbon dioxide generated by the reforming means is supplied into the cultivation space, whereby the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air in the cultivation space is adjusted, and the fuel cell device is generated. The cultivation environment for the plants in the cultivation space is artificially controlled using the electric energy and the heat energy, so that the temperature in the cultivation space, the light to the plants, and the like according to the varieties, growing seasons, and growing conditions of the plants. By optimizing the cultivation environment such as irradiation and adjusting the carbon dioxide concentration in the cultivation space in addition to the optimization of this cultivation environment, plant growth can be remarkably promoted as compared with the case of alley cultivation, and the cultivation area and per hour Can improve the productivity of crops and adjust the harvest time.
Rare values can be added to seasonal crops.

At this time, the cultivation environment is controlled by consuming the electric energy generated by the fuel cell device, and the air in the cultivation environment and the cultivation environment are discharged by the high temperature exhaust gas and the drainage discharged by the fuel cell device together with the generation of the electric energy. soil,
Since the temperature of cultivation water and the like can be adjusted (heated), thermal energy can be efficiently collected, the overall energy efficiency of the fuel cell device can be increased, and the cost burden on energy can be suppressed. In addition, the emission from the fuel cell device itself is only water and air, and the carbon dioxide, which is the exhaust gas from the reforming means, is absorbed by the plants, so that environmental pollution due to energy consumption can be prevented or Can be improved.

The plant cultivation system according to a second aspect is the plant cultivation system according to the first aspect, wherein the environment control means controls the temperature in the cultivation space as the cultivation environment and light irradiation to the plant. is there.

According to the plant cultivation system having the above configuration, the environment control means controls the temperature in the cultivation space and the light irradiation to the plant as the cultivation environment, so that the temperature and the light irradiation are controlled under the environmental conditions for growing the plant. Since these are the most basic conditions, plant productivity can be efficiently increased by optimizing these conditions. Here, the temperature of the cultivation environment is the temperature of air in the cultivation space, cultivation soil, cultivation water in hydroponic cultivation, and the like, and these temperatures are controlled in a short or long term. Further, light irradiation to the plant is performed by controlling the artificial light source by the environment control means, and the irradiation intensity, irradiation time, and light wavelength are optimized according to the plant variety and the like. The light irradiation does not need to be performed entirely by light (artificial light) from an artificial light source, and the cultivated plants may be irradiated with artificial light mainly or supplementarily with sunlight.

A plant cultivation system according to a third aspect of the present invention is the plant cultivation system according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a hydrogen source producing means for producing methane or methanol from a biomass substance and supplying the methane or methanol to the reforming means. is there.

According to the plant cultivation system having the above structure, the hydrogen raw material producing means produces methane or methanol using the biomass substance as a raw material, and the reforming means receiving these supplies generates hydrogen, and the fuel cell device Supply of hydrogen to the system, hydrogen supply from the outside of the system can be eliminated or reduced, and hydrogen can be obtained at low cost from materials that have been conventionally discarded.

[0012] Here, the biomass substance is a substance in which the light energy of the sun is stored as starch, cellulose or the like due to the photosynthetic action of the plant. It also includes excreted manure and excreted matter. For example, methane (biomass gas) can be generated by subjecting a biomass substance to spoilage fermentation under a predetermined condition, and a predetermined condition can also be obtained from coagulated and heat-treated sludge containing a biomass substance and industrially produced organic matter. Methane (digestion gas) is generated below.

[0013]

