KR102683167B1 - Plant factory system for including gutter-type plant cultivation medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plant factory system including a gutter-type plant cultivation medium.
According to this embodiment of the present invention, a plant cultivation device that includes cultivation materials for germinating one or more plants and growing them to a certain size and is divided into at least one zone, and a concentrated nutrient solution and raw water are stirred at a certain ratio to plant the plants. A nutrient solution providing device provided to the cultivation device, a light source device formed in the plant cultivation device and providing a light source having different wavelengths depending on the type of the growing plant, and the plant cultivation device, the nutrient solution providing device, and the light source device. Includes a control device that controls.

Description

{PLANT FACTORY SYSTEM FOR INCLUDING GUTTER-TYPE PLANT CULTIVATION MEDIUM}

The present invention relates to a plant factory system including a gutter-type plant cultivation medium.

A plant factory refers to a factory that can produce plants in large quantities by artificially creating environmental conditions for plant growth in a closed space and controlling the growth speed of plants. Regarding plant factories, Joseph W. Campbell et al. proposed the concept of “automatic food plant production” in U.S. Patent Registration No. 4,068,405 in 1978.

They constructed a tray-type plant cultivation area on a continuous conveyor belt, installed artificial light, and moved the conveyor periodically. In addition, a nutrient solution supply network was installed to supply nutrient solution centrally, and indoor temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration were controlled for plant growth.

This invention was a technologically important development in that it proposed mass production technology for plant factories. However, the precision of environmental control when building the environment is low, the heating and cooling costs are high, and the installation and operation costs of artificial light sources are high, so practical application has been very low.

Recently, as the consumption of convenient foods such as salads has expanded due to the pursuit of healthy eating habits, interest in short-term income forest products such as edible herbs is increasing. In addition, interest in long-term income forest products such as seedlings is increasing to monetize forest resources and restore wasteland. As interest in forest products increases, a variety of plant factory environmental control technologies are being developed that can increase productivity while reducing costs spent on growing forest products.

The plant factory is an automatic plant production technology that combines cutting-edge technology to produce crops 365 days a year regardless of climatic conditions. Since crops are grown in an artificially controlled environment, it is different from open field cultivation, greenhouses, and glass greenhouses. Differently, it has the characteristic of being able to produce crops all year round, regardless of seasonal or environmental changes or geographical location conditions.

In order to increase the productivity of forest products using these plant factories, the cultivation environmental conditions of forest products, such as temperature, solar radiation, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and nutrient solution supply, must be well controlled. Currently developed technologies control the cultivation environmental conditions in a complex manner. There are limits to this.

The present invention was developed to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a plant factory system that is strong in a humid environment and includes a gutter-type plant cultivation medium to provide dense cultivation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plant cultivation device comprising cultivation materials for germinating one or more plants and growing them to a certain size and divided into at least one zone, and cultivating the plants by stirring concentrated nutrient solution and raw water at a certain ratio. A nutrient solution providing device provided to the device, a light source device formed in the plant cultivation device and providing a light source having different wavelengths depending on the type of the growing plant, and the plant cultivation device, the nutrient solution providing device, and the light source device. Includes a control device that controls.

The cultivation medium is a nutrient solution flow part through which the nutrient solution flows, a sponge medium formed on the upper side of the nutrient solution flow part and including a plurality of holes, a gutter bed for holding the sponge medium, and a germination medium that is coupled to the plurality of holes and germinates the plant. Can include ports.

The plurality of holes are installed to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance, and the distance between the holes may be formed differently depending on the plant being grown.

The germination port may be formed to have a diameter that increases upward from the nutrient solution flow portion.

According to the present invention having the above method and features, the amount of nutrient solution used can be minimized, and the quality and efficiency of plant cultivation can be maximized.

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of a plant factory system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a plan view of a plant factory system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a diagram for explaining a plant cultivation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining a liquid plant cultivation medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a diagram for explaining the form of a cultivation medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a diagram for explaining a nutrient solution providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining a light source device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can be subject to various changes and can have various forms, implementation examples (or embodiments) will be described in detail in the text. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to a specific disclosed form, and should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

The terms used in this specification are merely used to describe specific implementation examples (sun, aspect, aspect) (or examples), and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, terms such as ~include~ or ~consist of~ are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but are not intended to indicate the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as generally understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related technology, and should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal sense unless explicitly defined in the present application. No.

