JPH01291784A - Cultured product stirring method and culture apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable stirring of a cultured product also under a weightless state, by allowing the cultured product to flow into a charge line of the culture material provided in a state having an angle in the lower part of a culture tank and stirring the culture material in aireddy form. CONSTITUTION:A flow route 16 of culture material having 10-15 deg. theta angle to the axis 18 of ordinates of a culture tank 10 and branched into three is provided in the lower part of the closed type culture tank 10. Then a pump 14 is actuated and the culture material is allowed to flow to the arrow A direction in the culture tank 10 and by-pass line 12 and allowed to flow from the charge line 16 into the culture tank 10 and the culture material in culture tank 10 is stirred in aireddy form.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for stirring a medium when culturing algae or microorganisms, and a culturing apparatus for carrying out the method.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, the most commonly used method for stirring a culture in a culture tank when culturing algae, etc. is to use a stirring plate. However, if the stirring plate exists in the culture tank, it will get in the way when light is applied to the algae, so it is preferable that no structure exists in the culture tank.

Additionally, a system is also used that supplies carbon dioxide to algae by bubbling it and at the same time stirs the culture medium in the culture tank. However, the method of bubbling carbon dioxide cannot be adopted under zero gravity. In other words, in order to secure algae and oxygen that are food for the crew on the space shuttle and space station, it is required to cultivate edible algae, such as spirulina, in zero gravity. In such cases, algae cultivation is carried out in zero gravity, and the culture cannot be agitated by bubbling carbon dioxide.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a culture that enables stirring of the culture even under zero gravity without providing any structure such as a stirring plate in the culture tank. An object of the present invention is to provide a stirring method and an apparatus for carrying out the stirring method.

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the present invention provides a culture inflow path at the bottom of a culture tank at an angle with respect to the vertical axis of the culture tank, and allows the culture to flow from the culture inflow path. Provided is a method for stirring a culture, which includes causing a culture medium to flow into a culture tank, thereby swirling the culture in the culture tank.

Furthermore, the present invention also provides a culture tank, a culture inflow path provided in a lower part of the culture tank at an angle with respect to the vertical axis of the culture tank, and a flow path from the culture inflow path into the culture tank. and a means for flowing a culture into the culture device.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the culture in the culture tank can be stirred even under zero gravity without providing any structure such as a stirring plate in the culture tank. Therefore, when algae are cultivated using the apparatus of the present invention, the growth of algae is further promoted since the supply of light to the algae is not obstructed by the structures in the culture tank. Furthermore, unlike the conventional agitation by bubbling carbon dioxide, the culture can be agitated even in zero gravity. Therefore, it is very effective as a device for cultivating algae to obtain food and oxygen for crew members on space shuttles, space stations, etc.

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The culture apparatus of the present invention includes a culture tank and a culture inflow path provided at the bottom of the culture tank at an angle with respect to the vertical axis of the culture tank. The angle is preferably 10 degrees to 50 degrees in both the vertical and horizontal directions, and it is preferable to have a plurality of culture inflow channels for more uniform and smooth stirring of the culture. The device of the invention also includes means, such as a pump, for flowing the culture into the culture tank from the culture inflow path. Further, in order to prevent the culture from settling in the culture tank, a culture inflow channel may be provided separately from the above-mentioned inflow channel at the center of the bottom of the culture tank.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the culture tank is a closed type culture tank, and a bypass line passes through the outside of the culture tank from the top to the bottom of the culture tank, and the bypass line is connected to the bottom of the culture tank. The part leading thereto serves as the inflow path, and the means for flowing the culture into the culture tank from the culture inflow path is a pump inserted into the bypass line. If desired, the bypass line can be provided with a pl (meter, pressure gauge, and other instruments), algae collection means, and culture medium supply means.

In the method of the present invention, the culture is caused to flow into the culture tank from the culture inflow path using the means for flowing the culture into the culture tank. Since the culture inflow path is provided at an angle to the vertical axis of the culture tank, the culture in the culture tank is smoothly stirred in a vortex by the inflow of the culture.