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

(Configuration of Embodiment) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a plant cultivation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
This plant cultivation system makes it possible to artificially control the cultivation environment for plants. As shown in FIG. 1, a biomass gas generator 10, a reformer 12, a fuel cell device 14, a plant cultivation facility 16 and environment control device 1
8 is provided. The biomass gas generator 10 includes a tank 20 for storing a biomass substance B such as manure of livestock, garbage, pomace of fruits and sugarcane, and the bottom of the tank 20 stores a predetermined amount of the biomass substance B in the tank. Is provided integrally with the heater 22 for heating and maintaining the temperature. A suction pipe 26 in which a compressor 24 is disposed is inserted into the tank 20 in the middle of the pipe, and the suction pipe 26 is connected to a methane storage tank 28. A user such as a farmer puts biomass material B discharged as waste from a farm, a home, or a food factory into the tank 20. The biomass material B in the tank 20 is heated to a temperature at which spoilage fermentation is promoted by a heater 22 driven and controlled by a thermostat or the like, and is maintained at that temperature. This promotes spoilage fermentation of the biomass material in the tank 20, and the tank 20 is filled with methane (biomass gas). The environment control device 18 drives the compressor 24 for a certain period of time when it is detected that the tank 20 is full of methane by a certain period or by a sensor (not shown). The compressor 24 is a suction pipe 2
The methane in the fermentation tank 20 is sucked through 6, and the methane is pressurized and filled into the methane storage tank 28.

The methane storage tank 28 includes a flow control valve 30
Is connected to the reformer 12 by a methane supply pipe 32 in which the methane supply pipe 32 is opened when the flow control valve 30 is opened.
Supply methane to the reformer 12 through the This reformer 1
2 includes a reaction vessel 34 and a hydrogen burner 36 as shown in FIG. A hollow catalyst reaction tube 38 is disposed in the reaction vessel 34, and a plurality of methane supply pipes 32 branched in the reaction vessel 34 are inserted into the catalyst reaction tube 38 and reform methane. A Ni-based catalyst (not shown) is provided for the purpose. The methane supply pipe 32
, A steam supply device 40 is connected between the flow control valve 30 and the reaction vessel 34. The steam supply device 40 stores water in a superheated state therein, and supplies the steam generated from the superheated water in synchronization with the supply of methane from the methane storage tank 28. Therefore, a mixed gas of methane and steam is supplied to the catalyst reaction tube 38 through the methane supply tube 32. A reaction gas supply pipe is connected to the catalyst reaction pipe, and the reaction gas supply pipe is connected to the reaction vessel.
From the catalyst reaction tube 3 as shown in FIG.
8 is connected to a reaction gas storage tank 44.

As shown in FIG. 2, a CO remover 46 and an electromagnetic on-off valve 48 are arranged on the reaction gas supply pipe 42 from the upstream side, respectively, and further downstream of the electromagnetic on-off valve 48 is shown in FIG. The compressor 50 is arranged as described above. Further, a branch pipe 52 is connected to the reaction gas supply pipe 42 between the CO remover 46 and the electromagnetic on-off valve 48,
The branch pipe 52 is connected to the hydrogen burner 36 via a flow opening / closing valve 54. The reaction gas storage tank 44
Is connected to the branch pipe 52 by a starter gas supply pipe 58 in which an electromagnetic switching valve 56 is disposed. Hydrogen burner 3
An air supply pipe 60 is connected to 6 in parallel with the branch pipe 52, and air blown out from a blower 62 is supplied through the air supply pipe 60.

At the start of the operation of the plant cultivation system, the environmental control device 18 controls the solenoid valve 5 of the gas supply pipe 58 for the starter.
6 to open the hydrogen burner 36 from the reaction gas storage tank 44.
And the hydrogen burner 36 is ignited. As a result, the hydrogen in the reaction gas is burned by the hydrogen burner 36, and the temperature inside the reaction vessel 34 rises. The high-temperature exhaust gas (mixed gas such as water vapor and carbon dioxide) of the hydrogen burner 36 is supplied from the reaction vessel 34 to the water vapor supply device 40 and used as a heat source for generating water vapor.
The environment control device 18 is configured such that the inside of the reaction vessel 34 is 700-800.
° C, the flow control valve 30 is opened to open the reformer 1
2. Supply methane to 2. This methane is supplied to the steam feeder 4
It is mixed with water vapor from 0 and supplied into the catalytic reaction tube 38. In the catalyst reaction tube 38, reaction heat is supplied, and methane reacts with steam on the catalyst to generate hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. These mixed gases are supplied to the CO remover 46 together with the steam, and the CO remover 46
It is in the temperature range of ~ 300 ° C and converts carbon monoxide in the mixed gas into carbon dioxide. Environment control device 18
In response to the start of the supply of methane to the reformer 12, the electromagnetic on-off valve 48 is opened and the compressor 50 is driven to suck the reaction gas from the inside of the catalytic reaction tube 38, pressurize the reaction gas, and pressurize the reaction gas storage tank. Fill into 44.