~First~, ~Second~, etc. described in this specification are only used to distinguish different components, and are not limited by the order of manufacture, and the names are used in the detailed description and claims of the invention. may not match.

First, the plant factory system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a plant plant system 100 that can be used to produce plants such as water lettuce, reddish, romaine lettuce, sorrel, kale, lettuce, sorrel, red-faced lettuce, endive, lettuce, treviso, samchae, and red mustard. , refers to a system for growing plants such as ice plant, watercress, strawberry, ginseng sprout, seed potato, arugula and basil.

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of a plant factory system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram showing a plan view of a plant factory system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 3 is an implementation of the present invention. It is a drawing for explaining a plant cultivation apparatus according to an example, Figure 4 is a drawing for explaining a liquid plant cultivation medium according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 5 is a drawing showing the form of the cultivation medium according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a drawing for explanation, Figure 6 is a diagram for explaining a nutrient solution providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 7 is a drawing for explaining a light source device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 to 7, the plant factory system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plant cultivation device 110, a nutrient solution provision device 120, a light source device 130, a control device 140, and power. Includes a supply device 150.

First, the plant cultivation device 110 includes a cultivation medium for germinating one or more plants and growing them to a certain size. At this time, one or more plants in the present invention may be the plants described above, but the plants are not limited. And it includes a cultivation medium 111 for cultivating these plants. In the embodiment of the present invention, the cultivation medium 111 refers to a gutter-type cultivation medium.

As shown in Figure 3, the cultivation medium 111 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a nutrient solution flow unit 111-1, a sponge medium 111-2, a gutter bat 111-3, and a germination pot 111-4. ) includes. First, the nutrient solution flow part (111-1) receives and flows the nutrient solution through the nutrient solution supply device 120, which will be described later, and the nutrient solution flow part (111-1) is composed of a thin film and supplies sufficient oxygen to the roots along with the nutrient solution. can be supplied. And the sponge medium (111-2) is located on the upper side of the nutrient solution flow part (111-1) as shown in FIG. 3 and is configured to have a plurality of holes. And the gutter bed (111-3) is used to hold the sponge badge (111-2), and may be located at the same position as the hole of the sponge badge (111-2). And the germination port (111-4) is a part that is coupled to the plurality of holes and germinates the plant. When plants are cultivated in this manner, the quality and efficiency of the plants can be maximized and the amount of nutrient solution used can be minimized.

And, as shown in Figure 4, a plurality of holes can be formed to have different separation distances depending on the harvesting type of the plant. In one embodiment, in the case of high-density formal cultivation, the horizontal separation distance of the plurality of holes is formed at 200 mm. It can be. Additionally, in the case of the leaf harvesting type, the area can be expanded by increasing the spacing between each cultivation medium (111).

By using such a gutter-type cultivation medium 111, dense cultivation can be provided as it is strong in a humid environment and root growth is excellent.

Additionally, the germination port 111-4 may be formed to have a diameter that increases vertically from the nutrient solution flow portion 111-1. By forming the germination pot in this way, it is possible to provide a germination pot customized to plants.

Next, the nutrient solution providing device 120 stirs the concentrated nutrient solution and raw water at a certain ratio and provides it to the plant cultivation device 110. The nutrient solution providing device 120 can provide each nutrient solution to a zone where a plurality of plant cultivation devices 110 are divided into a plurality of zones, as shown in FIG. 6. At this time, the nutrient solution providing device 120 may include a supply tank 121, a supply pipe 122, and a discharge tank 123. First, the supply tank 121 produces a nutrient solution by stirring the concentrate and water. At this time, the nutrient solution produced can be produced at different concentrations depending on the degree of concentration of the concentrate and the plants being cultivated. Then, the supply pipe 122 is connected to the lower side of the supply tank 121, the nutrient solution is provided along the connected supply pipe 122, and the used nutrient solution is provided so that it can be discharged through the discharge tank 123. At this time, the capacity of the supply tank 121 may be 3000L or more, and the discharge tank 123 may be formed to have a smaller capacity than the supply tank 121. Then, the used nutrient solution introduced into the discharge tank 123 can be reused by being introduced back into the supply tank 121. By reusing the nutrient solution used in this way, the use of concentrate can be reduced, and in particular, the amount of water used can be reduced.

