KR20100113179A - Tubular-type apparatus for cultivating spirulina sp - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a tubular spirulina culturing apparatus which is capable of circulating spirulina by providing a culture pipe and a pump in a conventional spirulina culturing apparatus. The tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention, (i) the cylindrical culture tank, the gas inlet located in the lower portion of the culture tank, a plurality of sensor mounting port, the culture liquid inlet, the culture liquid outlet and the culture liquid discharge port, the culture tank is located in the upper portion of the culture tank A pressure control valve and a spray ball, a light source and an agitator positioned inside the culture tank, and a culture unit including a temperature controller attached to the outside of the culture tank; (ii) a pump unit having a culture solution inlet, a pump and a culture solution outlet communicating with the culture solution outlet of the culture section; And, (iii) a culture medium inlet communicated with the culture medium outlet of the pump portion, a culture pipe with a light source attached in the longitudinal direction and a culture medium outlet communicating with the culture solution inlet of the culture unit. By using the tubular spirulina culturing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the spirulina from sticking to the surface of the cultivation apparatus, thereby increasing the cultivation efficiency of spirulina, and thus will be widely used for the production of more economic spirulina.

Description

Tubular-type Apparatus for Cultivating Spirulina sp.

The present invention relates to a tubular spirulina culture apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a tubular spirulina culturing apparatus capable of circulating spirulina by providing a culture pipe and a pump in a conventional spirulina culturing apparatus.

Currently, agricultural crops that are cultivated all over the world have been used as a major food source for mankind, but the yield per farm area is not high and the utilization of solar energy is extremely low. On the other hand, micro photosynthetic algae, which can grow in water with inorganic energy containing solar energy, carbon dioxide, and small amounts, can grow even in areas where crops cannot be grown, and can obtain more than 20 times more protein per acreage area than crops. In addition, it is possible to produce a variety of useful substances and natural rare substances that cannot be produced from microorganisms or plant cells. In particular, algae with large cell size can be easily settled and can be extracted and separated by various methods, and by using solar energy as a main energy support, it is possible to efficiently use solar energy irradiated on the earth and carbon dioxide as a carbon source. It has a function of lowering air pollution because it has a photosynthetic process that uses oxygen and releases oxygen as a by-product.

Accordingly, the fine photosynthetic algae of the genus Chlorella, the genus Dunaliella, the genus Spirulina, and among them, the genus Spirulina sp. (Hereafter referred to as 'spirulina' for convenience) are different. Compared to micro photosynthetic algae, algae have a larger cell size and are easily grown in an alkaline contaminated environment, and are being applied to various products such as food, medicine, and industrial products, and research is being actively conducted. On the other hand, because of the climatic characteristics of the four seasons and the seasonal temperature change and the difference in the amount of sunshine, technology related to indoor culture rather than outdoor culture of spirulina has been developed.

For example, Patent No. 235182 discloses a culture tank equipped with an automatic regulating heater and a venting device, a support frame provided with equipment for supporting the culture tank, a pipe for supplying culture water to the side of the support frame, A chain culture apparatus including a rubber tube for circulating culture water and a water pump for circulating culture water is disclosed, and Patent Registration No. 609736 discloses a culture vessel in a double cylindrical shape consisting of an inner passage and an outer passage arranged horizontally, A microalgal culturing apparatus is disclosed in which at least an outer cylinder is made of a transparent material that transmits visible light, and a gas inlet is opened in a lower portion of a culture vessel. Disclosed is a channel-type microalgal outdoor culture tank which is integrally installed inside a mass culture tank for algae culture. However, when spirulina is cultivated using these incubators, the spirulina grown on the surface of the incubator is excessively adhered, resulting in a decrease in culture efficiency over time, and contaminated microorganisms. There was a downside to not getting it.

In order to overcome these problems, a technique has been developed to seal the culture tank and to provide a filter to the incoming air to prevent contamination of various bacteria. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-0057882 discloses a microalgae outdoor bulk culture device including an air filtration and ultraviolet sterilization device, an air pump, a filtration device, a guide tube, a filter, a needle valve, and an incubator. No. 420492 discloses a high density culture apparatus for microalgae comprising a culture tank including a lid at the top and a pH sensor and a disperser therein, a culture tank including a fluorescent lamp, a pH regulator, an air pump, and a carbon dioxide culture tank. have. However, it was possible to prevent contamination of various bacteria by using the above-described apparatus, but the problem that the cultivation efficiency decreases over time due to excessive fixation of spirulina grown on the surface of the culture apparatus has not been solved. to be.

