KR101844484B1 - Fluid flow correction instrument, the mechanism using the instrument and the micro algae culture system adopting the instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention applies a fluid flow correction mechanism including a spiral surface and a frame to which the spiral surface is fixed to remove fluid suspension or process by-products attached to the inner wall of the conduit by spiraling a laminar flow of the fluid flowing in the conduit do. The frame has the same shape as the inner wall of the conduit so that it can be easily installed on the inner wall including both ends of the conduit. The fluid that has passed through the helical surface of such a fluid flow correction device will give a stimulus to the inner wall in a direction not parallel to the inner wall of the conduit to prevent the material contained in the fluid from adhering to the inner wall, To keep the inner wall clean.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a fluid flow correction instrument, a device using the same, and a micro-alga culture system,

The present invention can be applied to a field where a conduit is used, an apparatus for circulating using a liquid, or a field for culturing microalgae.

   [Patent Literature]

Korea Application No. 1020100067445 Notice Date June 22, 2011

Korea Application No. 1020100113249 Disclosure date May 24, 2012

Korea Application No. 1020140168734 Publication date 2016 Jun Jun 08

The interior of a long straight conduit in the form of a pipe is difficult to clean or clean physically. In particular, when a plurality of straight conduits are installed side by side and both ends of each conduit are connected to each other in a narrow space by using a connector such as a U-shaped conduit, and the connection portion of the conduit and the connector is sealed or fixed for watertightness or hermeticity, There is a problem that can not be cleaned. In the case of a structure in which a plurality of conduits are densely packed, designing such a disassembly allows the cost of the equipment to rise, resulting in disassembly and assembly, thereby causing discontinuation of use and fluctuation of use conditions, resulting in economic cost and time cost. The present invention addresses this problem and is intended to apply to an apparatus including such a conduit.

The present invention applies a fluid flow correction mechanism including a spiral surface and a frame to which the spiral surface is fixed to remove fluid suspension or process by-products attached to the inner wall of the conduit by spiraling a laminar flow of the fluid flowing in the conduit do. The frame has the same shape as the inner wall of the conduit so that it can be easily installed on the inner wall including both ends of the conduit. The fluid that has passed through the helical surface of such a fluid flow correction device will give a stimulus to the inner wall in a direction not parallel to the inner wall of the conduit to prevent the material contained in the fluid from adhering to the inner wall, To keep the inner wall clean.

The fluid flow calibration mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention includes at least one helical surface and a frame to which the helical surface is fixed.

An embodiment of the present invention is a fluid flow calibration apparatus comprising: a conduit through which a fluid flows; At least one fluid flow correction mechanism including at least one helical surface and a frame to which said helical surface is secured; And a pump connected to the conduit, wherein the fluid flow correction mechanism is fixed to the inner surface of the conduit.

The fluid flow correction apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention may further include a fluid flow correction mechanism that moves inside the conduit in addition to the fluid flow correction mechanism fixed to the inner surface of the conduit.

A microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, comprises a conduit through which a fluid flows; At least one fluid flow correction mechanism including at least one helical surface and a frame to which said helical surface is secured; And a pump connected to the conduit, wherein the calibration mechanism is fixed to the inner surface of the conduit, and a light emitting device for irradiating light to the conduit.

The microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, may further include a fluid flow correcting mechanism fixed to the inner surface of the conduit, and a fluid flow correcting mechanism moving inside the conduit.

The microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, comprises a cylindrical incubator and a light emitting device for irradiating light to the cylindrical incubator. The microalgae culture is performed in a cylindrical incubator for one step, followed by two steps.

The microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, sequentially performs optical stimulation in the cylindrical incubator and the pipe-type incubator.

In the microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting device is an LED light source surrounding the cylindrical incubator.

In the microalgae culture system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the LED light source generates one or more wavelengths simultaneously or sequentially.

In the microalgae culture system according to the embodiment of the present invention, at least one gas inlet is provided at the lower end of the cylindrical incubator, and the gas required for the reaction is simultaneously or separately supplied to the injection port to supply the gas required for growth of the microalgae, And stirring the mixture.

The algae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, is characterized in that the pipe reactor further comprises a reservoir part designed to perform medium replenishment and gas exchange.

In the microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting device is an LED light source surrounding the conduit constituting the pipe type incubator, and the LED light source generates one or more wavelengths simultaneously or individually.

The fluid flow correction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the flow of the fluid that has passed through the fluid flow correction mechanism is changed while the pump is being pressed.

A microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, includes a state in which the flow of the fluid through the fixed fluid flow correction mechanism is changed while the pump is being pressurized, and a state in which the flow of the fluid is corrected A state in which the device rotates and advances toward one end of the conduit; and a state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism pushed in a state in which the pump is pressed in the reverse direction moves backward toward the other end; And a fluid flow device capable of selecting at least one of the fluid flow device and the fluid flow device.

A microalgae culture system, which is an embodiment of the present invention, includes a state in which the flow of the fluid through the fixed fluid flow correction mechanism is changed while the pump is being pressurized, and a state in which the flow of the fluid is corrected A state in which the device rotates and advances toward one end of the conduit; and a state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism pushed in a state in which the pump is pressed in the reverse direction moves backward toward the other end; Or the like.

In the microalgae culture system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the amount of light irradiated to the cylindrical reactor varies according to the concentration of microalgae.

According to the present invention, it is possible to clean the inside of a long linear conduit in the form of a pipe without disassembling the pipe. In particular, when a plurality of linear conduits are arranged side by side in a layered manner, that is, both ends of each conduit are successively densely packed in a narrow space by using a U-shaped connector to seal or fix the connection portion of the conduit and the connector for watertightness or hermeticity It is possible to clean the conduit without disassembling it. Therefore, in a structure in which a plurality of conduits are densely packed, a simple design is applied so that no disassembly and reassembly are necessary for cleaning, thereby preventing an increase in the price of equipment including such a conduit, It is possible to reduce the economic cost and the temporal cost of the user caused by the fluctuation of the condition or the like. Therefore, the present invention solves this problem and is applicable to an apparatus including such a conduit.

Figure 1 shows an example of a fluid flow calibration instrument
Figure 2 is an example of fluid flow calibration
Figure 3 shows an example of a circulation system
4 shows another example of a circulation system
5 shows an example of a fluid flow correction apparatus
Figure 6 shows an example of a dense form of the conduit
7 shows an example of a pipelined microalgae culture system
Figure 8 is a perspective view of a piped microalgae culture system
9 shows an example of an LED light source installed in a pipelined microalgae culture system
10 shows an example of the configuration of a cylindrical incubator
Fig. 11 is a schematic view showing the assembly of the cylindrical incubator
12 shows an external view of a cylindrical incubator
13 shows an example in which a center light source and an LED light source are installed in a cylindrical incubator
14 illustrates an LED light source surrounding a cylindrical incubator
15 illustrates an example of a dispersion arrangement of wavelengths of LED light sources
16 shows an example of a two-stage microalgae culture system
17 shows an example of the light source arrangement of the two-stage microalgae culture system
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of a cylindrical incubator in which a lower end circulation pump and a lower end gas-
Figure 19 shows an example of forward cycling
Figure 20 shows an example of reverse circulation
Figure 21 shows another example of forward cycling
22 shows another example of a reverse cycle
23 is a side view of the reservoir

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a fluid flow correction mechanism comprising at least one helical surface and a frame to which said helical surface is secured. It is a device that prevents the internal laminar flow and calibrates the flow of the culture liquid as a whole, and various designs are possible. 11 is a basic type and mixes fluids in one direction, 12 for one-way mixing, 13 for reverse mixing, and 14 for two-way mixing. Pressure is highest at 14, low at 12 and 13, and medium at 11. 15 to 17 illustrate various applications of the fluid flow correction mechanism. Figure 2 illustrates the results of computer simulations with SolidWorks flowsimulation 2015 using this fluid flow calibration instrument. If the fluid flow correction mechanism is used, the generation of the laminar flow generated in the tube as shown in the lower figure of FIG. 2 is effected such that the fluid is circulated by mixing the inside and the outside of the laminar flow uniformly as shown in the above figure. As a result, when the conduit is transparent, it is possible to uniformly transfer the light coming from the outside to the fluid flowing in the conduit, and when the reaction gas (for example, CO ₂ ) exists in the fluid, And the reaction is promoted. An example of such a case is an apparatus for culturing microalgae.

Figure 3 is a circulation system consisting of two pumps and two valves. R is the reservoir, P1 and P2 are the pump, and V1 and V2 are the valves. A bolded line refers to a straight conduit into which the fluid flow correction device of FIG. 2 enters. This circulation system may be composed of my pump and four valves (V1, V2, V3, V4) as shown in FIG. The reservoir is an auxiliary device that maintains fluid level and replenishes the gas. Such fluid flow correction devices include a conduit through which the fluid flows; At least one fluid flow correction mechanism including at least one helical surface and a frame to which said helical surface is secured; And a pump connected to the conduit, wherein the calibration mechanism is fixed to the inner surface of the conduit so that the fluid in the conduit deviates from the laminar flow.