Next, the light source device 130 receives power from the power supply device 150, which will be described later, is formed in the plant cultivation device, and provides light sources with different wavelengths depending on the type of plant being grown. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the light source device 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention can have different wavelengths to penetrate the plants. At this time, the light source device 130 can finely control the supply of power to reduce the amount of power used by the light source device 130. For example, the light source device 130 operates the light source for 0.1 ms and turns off the light source for 0.3 ms, or operates the light source for 0.2 ms and turns off the light source for 0.2 ms, which is 50 times lighter than the method of continuously generating the light source. It can reduce the power used by 29% and 29%. In addition, the light source of the present invention can generate larger red and blue wavelengths, and in particular can provide a larger field size in the 660nm and 450nm bands, thereby promoting the growth of cultivated plants.

By using the light source device 130 in this way, the amount of power used by the light source device 130 can be reduced and a wavelength optimized for plant growth can be provided, thereby promoting plant growth and providing faster shipment of plants. This can be done, and in particular, by reducing the operating time of the light source, the heat generated can be minimized. Here, a certain level of heat is required when plants grow, but in the case of heat generated from a light source, it is a factor that hinders plant growth, so a method of minimizing heat generation is necessary.

Additionally, since the amount of light generated from the light source device 130 is provided to the plant in inverse proportion to the square of the distance, the height of the light source device 130 can be adjusted according to the growth of the plant.

Next, the control device 140 is for controlling the plant cultivation device 110, the nutrient solution provision device 120, and the light source device 130 described above, and receives power through the power supply device 150, which will be described later. In this state, power is distributed and provided to each device. Additionally, the control device 140 can collect a plurality of data from the plant cultivation device 110, the nutrient solution providing device 120, and the light source device 130, and provide the collected data to the user or manager. At this time, the collected data may be nutrient solution flow data, plant growth data, power usage data, and light source lifespan data, etc., and such data can be obtained and provided to the user or manager. And although the data obtained in the present invention is described as three, the acquired data can be changed and replaced.

Next, the power supply device 150 provides power input from the outside to the plant cultivation device 110, the nutrient solution provision device 120, the light source device 130, and the control device 140 described above. At this time, the power coming in from the outside may be power obtained through thermal power, wind power, nuclear power, fuel cells, or solar power, and the power obtained in this way is transformed and provided so that it can be used in the plant factory system 100.

At this time, the transformed power is provided by transforming AC to DC or reducing the voltage input at 220V to 40V. By transforming and supplying power to each device in this way, the power consumption used can be optimized and waste of power can be reduced.

Meanwhile, it may include a waterproofing material (GS) and a functional additive (G) applied to the surfaces of the nutrient solution providing device 120 and the light source device 130. The waterproofing material (GS) is applied to the inner wall and may contain 5 parts by weight of urethane (compared to 0.1 parts by weight of hexadecane, which will be described later). The waterproofing material (GS) includes urethane and adds waterproofing to the inner wall surface. Figure 8 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

The functional additive (G) includes an inner shell material (G1) containing 0.2 parts by weight of aluminum (or made of aluminum), a heat buffering material (G2) containing 0.1 parts by weight of hexadecane, and 0.3 parts by weight of polyester ( or a sound absorbing material (G3) consisting of polyester, an anionic polymer material (G4) containing 0.2 parts by weight of p-styrenesulfonic acid (SSNa), and 0.2 parts by weight of spring steel (or spring steel) (consisting of) includes an elastic body (G5).

The ratio of each component of the functional additive (G) was based on 0.1 weight part of hexadecane.

The inner shell material (G1) has a spherical shape surrounding the heat cushioning material (G2), and the sound-absorbing material (G3) surrounds the inner shell material (G1), but its outer surface has a convex-convex shape in which hemispherical ridges and valleys are repeated, and the anionic A polymer material (G4) is provided in the valley of the sound-absorbing material (G3), and the sound-absorbing material (G3) includes an insertion groove recessed inward from the crest so that the inner end of the elastic body (G5) is inserted, and the elastic body (G5) G5) has a coil shape and an inner end is inserted into the insertion groove and may be provided on the outside of the sound absorbing material (G3).

Here, the inside refers to the center side of the unit (GU) described later of the functional additive (G), and the outside refers to the radial direction from the center side.

Referring to FIG. 8, to describe the functional additive (G) in more detail, the inner shell material (G1) has a spherical shape and is made of aluminum, and has an accommodating space inside where an anionic polymer material (G4) to be described later is accommodated. is formed It can also be dispersed and mixed with the above-described waterproofing material (GS).

