JPS62155030A - Plant culture apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a plant cultivation device, and particularly to energy saving thereof.

[Conventional technology]

New plant growing methods and systems have been devised to promote plant growth by controlling plant growing environmental conditions and to produce plants on an industrial scale.

Plants generally produce organic matter (photosynthesis) in their nine leaves, which produce organic matter by adding light energy, and some of this is consumed as energy for maintaining the individual, and the rest is stored in organs such as leaves and roots. It is distributed and accumulated, and each organ grows. In such plants, light, 002
It is possible to significantly promote their growth by controlling environmental conditions such as concentration and temperature, resulting in a dramatic increase in land productivity and the possibility of factory production of plants. Became.

In this case, it would be possible to save energy by using sunlight as a light source, but the amount of light fluctuates due to seasonal weather changes, and environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity change accordingly. The reactions of the plants below are complex, making it difficult to plan year-round production of the plants. In addition, a huge amount of air conditioning cost is required to create certain environmental conditions, which is ultimately uneconomical.

Therefore, with the aim of producing 1st anniversary fishhook paintings, efforts have been made to use an artificial light source of a certain intensity in place of sunlight to promote plant growth.

In this case, there is an advantage that other environmental factors can be easily controlled to constant conditions, but since the environment is created artificially, costs due to energy consumption are inevitable. Among these, reducing lighting power and air conditioning power is a major issue.

For this reason, high-pressure sodium lamps and metal halide lamps, which have high luminous efficiency, are mainly used as artificial light sources in plant factories, but even in these cases, about half of the energy input into the lamps becomes heat.

Moreover, most of the light irradiated to plants turns into heat.
There was a problem in that a large amount of heat was generated inside the plant factory, resulting in high air conditioning costs.Furthermore, plant cultivation equipment that had an artificial light source installed inside the growing room.

There were problems with the work of replacing artificial light sources and the difficulty of maintenance.

In order to eliminate these problems, a production system for a plant factory has been proposed, for example, as described in ``Overview of Plant Factories for Cold Regions'' (Hideo Takanaka, 19g, 3.9°, ``Chemical Economics''). In this system, light emitted from an artificial lighting device installed outside the growth room where plants are cultivated is collected by a condensing device, and the thus collected light is provided in the growth room using an optical fiber. By transmitting the heat to the lighting equipment, a large amount of heat is prevented from being generated in the growing room.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

A conventional plant cultivation device is configured as described above.9. The light from the light source is transmitted to the growth chamber by optical fiber, so
The problem is that there is a large loss of light.9 For example, in order to obtain the conventional fineness (about 20 Klx) required to grow leafy vegetables such as salad vegetables at high speed,9 the amount of lighting power for artificial light sources is extremely large. was there.

Furthermore, since most of the light irradiated onto plants is converted into heat, conventional high-intensity cultivation has the problem of requiring a large amount of electricity for air conditioning.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it provides a plant cultivation device that can grow at a high speed even when irradiated with weak light at a low opening, can perform high-speed cultivation, and can reduce lighting power and air conditioning power. The purpose is to obtain.

[Means for solving problems]

The plant cultivation device according to the present invention is a growing chamber in which internal environmental conditions are artificially controlled and an inner peripheral wall provided close to the plants is covered with a reflective plate having high light reflectance.

A lighting fixture provided within the growth chamber, and a light condensing device provided outside the growth chamber and condensing light emitted from the light source having an artificial lighting device.

It is also composed of a source fiber that transmits the light collected by this light collecting device to each of the above-mentioned lighting equipment.

[Function] The plant cultivation device of this invention casts a light source outside the growing chamber and transmits the light to the lighting equipment inside the growing room through optical fibers. In addition to the irradiation reflected from the wall surface, the lighting efficiency is also high, and the plants are uniformly irradiated with light, so plants can be cultivated at high speed even with light irradiation at a low opening.

Additionally, the inner wall of the growth chamber is close to the plants.

Since the growth chamber is configured compactly, it is easy to stack the growth chambers in multiple stages, and it is possible to obtain a plant cultivation device with high land use efficiency.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a plant cultivation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the main parts thereof.

In the figure, (1) is a plant cultivation device, (2) is a growth chamber in which the internal environmental conditions are artificially controlled and plants (5) are cultivated, and the inner peripheral wall aη including the floor surface has a high light reflectance. It acts as a reflector. (3) is a lighting fixture placed in the growing room, which scatters the light transmitted from outside and evaporates the light into the growing room. A plurality of lighting fixtures (3) are installed in a distributed manner on the inner peripheral wall aη of the growth room (2)), lighting fixtures (
3) and the distance between the inner circumferential wall α of the growth chamber [2] and the plant (5) is short and close to each other. Usually 1cWL or more ~ 20c
It is about rIL.

r41 is a hydroponic liquid tank, (61 is an artificial moonlight device installed outside the growth room (21), (60) is an artificial light source for an artificial elucidation device, and (7) is a solar light collector that collects the sun light. Light equipment.