If the spirulina grown on the surface of the culture apparatus can be solved, the swelling of the spirulina excessively increased, the cultivation efficiency of the spirulina is expected to be significantly increased, it is expected to produce spirulina more economically, but no results have been reported so far. .

Accordingly, the present inventors have made diligent research efforts to solve the problem of excessive spirulina proliferating on the surface of the culture apparatus, and devised a tubular spirulina culture apparatus equipped with a culture pipe and a pump in a conventional spirulina culture apparatus, and using the same When the spirulina is cultivated in a circulating manner, the area of spirulina culture is exposed to light is maximized, and the culture medium is circulated to confirm that the spirulina grown on the surface of the culture apparatus is not excessively fixed. It was completed.

After all, the main object of the present invention is to provide a tubular spirulina culture apparatus comprising a culture piping and a pump.

By using the tubular spirulina culturing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the spirulina from sticking to the surface of the cultivation apparatus, thereby increasing the cultivation efficiency of spirulina, and thus will be widely used for the production of more economic spirulina.

The present inventors carried out various studies to determine the cause of excessive spirulina adhered to the surface of the culture apparatus in culturing spirulina. As a result, two causes of excessive fixation of spirulina were identified. One is that culturing spirulina is accompanied by regular conditions of bright and dark conditions, accompanied by growth of spirulina as well as growth of spirulina. , The other is that the flow of the culture solution in the culture of spirulina is limited so that the adhesion of spirulina begins at the site where the flow rate of the culture fluid is low, and the fixed area is expanded therefrom.

In order to eliminate the cause, the present inventors intended to reduce the growth rate of the spirulina population by giving only bright conditions in the culture of spirulina, and to devise a culture apparatus capable of sufficiently flowing the culture fluid, but in the form of a culture tank equipped with a stirrer. In the case of using a spirulina incubator, it was confirmed that the culture medium could not be sufficiently flowed even by increasing the stirring speed of the stirrer.

Accordingly, in order to flow the culture solution containing spirulina in a manner other than using a stirrer, it was confirmed that the culture medium can be sufficiently flowed than the method using a stirrer when the culture medium itself is circulated. In order to implement this, a spirulina cultivation apparatus having a tubular spirulina having a culture pipe and a pump with a light source attached to a conventional spirulina incubator has been devised. The tubular spirulina culture apparatus, unlike the conventional spirulina culture apparatus, it is possible to flow the culture medium by circulating the culture medium at a constant speed using a culture pipe and a pump, it is attached in the longitudinal direction along the culture pipe By using a light source, it was possible to easily provide bright conditions to the culture solution and to supply a sufficient amount of sunshine during the culture of spirulina.

As a result, the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention, (i) the cylindrical culture tank, the gas inlet located in the lower portion of the culture tank, a plurality of sensor mounting port, the culture liquid inlet, the culture liquid outlet and the culture liquid discharge port, the upper portion of the culture tank A culture unit including a pressure control valve and a spray ball located in the light source, a stirrer located in the culture tank, and a temperature controller attached to the outside of the culture tank; (ii) a pump unit having a culture solution inlet, a pump and a culture solution outlet communicating with the culture solution outlet of the culture section; And, (iii) a culture medium inlet communicated with the culture medium outlet of the pump portion, a culture pipe with a light source attached in the longitudinal direction and a culture medium outlet communicating with the culture solution inlet of the culture unit.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the tubular spirulina culture apparatus includes a culture unit 100, a pump unit 200, and a pipe unit 300. The culture unit 100, the pump unit 200 and the piping 300 is in communication with each other, the culture medium is cultured 100-> pump 200-> piping 300-> culture ( Allow the spirulina to be cultured by cycling in the order of 100).