The above-mentioned inner shell material (G1) preferably contains 0.2 parts by weight of aluminum. If the aluminum exceeds 0.2 parts by weight, the weight of the functional additive (G) is excessively increased and dispersibility is reduced, and if it is less than 0.2 parts by weight, There is a risk that the heat buffer material (G2), which will be described later, is not sufficiently wrapped, causing the heat buffer material (G2) to be lost.

The sound-absorbing material (G3) is provided outside the inner covering material (G1) and surrounds the inner covering material (G1), and is mixed with the waterproofing material (GS) and distributed in the waterproofing material (GS).

The sound absorbing material (G3) contains polyester and absorbs sound waves. As described above, the sound-absorbing material (G3) has an outer surface (surface) of a concavo-convex shape with repeated hemispherical ridges and valleys, and the sound-absorbing performance is further improved because the contact area with sound waves is large.

The sound absorbing material (G3) contains 0.3 parts by weight of polyester. If the amount of polyester is less than 0.3 parts by weight, the sound absorption performance decreases, and if the polyester exceeds 0.3 parts by weight, the weight of the functional additive (G) is excessively increased and the content of the functional additive (G) is reduced. It can reduce acidity.

As described above, since the inner shell material (G1) is provided inside the sound-absorbing material (G3), sound waves passing through the sound-absorbing material (G3) are reflected by the inner shell material (G1) and are absorbed by the sound-absorbing material (G3). It can be absorbed inside.

The thermal buffer material (G2) is filled in the receiving space formed inside the inner shell material (G1), and may include hexadecane as described above.

Hexedecane (C16H34) is a phase change material (PCM) with a melting point of approximately 18.2°C.

A phase change material is an energy storage material that can actively store and release heat without external factors in the form of latent heat without a change in temperature when the phase changes depending on the surrounding temperature.

In general, latent heat, which is heat that enters and exits without a temperature change when a phase change occurs, has a significantly higher amount of heat than sensible heat, which is heat that enters and exits with a temperature change without accompanying a phase change. This feature can be used to store high amounts of thermal energy or maintain temperature.

In order to change the melting point, the heat buffer (G2) includes undecane, dodecane, tridecane, tetradecane, pentadecane, and hexadecane in order to change the melting point. It may further include one or more of Hexadecane, Heptadecane, Octadecane, Nonadecane, Eicosane, and Triacontane. The melting point of the heat buffer (G2) can be adjusted within the range of 15 to 25°C, which is room temperature.

The thermal buffer material (G2) described above may play a role in maintaining the temperature of the inner shell material (G1). Therefore, it is possible to prevent cracks from occurring as the thermal buffer material (G2) expands at high temperatures or contracts at low temperatures.

Therefore, the sound absorption performance of the functional additive (G) can be maintained despite temperature changes by suppressing the loss of the heat buffer (G2) due to cracking of the inner shell material (G1) and suppressing the decrease in sound wave reflection ability.

In addition, the lining material (G1) and the above-described sound-absorbing material (G3) perform annual exchange with the above-mentioned heat buffering material (G2), and as a result, the heat buffering material (G2) and the waterproofing material (GS) achieve heat exchange, so that the temperature of the waterproofing material (GS) It can play a role in suppressing cracks, damage, and deformation due to contraction and expansion due to changes.

The heat buffer (G2) may contain 0.1 part by weight of hexadecane as described above. When less than 0.1 part by weight of hexadecane is used, the inner shell material (G1) is heated to a specific temperature (eg, 15 to 25° C. or about There is a problem in that deviation from the temperature (18.2°C) cannot be effectively suppressed, and if hexadecane exceeds 0.1 part by weight, it cannot be accommodated in the accommodation space of the inner shell material (G1) described above.

The anionic polymer material (G4) may include p-styrenesulfonic acid as described above, and may further include a hydrogel pre-polymer.

The anionic polymer material (G4) may be a mixture of p-styrenesulfonic acid and hydrogel pre-polymer (1:19 ratio) and UV cured.

The anionic polymer material (G4) described above is provided outside the sound absorbing material (G3).

It is preferable that 0.2 parts by weight of the anionic polymer material (G4) be included. However, if less than 0.2 parts by weight is used, the negative charge is not sufficient, and if it exceeds 0.2 parts by weight, the weight of the functional additive (G) is excessively increased, reducing dispersibility. There is a problem with it deteriorating.