An artificial moonlight device (6) and a sunlight concentrator (7) constitute a light source. (8) is a condenser that condenses the light emitted from the light source 16 + +71, (91 is a condenser (an optical fiber that transmits the light condensed by 81 to the lighting fixture (3), and α1 is an artificial Air or water guided into the artificial elucidation device to remove the heat generated from the light source (6li), αυ is the heated air or water, a'a is the concentration of the hydroponic solution r41, Plll.

A hydroponic solution regulator that controls dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature.

! : 13 is a water pump, (I4 is an air conditioner 115Fi carbon dioxide gas supply device that controls the temperature, humidity, and wind speed of the growth room (2).

(LG is a light concentration device (light sensor installed inside 81).

Artificial push-opening device (lighting equipment (3) by controlling the output of 61
It is used to keep the amount of light transmitted to a constant value. a. is a distributor.

Next, the operation will be explained.

The temperature, humidity and wind speed in the growth room (2) are controlled by the air conditioner (14).
<The concentration and pH of the hydroponic solution (4) can also be adjusted.

The dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature are regulated by the hydroponic solution control device α2, and are controlled to conditions suitable for plant growth.

Further, the carbon dioxide concentration in the growth chamber (21) is controlled to a predetermined concentration by adjusting the amount of carbon dioxide gas supplied from the carbon dioxide supply device member.

At the same time, the artificial light source (60) provided in the artificial moonlight device (6) installed outside the plant cultivation device (1) is turned on, and only the light is collected by the concentrator (8). The light is sent to the distributor (II) through the optical fiber (91). The light distributed by the distributor α barrel is transmitted through the optical fiber (91) to a plurality of lighting fixtures (3) provided in the growth chamber (2), Cultivation of the plants (5) is started by irradiating light from these lighting fixtures (3).

In this way, a plurality of lighting fixtures (3) are installed in a distributed manner between the inner peripheral wall of the growth chamber (2) and the plants (5).

In addition, the inner circumferential wall αD of the growth room (2) was covered with a reflective plate with high light reflectance, and the distance between the lighting fixture (3) and the plant (5) was shortened (so that the 8-light fixture (3) The light from the air conditioner (141) has a low resolution, so the amount of electricity required for the air conditioner (141) is also small.

Also, when the artificial light source (60) is turned on to obtain light from the concentrator (8), the sunlight is concentrated by the solar concentrator (17+) and transmitted to the concentrator (8). If you do it.

The illumination power of the artificial light source (60) can be reduced accordingly.

In this case, since the intensity of sunlight changes depending on whether it is sunny or cloudy even during the day or depending on the season, the light intensity sensor 0e provided in the concentrator (8) ) or the number of lights on to always provide a constant amount of light (3)
There is an advantage that stable production can be achieved by transmitting the data to K.

Incidentally, the light intensity required for plant growth differs depending on the type of plant (5), but if controlled in the same manner as above, a predetermined light intensity can be obtained depending on the plant.

Although the wavelength required for plant growth varies depending on the type of plant (5), 9 artificial light sources (60) include high-pressure sodium lamps with high luminous efficiency, metal halide lamps with good wavelength characteristics, mercury lamps, and specific If you use a fluorescent lamp that can obtain wavelengths.

The light emitting efficiency can be increased, wavelengths can be covered, the electric power required for the 9 artificial light sources (60) is small, and many types of plants can be cultivated.

In addition, in the growth chamber (2), the plant (5) is close to the inner peripheral wall αη), and although it is difficult to replace the lamp, an artificial lighting device 9 + 61 is installed outside the plant cultivation device (1). 9 artificial lighting devices (61 artificial light sources)
Maintenance such as replacement work of item 60) is easy.

Furthermore, as described above, lamps having wavelengths that are favorable for plant growth can be freely selected and easily installed.

In this way, 0 artificial light sources (60) are turned on, but since a large amount of heat is emitted from 1 artificial light source (60), it is cooled by outside air or water α1, and the efficiency of 9 artificial light sources (60) is high. Adjust the temperature of one artificial light source (60) so that

The outside air or water is discharged as heated air or water συ, and this heated air or water αυ is used as a heating source for the air conditioner I and the hydroponic liquid regulator 1 (13). This has the effect of saving energy.