When the supply amount of the reaction gas from the catalyst reaction tube 38 to the reaction gas storage tank 44 is stabilized, the environment control device 18 controls the electromagnetic opening / closing valve 56 of the starter gas supply tube 58.
And the flow control valve 54 of the branch pipe 52 is opened to a predetermined initial opening to switch the supply source of the hydrogen gas from the reaction gas storage tank 44 to the catalyst reaction pipe 38. Thereafter, the environment control device 18 sets the temperature in the reaction vessel 34 to 700 to 8
The opening of the flow control valve 54 is adjusted so as to be maintained at 00 ° C., and the opening of the flow control valve 30 is adjusted in accordance with the output current from the fuel cell device 14. Thus, the reaction gas is replenished from the reformer 12 so that a substantially constant amount of the reaction gas is always stored in the reaction gas storage tank 44, and the amount of the reaction gas consumed by the fuel cell 68 increases. Even in the case of fluctuation, the required reaction gas can be stably supplied to the fuel cell 68.

As shown in FIG. 1, the reaction gas storage tank 44 is connected to the fuel cell device 14 by a fuel supply pipe 66 in which an electromagnetic valve 64 is disposed. The fuel cell device 14 includes a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (hereinafter, referred to as a fuel cell) 68 and a blower 70. Fuel cell 68
Has a plurality of battery cells (not shown), air is supplied to the air electrodes of these battery cells by a blower 70, and the reaction gas is supplied to the hydrogen electrodes from the reaction gas storage tank 44. The fuel cell 68 reacts hydrogen in the reaction gas with oxygen in the air to generate DC electric energy according to an external load. The DC electric energy generated by the fuel cell 68 is converted into a predetermined voltage by a DC / DC converter 72, then converted into a predetermined AC voltage by a DC / AC inverter 74, and supplied to the environment control device 18. At this time, the air supplied to the air electrode of the fuel cell 68 by the blower 70 reacts with the oxygen moved in the air from the hydrogen electrode to generate hydrogen, and is discharged from the exhaust port together with the air. Further, the fuel cell 68 consumes only the hydrogen in the reaction gas supplied to the hydrogen electrode, and discharges other unreacted gases (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapor) from the exhaust port.

An exhaust pipe 76 is connected to an exhaust port of the fuel cell 68. This exhaust pipe 76 is connected to the burner 36 of the reformer 12 along with the branch pipe 52 and the air supply pipe 60 as shown in FIG. It is connected. Here, since a small amount of carbon monoxide remains in the reaction gas supplied from the reformer 12 even when the reaction gas is treated by the CO remover 46, the fuel cell 6
The unreacted carbon monoxide also remains in the exhaust gas from FIG. In order to avoid releasing this carbon monoxide into the plant cultivation facility 16 or into the atmosphere, the exhaust gas from the fuel cell 68 is once returned to the burner 36, and the carbon monoxide is burned to carbon dioxide. The combustion exhaust gas from the burner 36 is guided to the outside of the reaction vessel 34 by an exhaust gas supply pipe 77. The exhaust supply pipe 77 supplies heat to the steam supply unit 40 via the steam supply unit 40 as shown in FIG. 2, and the gas supply pipe 78 is provided downstream of the steam supply unit 40 as shown in FIG.
And a heat supply pipe 80. The gas supply pipe 78 is
The fuel cell 68 is connected to the plant cultivation facility 16 via a flow control valve 82 and a mixer 84 arranged in the middle of the pipe. The heat supply pipe 80 connects the fuel cell 68 to the heat exchanger 86.
Connected to Here, the opening of the flow control valve 82 is controlled by a control signal from the environment control device 18. Therefore, when the flow control valve 82 is closed, the reformer 1
All the exhaust gas from 2 is supplied to the heat exchanger 86 and exhausted from the heat exchanger 86 to the atmosphere. As the opening of the flow control valve 82 increases, the amount of exhaust gas supplied to the mixer 84 increases. When the flow control valve 82 is fully opened, most of the exhaust gas is supplied to the mixer 84.

