KR102821584B1 - Power reduction type photoreactor for culturing microalgae with increased cooling efficiency - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention comprises a ladder-shaped light source supply module (500) including an upper pipe (200) having a first connecting pipe (210) formed in a row on a lower surface, which is open at both ends, has a partition wall in the center of the inside, and has an opening protruding downward, a lower pipe (300) having a second connecting pipe (310) formed in a row on an upper surface, which is sealed at both ends with a cap (320) and has an opening protruding upward, and an internal light source rod (100) including a light diffusion part (103) having a longitudinal hollow (102) formed inside, and an LED module (50) inserted into the hollow, the both ends of which are inserted between the first connecting pipe (210) and the second connecting pipe (310); And the present invention provides a power-saving type microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, including a tank (1) in which both ends of the upper pipe (200) are mounted on the upper side of a vertical side wall and the internal light source rod (100) is inserted inside.

Description

{Power reduction type photoreactor for culturing microalgae with increased cooling efficiency}

The present invention relates to a light incubator, and more specifically, to a power-saving light incubator for cultivating microalgae with improved cooling efficiency, which can improve the life of a light source by reducing the internal temperature and, at the same time, reduce the power required to cool a culture medium.

In general, recent research results have been reported that the components contained in seaweed are beneficial to human health. In particular, fucoxanthin, a unique carotenoid found abundantly in brown algae, has been reported to have an anti-obesity effect (K. Miyashita, Lipid Technology, August/September 2009, Vol. 21, No. 8/9).

The anti-obesity mechanism of fucoxanthin is characterized by inducing the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP 1) in white adipose tissue (WAT) mitochondria, thereby causing fatty acid oxidation and thermogenesis in WAT, thereby inducing apoptosis of adipocytes.

UCP 1 is a key molecule in anti-obesity effects. The expression of UCP 1 is known to be an important factor in body energy consumption, and obesity is likely to occur when UCP 1 is dysfunctional.

The experiment and the results showing the relationship between fucoxanthin and UCP 1 expression are disclosed in the above-mentioned literature. According to the above-mentioned literature, it was found that fucoxanthin induces the protein and mRNA expression of UCP 1 in WAT. This is thought to be due to the structural features of fucoxanthin, namely, the additional hydroxy substituent and allene bond on the side chain group of fucoxanthin metabolites, fucoxanthinol and amaroucaxanthin A (H. Maeda, Molecular Medicine Reports 2: 897-902, 2009; and K. Miyashita, supra).

Fucoxanthin has been separated and purified from brown algae in the past, but its concentration is not high and separation and purification are time-consuming and costly, so attempts have been made to separate fucoxanthin from microalgae.

However, due to limitations in culture media and cultivation technology, it takes a lot of time and money to secure production volumes sufficient to isolate sufficient amounts of fucoxanthin from microalgae.

There have been some laboratory-level attempts to cultivate microalgae using synthetic media, but these are difficult to scale up to an industrial scale, and there are also cost limitations as expensive synthetic media must be purchased.

Microalgae are microorganisms that photosynthesize using light and are highly dependent on light. It is known that there is a problem in that the culture density decreases rapidly when cultured under light-limited conditions. As a result, a lot of artificial lighting is used to culture microalgae, which leads to the problem of high electricity consumption.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and its purpose is to provide a light incubator for cultivating microalgae with improved energy saving and culture efficiency, which can improve the life of a light source by reducing the internal temperature and, at the same time, reduce the power required for cooling the culture solution.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other problems to be solved that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the description below.

The technical problem of the present invention as described above is achieved by the following means.

(1) A ladder-shaped light source supply module (500) including an upper pipe (200) formed in a row on the lower surface with a first connecting pipe (210) having an opening protruding downward and having a bulkhead in the center of the inside and open at both ends, a lower pipe (300) formed in a row on the upper surface with a second connecting pipe (310) having an opening protruding upward and sealed at both ends with a cap (320), and an internal light source rod (100) including a light diffusion part (103) having a longitudinal hollow (102) formed inside and an LED module (50) inserted into the hollow, and

A power-saving type microalgae cultivation incubator with improved cooling efficiency, including a tank (1) in which both ends of the upper pipe (200) are mounted on the upper side of the vertical side wall and the internal light source rod (100) is inserted inside.

(2) In the above (1),

A power-saving microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the cap (320) sealing both ends of the lower pipe is a weight.

