KR20050013269A - Multi-functional bio-reactor with high photo-transmittance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A multi-functional bio-reactor with high photo-transmittance is provided, which bio-reactor effectively removes mucus materials and coloring materials which are deposited on the wall of the bio-reactor, so that cultivation efficiency can be maximized without additional light source. CONSTITUTION: The multi-functional bio-reactor with high photo-transmittance comprises a reaction vessel(10) containing a material inserting hole(11) on the top and a product releasing hole(12) in the bottom; a stirring rod(20) which is vertically installed in the center of the reaction vessel(10); and a scraper(30) which is radially disposed in the stirring rod(20), wherein the reaction vessel(10) comprises a transparent cylindrical wall(13) made of plastic or glass, an inclined bottom(14) and the releasing hole(12) in the center of the bottom(14); the scrapper(30) removes mucus materials and coloring materials which are deposited on the wall of the bio-reactor; the reaction vessel(10) comprises a cover(18) on the top, an operating motor(11) in the cover(18), and an operating shaft(22) which is connected to the operating motor(11) through the cover(18) to transfer the power of the operating motor(11) to the stirring rod(20); and the material inserting and releasing holes(11, 12) have opening/closing valves(11a), respectively.

Description

Multi-functional bio-reactor with high photo-transmittance

The present invention relates to a photobioreactor, and more particularly, to a photobioreactor capable of maximizing light efficiency when culturing microorganisms grown by photosynthesis, as well as cultivating various microorganisms.

Cultivation of microalgae, photosynthetic microorganisms, has been used for the production of useful substances such as feed, food coloring and pharmaceutical raw materials, and useful high value substances have been continuously discovered and expanding their applications.

The cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms has been mainly using a reaction facility in the form of a lake or a large pond until now, and is commercialized in some countries. However, this type of cultivation facility has problems such as difficulty in securing the site necessary for the installation of the reaction facility, contamination, separation and purification, low cell concentration, irregular light intensity and climatic conditions, labor costs, high mass, and high water quality. Because of this, the installation is very limited, and it is not applicable in countries where it is difficult to secure a site necessary for installation, such as Korea.

Because of these problems, various photoreactors of small size, called indoor type, which are small in size and capable of high concentration of cultivation, are being researched and developed. Currently developed forms include general stirred reactors, plate reactors, tubular reactors, and columnar reactors. Reactors and the like.

However, all of these developments focus on developing photobioreactors for commercial mass production, focusing on the installation of heat exchange mechanisms and the installation of internal light sources. There are few examples of the development of efficient photoreactors while taking simple structures that can be used for manufacturing.

Therefore, in general agricultural and livestock farms that do not have specialized culture knowledge, in order to cultivate photosynthetic microorganisms, a simple microorganism culturing apparatus for storing organic matter in transparent containers or bags and storing them in a reaction tank is used. In this case, it is not a fermentation but a decay that occurs due to the maintenance of oxygen concentration and the maintenance of oxygen freeness according to the characteristics of microorganisms, and toxic gases or toxic substances are often generated, and rather damage to crops or animals, and such conditions are maintained properly. Even though, as time passes, mucous substances are attached to the inner wall of the container and light transmission is blocked, resulting in a slow incubation rate or a failure in culturing at all due to lack of light source.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as fermentation or photosynthetic microorganism culture at a low cost in a concentrated acid value, multi-purpose photobiological reactor that can achieve a high light utilization efficiency It aims to provide.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall structure of a photobioreactor according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view illustrating in detail the coupling portion A of the driving shaft and the stirring rod in the photobioreactor of FIG. 1.

