LU102502B1

LU102502B1 - A Kind of Chemostat for Microalgae

Info

Publication number: LU102502B1
Application number: LU102502A
Authority: LU
Inventors: Peng Gu; Kaizhi Wang; Xingzhang Luo; Zheng Zheng; Weizhen Zhang; Jian He
Original assignee: Univ Fudan
Priority date: 2021-02-09
Filing date: 2021-02-09
Publication date: 2021-08-09

Abstract

The invention discloses a kind of chemostat for microalgae, which comprises a first incubator and a second incubator in parallel at both ends. The first incubator is provided with an injection port and an overflow port, wherein the injection port is connected with a reservoir bottle storing culture medium. After filling the first and second incubators, the culture medium can be discharged through the overflow port. The second incubator is connected with an air pump through an airway. After the air pumped by the air pump enters the second incubator, a gas-liquid circulating flow is formed in the parallel circuit composed of the first and second incubators. Under the action of gas-liquid circulating flow, culture medium and carbon dioxide in the culture medium are fully mixed with algae, and the high-density oxygen in the chemostat is excluded in time, which improves the utilization rate of the culture medium.

Description

| LU102502

DESCRIPTION A Kind of Chemostat for Microalgae

TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to the technical field of microalgae culture. in particular to a kind of chemostat for microalgae.

BACKGROUND Microalgae are common creatures in nature. which are widely used in scientific research experiments. Chemostat culture is to continuousty and constantly input fresh culture medium into incubators. it keeps the culture volume constant by limiting the nutrients in culture medium and by overflow of incubators. Further, it makes algac growth in incubators in a relatively stable equilibrium state through the control of a single limiting factor in the culture medium and the overflow of the incubator, and this steady state can last for a long time. According to the characteristics of chemostat culture, it is suitable to carry out experiments on algac growth. metabolism and toxicology. Moreover. its operation and cost are relatively simple and cheap, indicating it is a method worthy of popularization and adoption. At present, there arc a lot of research and development on algae cultivation technology, regardless of indoor research and use or outdoor large-scale cultivation, each with its own merits. but there are still the following technical defects. IL is casy to cause algae to grow on the wall because most of the continuous cultivation is static cultivation. And it is casy to agglomerate, which is not conducive to the full mixing of algae with nutrients as well as the conventional algae counting.

, LU102502

SUMMARY The invention provides a kind of chemostat for microalgae with uniform mixed culture medium, which can effectively avoid the growth of algae adhering to the wall and is conducive to photosynthesis, so as to solve the above technical problems The chemostat for microalgae is composed of a first incubator and a second incubator in parallel at both ends. The first incubator is provided with an injection port and an overflow port. wherein the injection port is connected with a reservoir bottle storing culture medium. After filling the first and second incubators. the culture medium can be discharged through the overflow port. The second incubator is connected with an air pump through an airway. After the air pumped by the air pump enters the second incubator. a gas-liquid circulating flow is formed in the parallel circuit composed of the first and second incubators. Specifically, the first incubator is cylindrical. and the second incubator is a spiral tube incubator connected below the cylindrical incubator. Further. both ends of the spiral tube incubator are vertical pipes connected with the cylindrical incubator. Further. the airway extends into the vertical pipe and bends downwards so that the nozzle of the airway is downward. and the nozzle of the airway is of inverted sharp angle structure. Furthermore. the middle part of the spiral tube incubator is comprised of a first spiral tube. which is placed in a water tank. Wherein, the water tank contains water and is provided with a water temperature controller.

; LU102502 Moreover, the middle part of the spiral tube incubator also includes a second spiral tube.

Wherein, a plurality of modulator tubes is arranged in the rotating channel of the second spiral tube.

In addition. a gas-washing bottle is arranged between the air pump and the airway.

Further. concentrated sulfuric acid or 5% mercury oxide is contained in the gas-washing bottle.

Further, the top of the reservoir bottle is provided with a bottle cap with an inner membrane, and the inside of the reservoir bottle is communicated with the atmosphere.

Specifically, the top of the overflow port is communicated with the atmosphere.

Besides, algae blocking membranes and disinfection cotton balls are sequentially placed from hottom to top.

Between the algae blocking membrane and the disinfection cotton ball, a water outlet pipe and a collection tank for collecting culture medium arc arranged.

Further. a constant-pressure pump is arranged between the reservoir bottle and the injection port.

Besides. the second spiral tube is provided with an algae liquid collecting port.

The invention has the following beneficial effects.

The disclosed chemostat for microalgae is comprised of a first incubator and a second incubator in parallel at both ends.

The first incubator is provided with an injection port and an overflow port, wherein the injection port is connected with a reservoir bottle storing culture medium.

After filling the first and second incubators. the culture medium can be discharged through the overflow port.

The second incubator is connected with an air pump through an airway.