(3) In the above (1),

A power-saving microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that a hollow open coupling cap (110) is mounted on the top of an internal light source rod, an electrode (111) is formed on one surface of the coupling cap, and a corresponding electrode (211) is formed on the inner surface of the first connecting pipe (210).

(4) In the above (1),

A power-saving type microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that longitudinal unevenness or scratches are formed on the hollow inner surface of the light diffusion portion (103).

(5) In the above (1),

A power-saving type microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the LED module (50) includes a weight (10) in the shape of a rectangular bar at the center and a pair of LED strips (20, 21) attached to both sides of the weight (10).

(6) In the above (5),

A power-saving microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the above weight (10) includes an extension (11) protruding above the upper part of the light diffusion section (103).

(7) In the above (5),

A power-saving light incubator for cultivating microalgae with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the above weights have an uneven surface on each surface.

As described above, the present invention can provide a power-saving light incubator for cultivating microalgae with improved cooling efficiency, which can improve the life of a light source by reducing the internal temperature and, at the same time, reduce the power required to cool a culture medium.

Figure 1 is a basic configuration diagram of a ladder-type light source supply module according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of a light source supply module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a configuration diagram of a cross-sectional view of an internal light source rod according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 4 to 6 are configuration diagrams of cross-sectional views of an internal light source rod according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 is a detailed configuration diagram of a light source supply module according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 is a front view of a light incubator with a light source supply module according to the present invention mounted on the top of a water tank.
Figure 9 is a diagram explaining the state before and after alignment when a plurality of light source supply modules according to the present invention are installed.

The advantages and features of the present invention, and the methods for achieving them, will become clear with reference to the embodiments described in detail below together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and these embodiments are provided only to make the disclosure of the present invention complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims.

In describing embodiments of the present invention, if it is judged that a detailed description of a known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, the terms described below are terms defined in consideration of functions in the embodiments of the present invention, and these may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user or operator. Therefore, the definitions should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be examined with reference to the attached drawings.

A microalgae cultivator according to the present invention includes a ladder-shaped internal light source module and a water tank.

As shown in Fig. 1, the ladder-shaped light source supply module (500) has an upper pipe (200) and a lower pipe (300) arranged horizontally in parallel and connected vertically by a plurality of internal light source rods (100) to form an overall ladder shape.

In the present invention, the upper pipe (200) is open at both ends and sealed at the center inside by a partition (220). In addition, the upper pipe (200) has a first connecting pipe (210) that protrudes downward and is formed in a row on the lower surface, and the end of the first connecting pipe (210) is open and the upper end of the internal light source rod (100) is connected.

In the present invention, the lower pipe (300) is sealed at both ends with a cap (320). At this time, the cap (320) is preferably configured as a weight so that the ladder-shaped internal light source module (500) can be vertically aligned in the vertical direction.

In addition, the lower pipe (300) has a second connecting pipe (310) formed in a row on the upper surface, which has an opening protruding upward, and the end of the second connecting pipe (310) is open, and the lower end of the internal light source rod (100) is connected.

According to the above configuration, outside air (including indoor air, natural wind, or wind from a blower) is introduced into one end of the upper pipe (200), as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, blocked by the partition wall (220), moves downward through the hollow space (102) of the internal light source rod (100) in the left area based on the partition wall, and then is introduced into the lower pipe (300), moves upward again through the hollow space of the internal light source rod (100) in the right area, and then exits through the other end of the upper pipe (200). In this process, heat generated from the LED module (50) mounted in the hollow space (102) is cooled by the outside air.

Preferably, a coupling cap (110) with an open hollow is mounted on the top of the internal light source rod (100). Preferably, as shown in Fig. 2, an electrode (111) is formed on one surface of the coupling cap (110), and a corresponding electrode (211) is formed on the inner surface of the first connecting pipe (210), thereby making it possible to supply power to the LED module.

Figure 3 shows an example of the inner surface of a hollow (102) formed in the center of a light diffusion portion (103) of the present invention.

The internal light source rod (100) includes a hollow space (102) formed in the center of a light diffusion portion (103) and an LED module (50) mounted within the hollow space (102).

The above LED module (50) preferably has a vertical support (20) at the center, and a pair of LED strips attached in the longitudinal direction to both sides of the vertical support (20).

The above LED strip includes LEDs (21) attached at regular intervals and a substrate (22) for driving and controlling the LEDs.