Figure 5 shows a fluid flow correction device further comprising various types of additional fluid flow correcting mechanism that are not fixed in the conduit but which move within the conduit. Cleaning of the inner wall of the conduit can be carried out more smoothly by attaching movable material (for example, fiber, vinyl, nonwoven fabric, etc.) to the frame of the fluid flow mechanism while maintaining friction with the inner surface of the conduit.

FIG. 6 shows a concentrated arrangement of the conduits provided with the fluid flow correcting mechanism. Devices of this type can be used as incubators. A fluid flow correction device including such a conduit is provided with a transparent conduit on the outside of the conduit when the conduit is transparent and a transparent conduit on the inside of the conduit when the conduit is opaque, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > algae < / RTI > culture system. A fluid flow calibration mechanism for moving the interior of the conduit of the type shown in FIG. 5 may also be included in the conduit constituting such a system.

The piped microalgae culture system shown in FIG. 7 can be provided with an LED light source shown in FIG. 9 on the outside of a long conduit. In the case of the pipe-type incubator 72, the LED light sources in the blue wavelength region of 430 to 480 nm can be arranged in a line in a cross shape in four directions with respect to the pipe.

There are two types of fluid flow calibration instruments inside the pipe-type conduit. One type is a fixed fluid flow correction mechanism that is fixed at the beginning of the tube when the fluid flows in the normal direction and the other is a fluid flow correction mechanism that is pushed backward in the direction in which the pressure is applied when pumping in the reverse direction . The flow type fluid flow correcting mechanism corrects the flow of water by anchoring at the joint portion connecting the pipe to the pipe by pushing it in the water stream when the pump is operated in the forward direction. When the pump is operated in the reverse direction, the pressure is applied to the direction It moves backward and sweeps the attached micro-algae inside the conduit to keep the inside of the tube clean at all times.

The fixed fluid flow correction mechanism is installed at the beginning of the conduit to make the culture liquid into a turbulent turbulent flow and allow the liquid to flow evenly. The moving fluid flow correction mechanism functions as a fixed fluid flow correction mechanism in the middle part of the conduit when the pump is operated in the forward direction and moves the water flow in the reverse direction in the reverse direction to sweep the inside of the pipe, And maintains a high light transmittance from the outside. In other words, by installing a fluid flow correction device inside the conduit, the flow inside the conduit is prevented from being laminarized to prevent the fine algae from sticking to the conduit inner wall, thereby making the light received from the outside uniformly received in the conduit. Particularly, such an effect becomes prominent as the length of the conduit becomes longer or the pipe having a larger pie (diameter) becomes larger. The longer the conduit is, the slower the flow rate, the longer the laminar flow, and the larger the diameter of the tube, the lower the amount of light that can reach the center of the conduit from the outside. That is, as the concentration of the microalgae in the microalgae grows, the light coming from the outside is blocked by the microalgae and the microalgae, which exist near the center of the duct, are not well received. In addition, when forward and reverse rotation is performed by a pump using a movable fluid flow calibration device, a movable fluid flow calibration device reciprocates inside the pipe and is attached to a movable fluid flow calibration device (or a frame that is a component of a fluid flow calibration device) And the inside of the tube is swept with a plastic, non-woven fabric or plastic body (frame) to prevent adhesion and aggregation of microalgae. Thus, even if the culture is continued for a long period of time, the adhesion of the microalgae is suppressed or removed to maintain the conduit in a state where the light can be uniformly received from the outside until the end of the culture, and the microalgae do not adhere to the inside of the conduit It is easy to harvest and the amount of microalgae abandoned by cleaning the inside of the conduit is reduced by the amount of microalgae that do not adhere to the inside of the conduit, thereby increasing the yield.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a configuration in which such a pipe-shaped reactor further includes a reservoir portion designed to perform a medium replenishment and gas exchange.

The light emitting device shown in Fig. 9 is an LED light source which surrounds the peripheries of the conduits constituting the pipe type incubator, wherein one or more wavelengths are emitted simultaneously or individually from the LED light source. Since a plurality of LED light sources are provided, the LEDs having different wavelengths can be simultaneously emitted, or sequentially emitted or light-emitted according to wavelengths.

Methods for effectively solving this problem are required because the environmental conditions that lead to secondary metabolites from microalgae are significantly different from the biomass growth conditions (especially light levels or nutrients). In addition, when the microalgae are cultured, the culture solution is exposed to the external environment, that is, due to the growth of other microalgae or microorganisms, there is a case in which the culture solution of the entire culture medium must be destroyed. At this time, The entire culture time of the culture medium is lost. Therefore, there is a need for a method to minimize this.