After the air pumped by the air pump enters the second incubator, a gas-liquid circulating Mow is formed in the parallel circuit composed of the first and second incubators. Under the action of gas-liquid circulating flow, culture medium and carbon dioxide in the culture medium are fully mixed with algae. and the high-density oxygen in the chemostat is excluded in time. which improves the utilization rate of the culture medium on the one hand and enhances the photosynthesis of algae on the other hand. Moreover, under the action of gas-liquid circulating flow, algae growth adhered to the wall can be effectively avoided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The present invention will be further explained with reference to figures and examples.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the chemostat for microalgae according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to Fig. |, the chemostat for microalgae provided by one embodiment of the invention is composed of a first incubator and a second incubator in parallel at both ends. Specifically. the first incubator is cylindrical (7). and the second incubator is a spiral tube incubator (8) connected below the cylindrical incubator (7). An injection port (6) and an overflow port (13) are arranged on the left and right end of the cylindrical incubator (7) respectively. Wherein the injection port (6) is connected with a reservoir bottle (2) storing culture medium (3) through an injection tube. Further, the upper end of the injection port (6) is sealed and connected with a plug (5) made of rubber to isolate the culture medium (3) from the air. avoiding contact. The reservoir bottle (2) is made of brown translucent material, which can not only avoid light to a certain extent, but also allow people to observe the liquid level at any time. Besides, the injection tube is also provided with a

‘ LU102502 constant-pressure pump (4). which can adjust the input speed of the culture medium (3) into incubators. After filling the cylindrical incubator (7) and spiral tube incubator (8), the culture medium (3) can be discharged through the overflow port (13).

Further, both ends of the spiral tube incubator (8) are vertical pipes connected with the cylindrical incubator (7). The left vertical pipe is connected with an air pump (21) through an airway (22). Specifically. the airway (22) extends into the vertical pipe and bends downwards so that the nozzle of the airway (22) is downward, and the nozzle of the airway (22) is of inverted sharp angle structure (221). Furthermore, a gas-washing bottle (23) is arranged between the air pump (21) and the airway (23). Wherein, concentrated sulfuric acid or 5% mercury oxide is contained in the gas-washing bottle (23). The air pumped by air pump (21) is treated by concentrated sulfuric acid or 5% mercuric oxide in the gas-washing bottle (23), and then flows into the vertical pipe through the airway (22). The end of the airway (22) is bent downward and has an inverted sharp angle structure (221). which is conducive to the formation of air pressure. The downward gas-liquid mixed flow flows along the right end of the spiral tube incubator (8). and the culture medium (3) in the cylindrical incubator (7) flows downward from the left end. thus forming a gas-liquid circulating flow in the parallel circuit composed of the cylindrical incubator (7) and the spiral tube incubator (8). Under the action of gas-liquid circulating Now. culture medium (3) and carbon dioxide in the culture medium are fully mixed with algae, and the high-density oxygen in the chemostat is excluded in time, which improves the utilization rate of the culture medium (3) on the one hand and enhances the photosynthesis of algae on the other hand. Moreover, under the action of gas-liquid circulating flow. algac growth adhered to the wall can be effectively avoided.

As the preferred scheme. the middle part of the spiral tube incubator (8) is comprised of a first spiral tube, which is placed in a water tank (11). Wherein. the water tank (11) contains water and is provided with a water temperature controller.

The temperature of culture medium (3) can be controlled at a suitable temperature for algae production by water bath.

Preferably, the middle part of the spiral tube incubator (8) also includes a second spiral tube.

Wherein. a plurality of modulator tubes (9) is arranged in the rotating channel of the second spiral tube.

The light of modulator tubes (9) is emitted from the spiral centre, which greatly improves the utilization rate of the light source. and the light intensity of modulator tubes (9) is controllable. which can effectively avoid waste of light source.

Further. the top of the reservoir bottle (2) is provided with a bottle cap (1) with an inner membrane. and the inside of the reservoir bottle (2) 1s communicated with the atmosphere.

The bottle cap (1) has an inner membrane with an aperture of !.0-2.0 pm, which can prevent the air from polluting the culture medium (3) and avoid the evaporation of the culture medium (3). Preferably. the top of the overflow port (13) is communicated with the atmosphere.

Besides. algae blocking membranes (14) and disinfection cotton balls (12) are sequentially placed from bottom to top.

Between the algae blocking membrane (14) and the disinfection cotton ball (12), a water outlet pipe (15) and a collection tank (16) for collecting culture medium (3) are arranged.

The disinfection cotton balls (12) after high- temperature and high-pressure sterilization can reduce the influence of air on algae culture.

Meanwhile, the algae blocking membrane (14) can reduce the loss of cultured

; LU102502 algac when the culture medium (3) overflows. The aperture of the algae blocking membrane (14) can be changed and adjusted as needed.