The pump unit 200 is present between the culture unit 100 and the pipe unit 300, the culture solution inlet 210, the pump 220 and in communication with the culture medium outlet 132 of the culture unit 100 and It is provided with a culture solution outlet 230 in communication with the culture solution inlet 310 of the piping unit 300, and delivers the culture solution introduced from the culture unit 100 to the piping unit 300, the culture medium is culture unit 100 -> Pump unit 200-> Piping unit 300-> serves to circulate in the order of the culture unit (100).

2 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the culture unit 100 included in the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the culture unit 100 includes a cylindrical culture tank 101, a gas injection port 111 positioned below the culture tank, a plurality of sensor mounting ports 120, a culture solution injection port 131, and a culture solution. Outlet 132 and the culture medium discharge port 133, the pressure control valve 112 and the spray ball 134 located in the upper portion of the culture tank, the light source 140 and the stirrer 150 located inside the culture tank , And a temperature controller 160 attached to the outside of the culture tank.

The gas injection port 111 injects a mixed gas of nitrogen and carbon dioxide into the culture unit, and in order to prevent contamination of various germs derived from the outside during the culture of spirulina, the internal pressure of the culture unit maintains a positive pressure higher than the outside. At this time, the range of the positive pressure is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.1 to 1.0Kg / cm ² f used in the culture of conventional microalgae. The sensor mounting port 120 is equipped with a pH sensor, carbon dioxide concentration sensor, dissolved oxygen concentration sensor and temperature sensor to check the culture state of the culture in culture. On the other hand, the culture solution moved from the pipe 300 through the culture solution inlet 131 is introduced into the culture unit 100, the culture solution from the culture unit 100 to the pump unit 200 through the culture solution outlet 132 This is discharged, the culture is finally discharged to the outside of the culture unit 100 through the culture medium discharge port 133. In addition, the pressure control valve 112 is a one-way valve that is opened and closed by the pressure of oxygen generated during spirulina culture, the valve is opened when the internal pressure of the culture unit is maintained at a positive pressure compared to the external pressure. The gas is discharged to the outside, but when the internal pressure decreases, the valve is closed to stop the discharge of the gas. The spray ball 134 is a spherical rod-shaped tube (tube), a number of pores are present on the surface of the spherical end, through which the culture solution is distributed and supplied to the culture unit 100 as a fine water stream, culture It may also serve to remove bubbles generated in the inside, and after the culture is completely finished to discharge the culture, for cleaning the interior of the culture unit 100, pump unit 200 and piping 300 It can also be used to supply cleaning agents. The light source 140 is a device that emits light capable of performing photosynthesis when spirulina is cultivated, and emits three or five wavelengths of light similar to natural light, wherein the illuminance and contrast period of the light source are automatically changed according to the culture conditions. Is preferred. The stirrer 150 is provided at the inner lower end of the culture tank, and serves to mix the culture solution during the initial culture of spirulina, and mixes the culture remaining in the culture part and the culture introduced from the culture solution inlet during the main culture. It plays a role. The temperature controller 160 is attached to the outside of the culture unit, and serves to control the temperature of the culture unit, but is not particularly limited to this, it is possible to control the desired culture temperature by circulating the appropriate temperature of water to the jacket (jacket) Water jackets are preferred. In addition, the culture unit 100 may be further provided with a sight glass to check the inside of the culture unit.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the pipe portion 300 included in the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the pipe part 300 includes a culture fluid inlet 310 communicating with the culture fluid outlet 230 of the pump part, a culture pipe 330 having a light source 320 in a longitudinal direction, and a culture solution of the culture part. A culture solution outlet 340 is provided that communicates with the inlet 131.