The mixer 84 mixes the exhaust gas supplied from the reformer 12 with the air sent from the fan 88 and supplies the mixed gas into the plant cultivation facility 16. Here, the reformer 1
Since the exhaust gas from 2 is a high-temperature gas containing carbon dioxide having a high concentration with respect to the atmosphere, if this exhaust gas is supplied into the plant cultivation facility 16, the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16 can be increased. At the same time, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air can be increased. At this time, by adjusting the amount of air (outside air) mixed with the exhaust gas by the mixer 84, the temperature and the carbon dioxide concentration of the mixed gas of the exhaust gas and the air supplied to the plant cultivation facility 16 can be adjusted. Become.

A part of a U-shaped circulation pipe 90 having both ends communicating with the plant cultivation facility 16 is inserted into the heat exchanger 86.
2 are arranged. Therefore, by driving the circulation fan 92, the plant cultivation facility 1 is placed in the circulation pipe 90.
The air in 6 circulates. At this time, if the exhaust gas from the reformer 12 is sufficiently supplied to the heat exchanger 86, heat is supplied from the high-temperature exhaust gas to the air flowing through the circulation pipe 90 in the heat exchanger 86. Thereby, the plant cultivation facility 1
The air taken in from 6 is heated by the heat exchanger 68 and returned to the plant cultivation facility 16, and the temperature inside the plant cultivation facility 16 is raised.

A cultivation space S is formed inside the plant cultivation facility 16 with high airtightness and heat insulation with respect to the outside of the facility, and the plant P is cultivated in the cultivation space S. A cultivation container 94 in which the plant P is planted in the plant cultivation facility 16.
The artificial light source 9 is provided on the cultivation container 94.
6 are supported. The artificial light source 96 includes a lamp 96A as a light source and a holder 96B on which the lamp is mounted.
And is connected to the driver 98. Here, the lamp 96A of the artificial light source 96 is selected according to the type of the cultivated plant and the like, and for example, a high-pressure sodium lamp is used. The driver 98 controls turning on / off of the artificial light source 96, light emission intensity, and the like according to a control signal from the environment control device 18.

In the plant cultivation facility 16, an air conditioner 100 for heating or cooling the cultivation space S is provided, and a temperature sensor 102 and a CO ₂ sensor 104 are arranged. The air conditioner 100 operates / stops in response to a control signal from the environment control device 18 and switches between the cooling / heating operation so that the temperature of the cultivation space S becomes the target temperature. The temperature sensor 102 detects the temperature in the cultivation space S and outputs a detection signal to the environment control device 18. The CO ₂ sensor 104 detects the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air in the cultivation space S and sends the detection signal to the environment control device 18. Outputs a detection signal.

The cultivation container 94 in the plant cultivation facility 16 is connected to a water supply tank 110 by a water supply pipe 108 in which an electromagnetic on-off valve 106 is arranged. Here, the solenoid on-off valve 106
Is opened, the water W stored in the water supply tank 110 is supplied to the cultivation container 94.

(Operation of the Embodiment) The operation and operation of the plant cultivation system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

A user such as a farmer puts soil or cultivation water suitable for the cultivated plant P inside or outside the plant cultivation facility 16 into the cultivation container 94, and places seeds, seedlings, etc. of the cultivated plant P on the cultivation container 94. To plant. This cultivation container 94 is installed at a predetermined position in the plant cultivation facility 16. At present, cultivated plants P cultivated by the plant cultivation system are mainly vegetables, such as leafy vegetables such as salad vegetables, root vegetables such as radish, and fruit vegetables such as peppers, but in the future, cereals will be used. Practical production is also expected. Plant cultivation facility 16
Is installed outdoors or inside a building such as a building, and when installed outdoors, the exterior portion is generally formed of a material that can transmit sunlight, such as glass or transparent resin. Thus, light irradiation by the artificial light source 96 is reduced, and power consumption can be suppressed.