By the way, there is an artificial light source (6) installed at a high place in the growth room (2).
0) In conventional plant cultivation devices that irradiate sunlight, the predetermined light intensity required for plant growth is approximately 20:1x in terms of illuminance for leafy vegetables such as saladana. On the other hand, according to the plant cultivation apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above.

It has been found that even with weak light irradiation of 10 KIX or less, about 5 to 1x, a growth rate comparable to strong light irradiation of 20 KIX can be obtained if the temperature and carbon dioxide concentration are suitable. That is, even if the illuminance is 151 to 13, the total temperature is 25°C and the carbon dioxide concentration is 4000 ppm.

Saladana can be grown at high speed, doubling its size in two days.

Even when the illuminance was lowered to 5 Klx, high-speed cultivation was possible, although the growth rate was slightly lower.

This is a big difference from conventional plant cultivation equipment, where the growth rate is extremely reduced at low illuminance of 1x in 5.

The reason why we were able to achieve high-speed cultivation with such a low degree of gravity is that the inner circumferential wall αη of the growth chamber (2) is constructed with a highly reflective reflector.
In addition, due to the proximity of the inner peripheral wall and the plants (5), the lighting efficiency is improved due to the addition of light irradiation from the lighting fixtures (3) as well as reflections from the ceiling, walls, and floor. One reason for this is that plants are now evenly irradiated with light, allowing them to receive light more effectively.

Next, other embodiments of this invention will be shown.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a plant cultivation apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, +11 to α seconds indicate the same or equivalent portions as in FIGS. 1 and 2. α9 is the light condensing device (8
] is a distributor that distributes the light transmitted from. The plant cultivation equipment shown in Figure 1 is a lighting fixture (3) and a growth chamber (2).
Since the distance between the inner circumferential wall and the plant (5) is short, it becomes compact, and the growing chamber +21 can be stacked in multiple stages as shown in FIG.

If the light transmitted from the concentrator is distributed from 9 distributors (194c) to the distributors α seconds in each growth room (2), and further distributed to each lighting fixture (3), a multi-tiered plant cultivation device can be created. This can be achieved and the productivity of land can be dramatically improved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the inner circumferential wall of the growing chamber is provided close to the plants, and the inner circumferential wall is covered with a reflective plate with high light reflectance, and a light source is provided outside the growing chamber, and the light source is By concentrating the irradiated light and transmitting it to the lighting equipment installed in the growth chamber using optical fibers, high-speed cultivation is possible even with low-intensity, weak light, and heat generation is also suppressed. , p@Tomei power and air conditioning power can be reduced.

In addition, since the light source is installed outside the growth chamber, lamps with wavelengths that have good characteristics for plant growth can be freely selected or combined, and maintenance such as replacement is easy. There is a certain effect.

Furthermore, if the growth chambers are stacked in multiple stages as shown in claim 3, a plant cultivation device with high land use efficiency can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a plant cultivation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the main parts thereof, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a plant cultivation device according to another embodiment of the invention. FIG. [1) is a plant cultivation device, (2) is a growth room, (3) is a lighting fixture, (5) is a plant, (6) is an artificial moonlight device, (7)
is a solar light collector, (8) is a light collector, (9) is an optical fiber <-, ae is a light amount sensor, (I71 is an inner peripheral wall,
α5 (19 is a distributor. In the figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) A growing room in which the internal environmental conditions are artificially controlled and the inner peripheral wall installed close to the plants is covered with a reflective plate with high light reflectance, lighting equipment installed in the above-mentioned growing room, and the above-mentioned A light source provided outside the growth room and having an artificial lighting device, a condensing device that condenses the light emitted from the light source, and transmitting the light condensed by this condensing device to each of the above lighting fixtures. Plant cultivation equipment equipped with optical fiber. (2) The plant cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of lighting fixtures are installed in a distributed manner on the inner peripheral wall of the growth chamber. (3) The plant cultivation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the growing chambers are stacked in multiple stages and the light transmitted from the light condensing device is distributed to lighting equipment in each of the growing chambers. (4) The plant cultivation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the light source comprises an artificial lighting device and a sunlight condensing device. (5) The light collecting device has a light amount sensor, and controls the output of the artificial lighting device to keep the amount of light transmitted to the lighting equipment constant. Plant cultivation equipment. (6) The plant cultivation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the artificial lighting device uses a high-pressure sodium lamp, a metal halide lamp, and a fluorescent lamp in combination. (7) The plant cultivation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which the heat emitted from the light source is used as a heat source for controlling the environment of the growth chamber.