The light source 320 may be attached to a part or the whole of the pipe part 300. The culture pipe 330 of the pipe unit 300 circulates the culture solution containing spirulina therein, and serves to provide an environment in which the spirulina can perform photosynthesis by receiving light from the light source, the light source It is preferable that the light emitted from the material is made of a material that can transmit, the whole of the culture pipe 330 may be made of a material that can transmit the light, only the part provided with a light source can transmit the material It may be configured as. In addition, for convenience in culturing, a pH sensor, a carbon dioxide concentration sensor, a dissolved oxygen concentration sensor, a temperature sensor or the like may be further provided at one end of the culture pipe 330. In addition, the culture pipe 330 is preferably configured in the form of a narrow, long tube, so as to maximize the area exposed to the culture solution to light, when configured in the form of such a narrow, long tube, the efficient arrangement of the culture pipe 330 It is preferable to configure a multiple folded form for. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the culture pipe 330 of the pipe portion 300 of the present invention may be configured in a form of multiple parallel folded including a straight portion and a bent portion on one frame (frame), The folded form may be configured to overlap in multiple stages. In addition, the frame is a frame for fixing the light source 320 and the culture pipe 330, it may further include a power supply for supplying power to the light source (320). In addition, the light source 320 provided in the culture pipe 330 serves to emit light capable of performing photosynthesis during culturing of spirulina, and the wavelength of light emitted from the light source 320 is particularly limited thereto. However, a three-wavelength or a five-wavelength similar to natural light is preferable, and the illuminance and contrast period of the light source may be automatically changed according to the culture conditions. On the other hand, since the culture pipe 330 is composed of multiple folded forms including straight portions and curved portions, oxygen produced during culturing of spirulina may be accumulated in the curved portions without being discharged. In order to forcibly discharge the accumulated oxygen, by additionally providing an oxygen discharger in the bent portion, when oxygen is accumulated above a predetermined level, the oxygen discharger is automatically operated to discharge the accumulated oxygen to the outside. .

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the oxygen discharger provided in the culture pipe 330 of the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the oxygen discharge device includes a ground sensor 351, a mass flow controller (MFC) 352 electrically connected to the ground sensor, and a valve 353 connected to the volume controller. In addition, one end of the ground sensor 351 is immersed in the culture medium to be energized.

When oxygen accumulates in the bent portion of the culture pipe 330 to form a gas layer, the ground sensor 351 is pushed out from the culture medium, and when the ground sensor is pushed out of the culture medium, electricity is not maintained but is disconnected. In this case, the valve 353 connected to the volumetric regulator 352 is operated to discharge a certain amount of oxygen. When a certain amount of oxygen is discharged and the ground sensor 351 is immersed in the culture medium again, it is energized and the operation of the valve 353 connected to the volumetric regulator 352 is stopped.

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention may include one culture unit, two or more pump units, and a pipe unit.

5 shows two culture outlets 132 for supplying cultures to two pump units, two culture solution inlets 131 and one culture solution outlet 133 to which cultures are introduced from two culture pipes 330. It is a top view which shows another embodiment of the culture part provided. As shown in FIG. 5, when a tubular spirulina culture apparatus including one culture unit, two or more pump units, and a pipe unit is used, one culture unit may supply culture to two or more pipe units, thereby culturing more efficiently. .

Hereinafter, the operation and effects of the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the culture medium injection port 131, the culture medium discharge port 132 and the culture medium discharge port 133 of the culture unit 100 is closed, and then, through the spray ball 134, spirulina seed is inoculated into the culture tank 101 The culture solution is injected, light is supplied to the light source 140, and the stirrer 150 is driven while maintaining the proper temperature through the temperature controller 160, thereby performing the initial culture of spirulina. Using various sensors mounted on the sensor mounting port 120 of the culture unit 100, the initial culture is terminated at an appropriate time while checking the culture state.

Then, while injecting the culture solution into the culture tank 101 in which the initial culture is completed through the spray ball 134, the stirrer 150 is continuously driven to mix the culture solution in which the initial culture is completed and the culture solution, The culture medium inlet 131 and the culture medium outlet 132 are opened at the time when the culture medium of the same volume as the initial culture is injected, and the mixed culture solution is transferred to the culture solution inlet 210 of the pump unit 200. When the mixed culture medium is delivered to the culture medium inlet 210 of the pump unit 200, the pump 220 of the pump unit 200 is driven to pass the culture medium through the culture medium outlet 230 of the pipe unit 300. The culture solution is delivered to the culture solution inlet 310, the culture solution delivered to the culture solution inlet 310 of the pipe part 300 is pumped by the pump 220, the culture pipe 330, the culture solution outlet 340, and the culture part 100. Sequentially delivered to the culture solution inlet 131, and delivered to the culture tank 101, the culture solution begins to circulate. When the circulation of the culture solution starts as described above, light is supplied from the light source 320 attached to the culture pipe 330 to the culture pipe 330 so that spirulina contained in the culture solution starts photosynthesis.