3 is a schematic diagram showing a preferred arrangement when installing a scraper in the stirring rod in the photobioreactor according to the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawings **

10... Reactor 11. Material entrance

12... Outlet 13... Side wall

14... Bottom surface 15.. temperature Senser

16... Gaon heater 17... Chiller

18... .. retractable lid 19.. Air supply

20... Stirring rod 21... Drive motor

22... Drive shaft 23.. Joining Bracket Member

30... Scraper 31... cancer

32... Chisel

Multipurpose photobiological reactor according to the present invention,

In a cylindrical transparent reaction tank each provided with a material inlet and a discharge port of the product, the inner wall of the reactor is scraped while rotating around the stirring rod rotated by the driving force of the driving motor and rotating according to the rotation of the stirring rod. It is characterized in that one or more scrapers are provided to remove the mucus and coloring matter deposited on the inner wall of the reactor.

Preferably, in the above configuration, the upper end of the cylindrical transparent reaction tank is provided with a retractable lid, a drive motor is installed on the upper portion of the open and close lid, the lower portion of the drive motor is a drive shaft that is a rotating shaft of the stirring rod Speaking so that the end is exposed to the lower portion of the retractable lid, the end of the drive shaft and the stirring rod is provided with a coupling bracket member, respectively, so as to facilitate the coupling and separation.

Preferably, the scraper is composed of rod-shaped arms arranged at regular intervals and angles along the stirring rod and chisel pieces struck at the ends of the arms, more preferably the chisel pieces are made of flexible rubber or soft plastic. .

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall structure of a photobioreactor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the photobioreactor according to the present embodiment has a material inlet 11 formed at an upper portion thereof, and a cylindrical reactor 10 having a discharge outlet 12 of a product formed therein, and a center of the reaction vessel 10. Stirring rod 20 disposed in the vertical direction and the scraper 30 radially arranged at an angle with respect to the stirring rod 20 is provided.

The cylindrical side wall surface 13 of the reactor 10 is made of a transparent glass or plastic material so that light is transmitted smoothly, the bottom surface 14 is inclined to form a funnel shape as a whole, the apex The outlet 12 is connected to the configured to facilitate the discharge of the material inside, such as product.

Pipes having on / off valves 11a and 12a are connected to the material inlet 11 and the outlet 12 of the produced material, respectively, and the material tank 11b and the product tank (not shown) at the end of each pipe. ) Is connected.

In addition, since the photoreactor of the present invention is configured to be used for culturing various microorganisms, the photoreactor is provided with a system for temperature control of the reactor 10. In this embodiment, while checking the temperature inside the reaction tank by the temperature sensor 15 installed at one point of the reaction tank 10, the controller of the reaction tank 10 through a controller (not shown) connected to the temperature sensor 15 The heating device 16 by the heating heater installed at the lower end and the cooling device 17 by the cooling water circulation system built along the side wall surface of the upper part of the reactor 10 are heated and cooled through these (16, 17). It is configured to adjust the temperature of the reaction tank in accordance with the appropriate growth temperature of the cultured microorganisms.

On the other hand, the upper end of the reaction tank 10 is provided with a retractable lid 18 attached to the hinge structure (18 ') to be used when cleaning the inside of the reaction tank 10 or maintenance.

A drive motor 21 for providing a rotational force to the stirring rod 20 is installed at an upper portion of the retractable lid 18, and a rotational force of the drive motor 21 penetrates the retractable lid 18 at a lower portion thereof. It is transmitted to the propagated drive shaft 22, and is again transmitted to the stirring rod 20 propagated to the lower portion of the drive shaft 22.

Here, the coupling structure of the drive shaft 22 and the stirring rod 20 is for the convenience of opening and closing the closing lid 18, cleaning and maintenance, as shown in Figure 2 the drive shaft protruding to the bottom of the lid (22) and the stirring rod 20 is formed in the form having a coupling bracket member 23 of the form having grooves 23a and protrusions 23b at the ends in contact with each other, so as to combine them if necessary Or easy to separate.