When cultivating microalgae to produce a large amount of secondary metabolites, the conditions for increasing the production of biomass producing secondary metabolites and the conditions for biosynthesis of secondary metabolites are significantly different. The use of individual vessels can increase process efficiency. Therefore, an algal production system is constituted by an incubator for producing biomass, an incubator for biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and a pipe connecting the two incubators. This allows continuous transfer without exposing the culture to the outside with an incubator that induces the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites (eg, astaxanthin) from an incubator intended for the increase of biomass. Figure 10 shows a cylindrical incubator and major components for the production of biomass.

Cylindrical incubators consist of a combination of components that are separated from each other for cleaning after incubation. A connection is made to the internal light source 111, the TOP LID 112, the TOP LID socket 113, the polycarbonate body 114 and the BOTTOM LID 115 And a cap 112 of a transparent material is placed on the upper part of the incubator so as to keep the culture liquid (liquid) in a state where it can not be flowed to the outside, and is blocked from the outside and the light source 111 is mounted And the light source is inserted into the inside.

If the incubation time is prolonged, it is necessary to periodically wash the inside of the large-sized cylindrical incubator, in particular, since the amount of light coming from the outside is reduced due to the adherence or coagulation of microalgae on the inner surface portion of the cylinder through which light primarily passes from the light source. The larger the incubator, the more difficult it is to wash the whole, so this method of separating only the parts that need to be cleaned is easy to clean. In addition, the time required for restarting can be shortened.

Figure 12 shows the outside of a cylindrical incubator. Figure 13 shows a light source inserted into the interior of the incubator and an LED light emitting device surrounding the incubator. Fig. 14 shows the LED light emitting device surrounding the incubator, and Fig. 15 illustrates the arrangement of the LEDs according to the wavelengths constituting the light emitting device of Fig. The red LED 151, the red LED, and the blue LED 1502 are separately provided. In this microalgae culture system, the amount of light irradiated to the cylindrical reactor can be changed according to the concentration of microalgae. When cultivated at a high light intensity from the beginning, the increase of light intensity according to the concentration of microalgae is required because the growth of cells is suppressed rather than the energy consumption is increased. In particular, in the case of a cylindrical reactor, for example, since the cell concentration is low at the initial stage of culture, the LED output is increased from 50% to 60-80%. In the case of conventional fluorescent lamps and other light sources, it is difficult to increase the light output due to the problem that even if a light source is added, only the added portion is increased. In the case of the LED, the total light amount can be adjusted by controlling the output, have. .

Fig. 16 shows a microalgae culture system in which a two-step culture is carried out in a tubular incubator circulating along a conduit after one stage cultivation in a cylindrical incubator including a light emitting device for irradiating light.

Figure 17 shows the sequential performance of optical stimulation in a cylindrical incubator and a pipe-type incubator. In a cylindrical reactor, pure red light stimulus was given in the initial incubation, and after about 3 days of incubation, the blue light was stimulated with 20% of the blue light at the lower end of the reactor, then transferred to the pipe type reactor after 10 days of incubation, Can be carried out. (Red light -> red light (80%) + blue light (20%) -> blue light) from the red light stimulus to the blue light stimulus as the incubation time elapses. In the microalgae culture system of the present invention, the LED light source generates one or more wavelengths simultaneously or sequentially in this manner.

FIG. 18 shows one or more gas injection ports provided at the lower end of the cylindrical incubator of the present invention, and gas necessary for the reaction is supplied simultaneously or separately to the injection ports to stir the culture liquid simultaneously with the gas supply. Devices for circulating or agitating the culture medium in the cylindrical reactor are such gas inlet ports and lower end circulation pumps.

 A cylindrical incubator designed for biomass growth conditions and a cylindrical incubator designed for the synthesis of secondary metabolites are connected by piping and the culture fluid is transferred to maintain the above conditions for each purpose. In the cylindrical reactor, the growth of biomass is emphasized, and the grown biomass is transferred to the pipe type reactor, and the cylindrical reactor again injects a new medium to repeat the biomass increasing process. On the other hand, the pipe type incubator proceeds to induce the synthesis of the secondary metabolites by the biomass received from the cylindrical incubator. This whole process is carried out in two separate parts in two reactors.

The pipe type incubator adopts a fluid flow correction apparatus characterized in that the flow of the fluid passing through the fluid flow correction mechanism of the present invention is changed while the pump is being pressurized. FIGS. 19 to 21 show that flows in the opposite direction to those in the forward direction are formed according to the operation states of the pump and the valve. That is, FIGS. 19 and 20 show that the forward circulation (see arrow direction) of FIG. 19 and the reverse circulation of FIG. 20 are performed by combining two pumps and two valves and connecting them to the reservoir R (FIG. 23). The fluid flow correction mechanism of the present invention can be applied to such forward and reverse circulation.