While performing the circulating spirulina cultivation, through the gas inlet 111 of the culture unit 100, by continuously injecting a mixed gas of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, about 0.1 to the culture tank 101 of the culture unit 100 To take a positive pressure of to 1.0Kg / cm ² f to prevent contamination of various bacteria derived from the outside, and to adjust the partial pressure of carbon dioxide contained in the mixed gas to adjust the pH of the culture.

In addition, the oxygen generated by photosynthesis during the spirulina culture is separated from the culture medium in the culture tank 101 of the culture unit 100 is moved to the upper portion of the culture tank, and is discharged to the outside through the pressure control valve (112). At this time, when the culture pipe 330 of the pipe portion 300 of the present invention is configured in a parallel multiple folded form including a straight portion and a bent portion on one frame, the bending of the culture pipe 330 Since oxygen accumulates at the site and may not be delivered to the culture tank 101 of the culture unit 100, an oxygen discharger is mounted on the bent portion to remove oxygen accumulated in the culture pipe 330.

When the above-described culturing of the circulating spirulina is completed, the culture medium discharge port 133 of the culture unit 100 is opened to obtain the final cultured spirulina. After the cultivation of the circulating spirulina is finished, the ratio of the surface area of the culture pipe 330 to which the spirulina is fixed to the total surface area of the culture pipe 330 was found to be less than 5%. Bar, in the case of using the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention, by maintaining only the light conditions with a light source provided along the culture pipe, to reduce the growth rate of the spirulina population, the culture medium is circulated through the culture section, circulation pump and piping By maximizing the flow of the culture solution, it was possible to solve the problem that spirulina is fixed on the surface of the culture apparatus and the culture yield is lowered.

1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the culture unit contained in the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a pipe portion included in the tubular spirulina culture apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an oxygen discharger provided in the culture pipe of the tubular spirulina culture device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating another embodiment of a culture unit having two culture solution inlets supplying culture to two pump units and two culture solution inlets from which the culture is introduced from the two culture pipes.

Claims (7)

(i) Cylindrical culture tank 101, the gas inlet 111 located in the lower portion of the culture tank, a plurality of sensor mounting port 120, the culture solution inlet 131, the culture medium outlet 132 and the culture medium outlet 133 ), The pressure control valve 112 and the spray ball 134 located at the top of the culture tank, the light source 140 and the stirrer 150 located inside the culture tank, and attached to the outside of the culture tank Culture unit 100 is provided with a temperature controller 160; (ii) a pump unit 200 having a culture solution inlet 210, a pump 220, and a culture solution outlet 230 communicating with the culture medium outlet 132 of the culture unit; And, (iii) a culture fluid inlet 310 in communication with the culture fluid outlet 230 of the pump part, a culture pipe 330 with a light source 320 in a longitudinal direction, and a culture fluid outlet port in communication with the culture fluid inlet 131 of the culture part ( Tubular spirulina (spirulina) culture apparatus comprising a pipe portion 300 is provided with. The method of claim 1, The sensor mounting port 120 is characterized in that the pH sensor, carbon dioxide concentration sensor, dissolved oxygen concentration sensor and temperature sensor is mounted Tubular spirulina incubator. The method of claim 1, The pressure control valve 112 is a one-way valve that is opened and closed by the pressure of oxygen generated during spirulina culture Tubular spirulina incubator. The method of claim 1, The spray ball 134 is a spherical rod-shaped tube (tube), the surface of the spherical end is a form that a number of pores exist Tubular spirulina incubator. The method of claim 1, The temperature controller 160 is characterized in that the water jacket Tubular spirulina incubator. The method of claim 1, Characterized in that additionally provided with an oxygen discharge in the pipe portion 300 Tubular spirulina incubator. The method of claim 6, The oxygen discharge unit includes a ground sensor 351, a mass flow controller (MFC) 352 electrically connected to the ground sensor 351, and a valve 353 coupled to the volume transfer controller 352. Characterized by Tubular spirulina incubator.

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