The user starts operation of the plant cultivation system together with planting of the cultivated plant P in the cultivation container 94. When starting the operation of the plant cultivation system, the user uses a personal computer connected to the environment control device 18 or an operation panel (not shown) provided in the environment control device 18 to display the variety of the cultivated plant P and the current growing condition. After inputting seasonal data at the time of planting and harvesting, the operation of the plant cultivation system is started. Accordingly, the environment control device 18
A production program corresponding to the plant variety is selected based on the input data, and the plant cultivation facility 1 is selected according to the production program.
The environment to the cultivated plant P in 6 is controlled as follows.

The environment controller 18 determines the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16 based on the detection signal from the temperature sensor 102, and controls this temperature to a temperature most suitable for growing the cultivated plant P. When raising the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16, the high-temperature exhaust gas from the reformer 12 is mixed with outside air by the mixer 84 to adjust the temperature, and this mixed gas is supplied into the plant cultivation facility 16. A method and a method in which high-temperature exhaust gas is supplied to the heat exchanger 86 by a certain amount or more by the flow control valve 82 and the circulation fan 92 is driven to raise the temperature of the air in the plant cultivation facility 16 by the heat exchanger 86. There is, furthermore,
In addition to these methods, a method of heating the air in the plant cultivation facility 16 by heating and operating the air conditioner 100 is additionally performed. Here, the environment control device 18 is a CO ₂ sensor 10
Based on the detection signal from 4, the carbon dioxide concentration in the plant cultivation facility 16 is determined at regular intervals, and a heating method is selected according to the carbon dioxide concentration. In order to lower the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16, there is a method of lowering the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16 by performing the cooling operation of the air conditioner 100. In addition to this method, the fan 88 is supplied to the mixer 84. The method of supplying only outside air and supplying the outside air into the plant cultivation facility 16 is supplementarily performed.

The environment control device 18 includes a CO ₂ sensor 104
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the plant cultivation facility 16 is determined based on the detection signal from the cultivation plant P, and the concentration of carbon dioxide is controlled to a concentration most suitable for growing the cultivated plant P. When the concentration of carbon dioxide in the plant cultivation facility 16 is to be increased, the outside air is mixed with the high-temperature exhaust gas from the reformer 12 by the mixer 84 to adjust the concentration of carbon dioxide in the mixed gas. Is supplied into the plant cultivation facility 16. Therefore, when increasing the carbon dioxide concentration, a mixed gas of the high-temperature exhaust gas from the reformer 12 and the outside air is supplied into the plant cultivation facility 16,
The temperature and the carbon dioxide concentration in the plant cultivation facility 16 are increased by the mixed gas. At this time, the surplus exhaust gas is supplied to the heat exchanger 86, and if the surplus exhaust gas is a certain amount or more, the temperature inside the plant cultivation facility 16 can be increased by the heat exchanger 86. When the concentration of carbon dioxide in the plant cultivation facility 16 that has been maintained at a higher concentration than the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is reduced, the fan 8 is supplied to the mixer 84.
8, only the outside air is supplied, and this outside air is supplied to the plant cultivation facility 1
Supply into 6. At this time, all the exhaust gas is supplied to the heat exchanger 86 by the flow control valve 82 and the heat exchanger 8
6, the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16 can be increased.

The environmental control device 18 controls the light emission time zone, the light emission intensity, etc. of the artificial light source 96 and, when the artificial light source 96 is provided with a plurality of types of lamps 96A, selects the lamp 96A to emit light. The light wavelength applied to the cultivated plant P is controlled. For example, when the cultivated plant P is a long-day plant, the artificial light source 96 is controlled to
By making the light irradiation time per day longer than the sunlight irradiation time in the natural environment, productivity such as the growing period of the cultivated plant P and the yield per unit area can be significantly improved as compared with the alley cultivation. . In addition, the environment control device 18 controls the opening and closing of the electromagnetic on-off valve 108, and supplies the cultivation container 94 with the appropriate amount of water and the appropriate amount of water for the cultivation plant P.