Next, the scraper 30 which rotates the stirring rod 20 about its axis, and removes and stirs the adherent substance deposited on the inner wall of the reaction tank 10 through scraping will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, a rod-shaped arm 31 is provided radially while maintaining a predetermined interval and an angle along the stirring rod 20. At the end of the arm 31 is provided with a chisel piece 32 having a large area, as the stirring rod 20 is rotated to rotate while scratching the inner wall along the inner wall of the reaction vessel 10, the reaction tank (10) Agitate the materials inside.

There is no particular limitation on the number of installation of the arm 31 and the chisel piece 32, but several can be installed at regular intervals up and down along the entire length of the stirring rod 20, as shown in Figure 3 each arm ( 31) It is preferable to install at an angle so that the stirring action and the scraping can be made uniform without causing any burden on the apparatus.

The material of the chisel piece 32 is not particularly limited and may be any material that is not damaged by scratching the inner wall of the reaction tank 10 and is easily decomposed by microorganisms, but is made of flexible flexible rubber or soft plastic. It is especially preferable to manufacture.

In the case of manufacturing the material as described above, the length of the installation combined the arm 31 and the chisel 32 is slightly larger than the radius to the inner wall of the reaction tank 10, the chisel 32 is connected to the inner wall of the reaction tank 10. If it can be rotated while scraping the inner wall of the reaction tank 10 while slightly curved can maximize the efficiency of scraping.

On the other hand, since the photobioreactor according to the present invention aims to be used for various purposes, the photobioreactor of the present embodiment is provided with an air supply system 19 to be used for culturing aerobic microorganisms.

In the photobioreactor of the present embodiment, the air supply system 19 is an air supply unit 19a exposed to the inside of the reaction tank 10 and an air supply pipe connecting the air supply unit to an external air pump 19b ( 19c).

However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the end of the small diameter air inlet pipe having an intake control valve is installed at a point of the circulation pipe having a circulation pump installed to connect the upper and lower layers of the reaction tank 10. In addition, various other types of air supply systems may be applied, such as air flowing into the circulation pipe and supplied together.

As described above, in the case of using the photobioreactor according to the present invention, during the cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms, it is possible to effectively remove the mucus or coloring matters deposited on the wall of the reaction tank through which light is transmitted. Permeation is continuously made with high efficiency to maximize the efficiency of the culture without installing a separate light source.

In addition, since the optical bioreactor according to the present invention is provided with a stirring means, a temperature control system, an air supply system, etc., it can be utilized not only for the cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms but also for the cultivation of other anaerobic, aerobic and breathable microorganisms. In addition, it can be utilized in the manufacture of organic liquid fertilizers or organic pesticides at low cost from the concentrated acid value.

Claims (6)

In a cylindrical transparent reaction tank each provided with a material inlet and a discharge port of the product, the inner wall of the reactor is scraped while rotating around the stirring rod rotated by the driving force of the driving motor and rotating according to the rotation of the stirring rod. , Multipurpose photobiological reactor having improved light utilization, characterized in that one or more scrapers are provided to remove the mucus and coloring materials deposited on the inner wall of the reactor. According to claim 1, wherein the upper end of the cylindrical transparent reaction tank is provided with a retractable lid, a drive motor is installed on the upper portion of the openable lid, the lower portion of the drive motor is a drive shaft which is a rotating shaft of the stirring rod is The end is exposed to the lower end of the lid, and the end of the drive shaft and the stirring rod is provided with a coupling bracket member respectively, so that the driving shaft and the stirring rod is configured to facilitate the coupling and separation, multipurpose optical organisms Reactor. The multipurpose photobioreactor of claim 1, wherein the scraper comprises a rod-shaped arm arranged at regular intervals and angles along a stirring rod and a chisel piece struck at the end of the arm. 4. The multipurpose photobioreactor of claim 3, wherein the chisel piece is made of flexible rubber or soft plastic. 4. The multipurpose photobiologist of claim 1, wherein the reactor further comprises a temperature control system including a temperature sensor, a cooling device, a heating device, and a controller for controlling the same. Reactor. The multipurpose photobiological reactor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a supply and supply means having an acid pipe exposed into the reactor.