Figures 21 and 22 illustrate a circulation system consisting of one pump and four valves and illustrate that the present invention is applied regardless of the number of pumps or valves. Such a microalgae culture system comprises: A (a state in which the flow in the conduit of the fluid that has passed through the fixed fluid flow correction mechanism in a state where the pump is pressurized is changed); and B (the state in which the moving fluid flow (A state in which the calibration mechanism rotates and advances toward one end of the conduit); and C (a state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism pushed in a state in which the pump is pushed in the reverse direction moves backward toward the other end); (For example, in the order of A, B, C, or A and B at the same time, and C at a later time).

11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18: Examples of fluid flow calibration apparatus
71: Reservoir
72: Pipe type incubator
110: cylindrical incubator
111: Internal light source
112: upper lead (TOP LID)
113: TOP LID SOCKET
114: polycarbonate body (PC BODY)
115: Lower lead (BOTTOM LID)
151: Red LED
152: Red LED and Blue LED
171: area where red light is applied
172: area where red light and blue light are applied
173: area where blue light is applied
181: Lower gas injection port
182: Lower end circulation pump
R: Reservoir
P: Pump
V1, V2, V3, V4: Valve

Claims (16)

One or more helical surfaces;
And a frame to which the helical surface is fixed
Fluid flow correction mechanism that rotates and advances in the fluid flow direction. A conduit through which fluid flows;
At least one fluid flow correction mechanism including at least one spiral surface and a frame to which the spiral surface is fixed;
And a pump connected to the conduit
The fluid flow correction mechanism
A fluid flow correcting mechanism fixed to the inner surface at both ends of the conduit
And a moving fluid flow correcting mechanism which rotates in the direction of flow of the fluid between both ends of the conduit, delete A conduit through which fluid flows;
At least one fluid flow correction mechanism including at least one spiral surface and a frame to which the spiral surface is fixed;
And a pump connected to the conduit
The fluid flow correction mechanism
A fixed fluid flow correction mechanism fixed to the inner surfaces of both ends of the conduit;
And a moving fluid flow correcting mechanism for rotating the fluid flowing between the opposite ends of the conduit in the flow direction of the fluid,
And a light emitting device for irradiating light to the conduit. delete 5. The method of claim 4,
Cylindrical incubator;
Further comprising a light emitting device for irradiating the cylindrical incubator with light
A microalgae culture system in which the culture is carried out in a cylindrical incubator for one step, then circulated along the conduit and cultivated in two stages. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the cylindrical incubator and the pipe-type incubator sequentially perform optical stimulation. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the light emitting device is an LED light source surrounding the circumference of the cylindrical incubator. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the LED light source generates one or more wavelengths simultaneously or sequentially. The method according to claim 6,
Further comprising at least one gas inlet at the lower end of the cylindrical incubator,
Wherein gas necessary for the reaction is simultaneously or individually supplied to the injection port and the culture liquid is stirred simultaneously with the gas supply. 5. The method of claim 4,
The pipe type incubator
Further comprising a reservoir portion designed to perform medium replenishment and gas exchange. 5. The method of claim 4,
The light emitting device is an LED light source surrounding the periphery of a conduit constituting the pipe type incubator,
Wherein at least one wavelength is emitted simultaneously or individually from the LED light source. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the flow of the fluid that has passed through the fluid flow correction mechanism while the pump is being pressurized is changed. 5. The method of claim 4,
A state in which the flow of the fluid through the fixed fluid flow correcting mechanism in a state where the pump is being pressurized is changed;
A state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism rotates and advances toward one end of the conduit while the pump is being pressed;
A state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism pushed in a state in which the pump is pressed in a reverse direction moves backward toward the other end; ≪ / RTI > further comprising a fluid flow device capable of selecting one or more of the microalgae culture system. 5. The method of claim 4,
A state in which the flow of the fluid through the fixed fluid flow correcting mechanism in a state where the pump is being pressurized is changed;
A state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism rotates and advances toward one end of the conduit while the pump is being pressed;
A state in which the movable fluid flow correcting mechanism pushed in a state in which the pump is pressed in a reverse direction moves backward toward the other end; Wherein the microalgae culture system comprises at least one microalgae culture system. The method according to claim 6,
The amount of light irradiated to the cylindrical incubator
Wherein the microalgae culture medium is changed depending on the concentration of microalgae.

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