As an optimization, the second spiral tube is provided with an algae liquid collection port (17). It is convenient to collect algae liquid at the bottom of the spiral tube.

The preliminary preparation for algae culture using the provided chemostat is as follows. I. Adding an appropriate amount of culture medium (3) into the reservoir bottle (2), and then connecting the reservoir bottle (2), constant-pressure pump (4) and plug (5) well.

2. An appropriate amount of concentrated sulfuric acid or 5% mercuric chloride solution is injected into the gas-washing bottle (23). Then the air pump (21), the gas-washing bottle (23) and the spiral tube incubator (8) are connected through the airway (22).

3. Putting tap water into the water tank (11) until 5-10 em of the first spiral pipe is immersed.

4. The algae blocking membrane (14) with required aperture is embedded in the overflow port (13), and disinfection cotton balls (12) are filled into the upper part of the overflow port (13). Then the overflow port (13) and the collection tank (16) are connected by a water outlet pipe (15).

5. According to the required light intensity and nature. installing required modulator tubes (9) in the second spiral tube.

6. Close the valve of algae liquid collection port (17) to ensure no water and air leakage. The operation steps of chemostat for algac culture are as follows, Plug the plug (5) of the injection port tightly and start the air pump (21) to start pumping. After sterilization by concentrated sulfuric acid or 5% mercuric chloride solution in the gas-washing bottle (23), the gas enters the spiral tube incubator (8) through the airway (22) and exhausts the original air in the device.

Connect the power supply of water tank (11) and modulator tubes (9) at first and then adjust the temperature and lighting conditions.

Open the injection port plug (5) and pour Shiogusa liquid into the incubator through the injection port (6).

Plug the injection port plug 5 tightly, turn on the constant flow pump and adjust the input rate of culture medium (3).

According to the need, the overall circulation rate can be adjusted by adjusting the power of the air pump (21). During the cultivation process, samples can be collected at any time through the valve of the algal liquid collection port (17) for detection and inspection. After cultivation, all the samples can be discharged from the algal liquid collection port (17).

The device of the invention can easily realize the continuous chemostat cultivation of microalgae with a simple operation and low cost. Besides, it can greatly improve the accuracy of the experiment. Due to sufficient light and gas supply (carbon dioxide) as well as timely removal of high-density oxygen, it is more conducive to the photosynthesis of algae, thereby improving the yield.

The device of the invention relates to the scientific research and production of microalgae, but not limited to microalgae. After expanding the device in the same proportion, some zooplankton, such as rotifers and Daphnia magna, can be cultivated as well. The invention can reduce pollution probability as well as save energy and labour costs, indicating broad application prospects.

The implementation mode of the invention has described above in detail with figures. but the invention is not limited to the above implementation mode.

Within the knowledge scope possessed by ordinary technicians in the technical field, various changes can be made without departing from the purpose of the invention.

Claims

1. A kind of chemostat for microalgae, characterized by comprising a first incubator and a second incubator in parallel at both ends; the first incubator is provided with an injection port and an overflow port, wherein the injection port is connected with a reservoir bottle storing culture medium: after filling the first and second incubators. the culture medium can be discharged through the overflow port; the second incubator is connected with an air pump through an airway: after the air pumped by the air pump enters the second incubator, a gas-liquid circulating flow is formed in the parallel circuit composed of the first and second incubators.

2. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim |, characterized in that the first incubator is cylindrical, and the second incubator is a spiral tube incubator connected below the cylindrical incubator.

3. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2, characterized in that both ends of the spiral tube incubator arc vertical pipes connected with the cylindrical incubator; further. the airway extends into the vertical pipe and bends downwards so that the nozzle of the airway is downward. and the nozzle of the airway is of inverted sharp angle structure.

4. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the middle part of the spiral tube incubator is comprised of a first spiral tube, which is placed in a water tank: wherein, the water tank contains water and is provided with a water temperature controller.

5. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the middle part of the spiral tube incubator also includes a second spiral tube; wherein. a plurality of modulator tubes is arranged in the rotating channel of the second spiral tube,

6. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2 or 3. characterized in that a gas- washing bottle is arranged between the air pump and the airway: further. concentrated sulfuric acid or 5% mercury oxide is contained in the gas-washing bottle.

7. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the top of the reservoir bottle is provided with a bottle cap with an inner membrane, and the inside of the reservoir bottle is communicated with the atmosphere.

8. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the top of the overflow port is communicated with the atmosphere: besides, algae blocking membranes and disinfection cotton balls are sequentially placed from bottom to top: between the algae blocking membrane and the disinfection cotton ball, a water outlet pipe and a collection tank for collecting culture medium are arranged.

9. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that a constant-pressure pump is arranged between the reservoir bottle and the injection port.

10. The chemostat for microalgae as stated in Claim 5. characterized in that the second spiral tube is provided with an algae liquid collecting port.