Preferably, as shown in Fig. 4, the LED module (50) has a weight (10) in the shape of a rectangular bar at the center, and a pair of LED strips are attached in the longitudinal direction to both sides of the weight (10). Preferably, the weight (10) is made of metal, for example, iron.

The above LED strip includes LEDs (21) attached at regular intervals and a substrate (22) for driving the LEDs.

Fig. 5 shows an example of an inner surface of a hollow (102) formed in the center of a light diffusion portion (103) of the present invention. Preferably, as shown in the drawing, longitudinal unevenness (104) (a) or scratches (106) (b) are formed on the hollow inner surface (105). More preferably, the unevenness (104) forms an inclined uneven surface, and a reflective strip (107) is attached to one surface of the inclined surface, as shown in Fig. 6. As shown, the reflective strip provides a large amount of reflected light to the dark portion (D), so that light with a uniform density can be supplied to the entire area of the tank.

Figure 7 is a configuration diagram of a light source supply module according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The weight (10) mounted on the light source supply module (500) illustrated in the above Fig. 7 has an extension (11) that protrudes above the upper end of the light diffusion portion (103). The extension (11) preferably penetrates the upper end of the light diffusion portion (103) and protrudes to the outside, and heat generated from the LED light source below is discharged to the outside through the extension (11) of the weight (10), thereby achieving effective heat dissipation.

Figure 8 is a front view of a light incubator with a ladder-type light source supply module according to the present invention installed on the top of a tank.

In the above embodiment, rail wheels (230) capable of moving along the upper surface of the side wall of the water tank (1) are mounted on the lower surface of both ends of the upper pipe (200) of the ladder-shaped light source supply module. To this end, a longitudinal guide rail (2) is formed on the upper surface of the side wall of the water tank (1).

As shown in Fig. 9, a plurality of light source supply modules (500) are movably mounted on the upper side wall of the tank, and each light source supply module (500) can be aligned in a specific direction, for example, to clean the tank or to increase or decrease the light density in a specific area within the tank.

As such, according to the present invention, by using an internal light source submerged in a tank, problems such as separate waterproofing management, wire management, cleaning, and contamination do not occur, and the life of the light source is improved by reducing the internal temperature, while reducing the power required for cooling the culture solution. In addition, by increasing the culture density, the productivity can be maximized, and it is judged that this can greatly contribute to the development of the microalgae-related industry (food, feed, cosmetics industry, etc.).

The above description is merely an example of the technical idea of the present invention, and those with ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but rather to explain it, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments.

The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the claims below, and all technical ideas within a scope equivalent thereto should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the rights of the present invention.

1: Tank
50: LED module
100: Internal light source
200: Upper pipe
210: First connecting pipe
300: Lower pipe
310: Second connecting pipe
500: Ladder type light source supply module

Claims (7)

A ladder-shaped light source supply module (500) including an upper pipe (200) formed in a row on a lower surface with first connecting pipes (210) that are open at both ends, have a bulkhead in the center inside, and have an opening protruding downwards, a lower pipe (300) formed in a row on an upper surface with second connecting pipes (310) that are sealed at both ends with a cap (320) and have an opening protruding upwards, and an internal light source rod (100) including a light diffusion part (103) in which both ends are inserted between the first connecting pipe (210) and the second connecting pipe (310) and a longitudinal hollow (102) is formed inside and an LED module (50) is inserted into the hollow; and
Including a tank (1) in which both ends of the upper pipe (200) are mounted on the top of the vertical side wall and the internal light source rod (100) is inserted inside,
A power-saving microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the cap (320) sealing both ends of the lower pipe is a weight. delete In paragraph 1,
A power-saving microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that a hollow open coupling cap (110) is mounted on the top of an internal light source rod, an electrode (111) is formed on one surface of the coupling cap, and a corresponding electrode (211) is formed on the inner surface of the first connecting pipe (210). In paragraph 1,
A power-saving type microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that longitudinal unevenness or scratches are formed on the hollow inner surface of the light diffusion portion (103). In paragraph 1,
A power-saving type microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the LED module (50) includes a weight (10) in the shape of a rectangular bar at the center and a pair of LED strips (20, 21) attached to both sides of the weight (10). In paragraph 5,
A power-saving microalgae cultivation light incubator with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the above weight (10) includes an extension (11) protruding above the upper part of the light diffusion section (103). In paragraph 5,
A power-saving light incubator for cultivating microalgae with improved cooling efficiency, characterized in that the above weights have an uneven surface on each surface.