The waterproofing material (GS) may contain a large number of units (GU) of the functional additive (G). During the application process, the multiple units (GU) are mutually repelled by electrostatic repulsion, resulting in the composition (waterproofing material (G) and functional additive The dispersibility of multiple units (GU) in the mixture (G) can be improved.

As described above, the anionic polymer material (G4) may be provided in the grooves of the sound absorbing material (G3), thereby suppressing collisions between neighboring units (GU) or with other materials of the present composition to form an anionic polymer. Damage to the material (G4) can be prevented.

The elastic body (G5) is provided on the outside (outside, surface) of the sound-absorbing material (G3) and includes spring steel.

As described above, the sound absorbing material (G3) includes an insertion groove recessed from the outer surface of the floor to the inside, and the inner end of the elastic body (G3) is inserted into the insertion groove to stabilize the structure.

As described above, the elastic body (G3) has a coil shape and is provided at the outer end of the ridge of the sound absorbing material (G3) to add elasticity to the unit (GU).

Therefore, in the process of stirring the waterproofing material (GS) and the functional additive (G) containing a large number of units (GU), damage to the unit (GU) due to collision between neighboring units (GU) is suppressed, and the coil-shaped elastic material As (G5) is compressed and elastically restored, neighboring units (GU) move away from each other, thereby improving the dispersibility of the functional additive (G) in the waterproofing material (GS).

The present invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings is capable of various modifications and changes by those skilled in the art, and such modifications and changes not limited by the claims should be construed as being included in the scope of rights of the present invention.

100: Plant factory system
110: Plant cultivation device
111-1: Nutrient solution flow unit
111-2: Sponge Badge
111-3: Gutterbat
111-4: Germination pot
120: Nutrient solution provision device
121: Supply tank
122: Supply piping
123: Discharge tank
130: Light source device
140: Control device
150: power supply device

Claims (4)

A plant cultivation device that includes a cultivation medium for germinating one or more plants and growing them to a certain size and is divided into at least one zone;
A nutrient solution providing device that mixes concentrated nutrient solution and raw water at a certain ratio and provides the mixture to the plant cultivation device;
a light source device formed in the plant cultivation apparatus and providing a light source having different wavelengths depending on the type of plant to be grown; and
It includes a control device that controls the plant cultivation device, the nutrient solution provision device, and the light source device,
It further includes a waterproofing material (GS) and a functional additive (G) applied to the surface of the nutrient solution providing device and the light source device,
The waterproofing material (GS) is applied to the outer surface of the nutrient solution providing device and the light source device,
The functional additive (G) is,
A heat buffer (G2) containing 0.1 part by weight of hexadecane;
An inner shell material (G1) containing 0.2 parts by weight of aluminum relative to 0.1 parts by weight of hexadecane, and surrounding the heat buffer (G2) and having a spherical shape;
It contains 0.3 parts by weight of polyester relative to 0.1 parts by weight of the hexadecane, and surrounds the inner skin material (G1), but the outer surface has an uneven shape with repeated hemispherical ridges and valleys, and is mixed with the waterproofing material (GS). sound absorbing material (G3);
An anionic polymer material (G4) containing 0.2 parts by weight of p-styrenesulfonic acid (SSNa) relative to 0.1 parts by weight of hexadecane, and provided in the grooves of the sound absorbing material (G3); and
It includes 0.2 parts by weight of spring steel relative to 0.1 parts by weight of hexadecane, and a coil-shaped elastic body (G5) provided on the floor,
The sound-absorbing material (G3) includes an insertion groove recessed inward from the floor, and the elastic body (G5) has an inner end inserted into the insertion groove and coupled thereto,
The waterproofing material (GS) contains 5 parts by weight of urethane compared to 0.1 parts by weight of hexadecane. Plant factory system.

In claim 1,
The cultivation medium is
Nutrient solution flow section through which nutrient solution flows;
A sponge medium formed on the upper side of the nutrient solution flow portion and including a plurality of holes;
A gutter bed for holding the sponge medium; and
A plant factory system coupled to the plurality of holes and including a germination port for germinating the plants.
In claim 2,
A plant factory system in which the plurality of holes are installed to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance, and the distance between the holes is formed differently depending on the cultivated plants.
In claim 3,
The germination pot is
A plant factory system in which the diameter increases from the nutrient solution flow section to the top.