Although the device of the present invention is preferably a closed system having a bypass line as described above, it is not necessarily limited to this, and may be an open system culture device, or a culture device without a bypass line may be used. The method of the present invention may be of a form in which the culture overflows from the top of the tank.Although the method of this invention is particularly effective under zero gravity, it is not necessarily necessary to perform under zero gravity, and it can also be performed under gravity. can be done.

Furthermore, the organisms cultured using the method and apparatus of the present invention are not necessarily limited to algae (although they can also be used to culture bacteria and other microorganisms).

[Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on Examples. However, it is clear that this invention can be modified in various ways in addition to the embodiments described below, and is not limited to the following embodiments.

A schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the culture apparatus of this invention is shown in FIG.
6 In FIG. 1, the culture tank IO is of a closed type, and a bypass line 12 extends from the top thereof.
The bypass line 12 is connected to the culture tank 10 via a pump 14.
A closed culture system is constructed. The portion where the bypass line returns to the lower part of the culture tank IO is branched into three parts to form an inflow path 16. The capacity of the culture tank 10 is, for example, 6
12, and the diameter of the bypass line 12 is, for example, l.
cw, and the capacity of the pump 14 is, for example, 52/min or less.

A vertical cross-sectional view of the culture tank 10 is shown in FIG. 2, and a top view of the bottom of the culture tank 10 is shown in FIG. 3.As shown in FIG. Vertical axis 18 of tank lO
It is provided at an angle θ with respect to the angle θ. Moreover, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, this angle is formed both vertically and horizontally with respect to the longitudinal axis of the culture tank when viewed from above. Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle,
They are inclined at approximately equal angles to each other with respect to the longitudinal axis of the culture tank.

When culturing, the pump 14 is operated to cause the culture to flow through the culture tank IO and the bypass line 12 in the direction of arrow A. Then, upon reaching the inflow path 16, the culture is divided into three parts and flows into the culture tank 10 from each inflow path 16. Since each of the three inflow channels is provided at an angle with respect to the vertical axis of the culture palO, the culture in the culture tank 10 is smoothly stirred in a vortex by the inflow of the culture from the inflow channel 16. , the intended purpose is achieved.

The above-mentioned culture device of the present invention was prototyped. The culture tank had a diameter of 17 cm+s, a height of the cylindrical part of 25 cm, and an internal capacity of about 62 cm. Also, the diameter of the bypass line is 1c++
and the circulation rate of the culture was 2I2/min. When Spirulina Maxia was stirred using this device, the culture solution was stirred in a spiral pattern from bottom to top without stagnation in the culture tank, and the Spirulina was kept uniform.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the culture device of the present invention. Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the culture device of the present invention. Figure 3 is a diagram of a culture tank employed in the culture device of the present invention. FIG. 10... Culture tank, 12... Bypass line, 14.
...pump, 16...inflow pipe, 18...vertical axis of culture tank) 6 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A culture inflow path is provided at the bottom of the culture tank at an angle with respect to the vertical axis of the culture tank, and the culture is allowed to flow into the culture tank from the culture inflow path. A culture stirring method comprising stirring a culture in a vortex. (2) A culture tank, a culture inflow path provided at the bottom of the culture tank at an angle with respect to the vertical axis of the culture tank, and a culture inflow path into the culture tank. A culture device comprising: means for causing inflow. (3) Claim 2, wherein a plurality of said culture inflow channels are provided.
The device described. (4) The device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the angle is between 10 degrees and 50 degrees. (5) The culture tank is a closed tank, and a bypass line passes through the outside of the culture tank from the top to the bottom of the culture tank, and the part where the bypass line reaches the bottom of the culture tank is the inflow path. 5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the means for flowing the culture into the culture tank from the culture inflow path is a pump inserted into the bypass line.