According to the plant cultivation system of the present embodiment described above, the exhaust gas containing carbon dioxide generated by the reformer 12 is supplied into the plant cultivation facility 16,
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air in the cultivation space S is adjusted, and the electric energy generated by the fuel cell device 14 and the heat energy of the high-temperature exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell device 14 and the reformer 12 are used. Since the cultivation environment for the cultivated plant P in the cultivation space S is controlled,
The cultivation environment such as the temperature in the cultivation space S and the irradiation of light to the cultivation plant P can be optimized according to the cultivar of the cultivation plant P, the growing season, the growing state, and the like. Since the carbon dioxide concentration can be adjusted, the growth of the plant can be remarkably promoted as compared with the case of the alley cultivation, the productivity of the cultivated plant P such as the yield per unit area and the cultivation time can be improved, and the adjustment of the harvest time Is possible,
A rare value can be added to the cultivated plant P having seasonality.

At this time, the artificial light source 96 and the air conditioner 100 are operated by the electric energy generated by the fuel cell device 14, and the temperature in the plant cultivation facility 16 can be increased by the high-temperature exhaust gas discharged from the reformer 12. Therefore, the thermal energy discharged from the fuel cell device 14 and the reformer 12 can be efficiently recovered, the overall energy efficiency can be increased, and the cost burden on energy can be suppressed. Further, since the carbon dioxide discharged from the reformer 12 is absorbed by the plant, it is possible to prevent or improve environmental pollution due to energy consumption.

In the plant cultivation system of the present embodiment,
The biomass gas generator 10 uses the biomass material B as a raw material and generates methane, and the reformer 12 that has been supplied with the methane generates hydrogen.
Thus, the supply of hydrogen from outside the system can be unnecessary or reduced, and hydrogen can be obtained at low cost from biomass material B that has been conventionally discarded.

In the above-described plant cultivation system of the present embodiment, only the case where methane is produced by the biomass gas generator 10 using the biomass material B as a raw material has been described. It is possible to produce methane from sludge. In this case, after removing sand and the like from the sludge, the sludge that has undergone the precipitation, stirring, concentration, and superheating steps is retained in the digestion vessel, and methane from the sludge is reduced by optimizing the temperature conditions and the like in the vessel. Generates and fills the digestion vessel. This methane can be used similarly to the case of the biomass gas generator 10. It is also possible to industrially produce methanol from biomass material B in addition to methane. Therefore, it is necessary to configure a system in which methanol is reformed by a reformer (temperature conditions, catalysts, and the like are different from those in the case of reforming methane) to generate hydrogen, and this hydrogen is used as fuel for the fuel cell device 14. Is also possible.

[0036]

As described above, according to the plant cultivation system of the present invention, the energy cost for controlling the cultivation environment is suppressed, and the cultivation environment and the carbon dioxide concentration in the cultivation space are controlled. Plant productivity can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a plant cultivation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a reformer in the plant cultivation system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 biomass gas generator (hydrogen raw material production means) 12 reformer (reformation means) 14 fuel cell device 16 plant cultivation facility 18 environment control device (environment control means) 68 fuel cell (polymer electrolyte fuel cell) 84 mixing Device 86 heat exchanger 96 artificial light source 98 driver 100 air conditioner 102 temperature sensor 104 CO ₂ sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Nobuyoshi Nishizawa, 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. No.5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Osamu Tajima 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Forming a cultivation space partitioned from the outside,
A plant cultivation facility in which plants are cultivated in the cultivation space; a reforming means for generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide using hydrocarbons or alcohols as raw materials; and reacting the hydrogen supplied by the gas generating means with oxygen in the air. A fuel cell device that generates heat energy together with electric energy, and supplies the carbon dioxide generated by the reforming unit into the cultivation space to adjust the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, and supplies the carbon dioxide from the fuel cell device. And an environment control means for controlling a cultivation environment for the plants in the cultivation space by using the obtained electric energy and heat energy. 2. The plant cultivation system according to claim 1, wherein the environment control means controls a temperature in the cultivation space and light irradiation to the plant as the cultivation environment. 3. The plant cultivation system according to claim 1, further comprising a hydrogen source producing unit that produces methane or methanol from biomass material and supplies the methane or methanol to the reforming unit.