KR102179144B1 - Apparatus for removing foam produced during microbial culture and method of using the same to remove foam - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing foam that can smoothly remove the foam that is a problem during cultivation of existing microorganisms, and since a defoaming agent is put outside the bioreactor, it is irrespective of the effect of material transfer or the growth of microorganisms within the bioreactor It can be cultured, and effective foam removal is possible with the use of a small amount of antifoam, structurally, it does not require additional power, and it is possible to automate the production of bio-energy and bio-based chemicals using microorganisms efficiently when operating a bioreactor. There is an advantage to be able to perform the culture process for.

Description

Apparatus for removing foam produced during microbial culture and method of using the same to remove foam}

The present invention relates to an apparatus for effectively removing foam generated during microbial culture. In more detail, when foam is generated, the antifoam is injected into the body through the spray nozzle, and the antifoam is naturally circulated through the draft tube, so that the gas containing the foam and the antifoam are efficiently mixed without the need for additional power. In addition, it is possible to save the manpower, cost and time required for preventing excessive injection of the antifoam and removing products by controlling the timing of injecting the antifoaming agent and discharging the mixed solution through the water level control sensor part. It is possible to improve the stability and productivity of the microbial culture process by providing a device that effectively removes from the outside without.

[National R&D project that supported this invention]

Assignment identification number: 20173010092460

Ministry name: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Research Project Name: KETEP Renewable Energy Technology Development Project

Research Project Title: Development of bioalcohol production technology using carbon monoxide-based synthetic gas

Organizer Name: Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology

Research period: 2017.12.01. ~ 2020.11.30.

Although petroleum-derived energy and chemicals brought convenience to human life, the reserves of petroleum are finite, and global climate change has occurred due to carbon dioxide generated during combustion, and recently, microorganisms that will replace petroleum-derived energy and chemicals Research on bio-energy and bio-based chemicals is being conducted worldwide.

In particular, in order to produce bioenergy and bio-based chemicals using microorganisms, a cultivation process, which is the step of amplifying microorganisms, is essential.In order to economically complete the production process of bioenergy and bio-based chemicals using microorganisms, the cultivation process is an early stage It should be established as a stable process while maintaining high productivity.

However, foam, which is one of the factors that make the microbial culture process unstable, is a phenomenon that is inevitably generated while culturing microbes, and mainly occurs in the logarithmic period when microbes are amplified or in the latter half of the culture. Foam uses gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and methane (CH ₄ ) as a substrate rather than culturing microorganisms that use sugars such as glucose as a substrate. When raised, it occurs even more severely, and in some cases, bubbles overflow to the outside of the incubator and adversely affect the equipment that collects or analyzes the generated gas. If this is not solved, the productivity and stability of the process are affected because microorganisms must be cultured in a small volume including the volume of the solution in the reactor up to the volume of foam due to the volume occupied by the foam.

In general, a chemical method using an antifoam agent to remove foam generated during the microbial culture process is effective in removing foam and is widely used. However, in this chemical method, when applied directly to the inside of the reactor, the components of the antifoaming agent may affect the properties of the medium solution or the growth of microorganisms, which may affect the overall culture performance.The larger the volume of the culture medium in the reactor, the higher the dilution rate. As a result, a large amount of antifoaming agent is required.

Therefore, it is necessary to use an appropriate antifoaming agent and effectively mix the antifoaming agent and foam. To compensate for some of these problems, the foam generated during cultivation is removed by a physical method such as a foam-breaker such as an impeller. It is less efficient than using chemicals and requires additional power to operate the foam-breaker, which affects the cost of production in the process.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1927809 (Registered on Dec. 5, 2018) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1718479 (registered on Mar 15, 2017) U.S. Patent No. 6465243 (Registered on October 15, 2002)

The present invention is to provide a device for removing foam that can save additional manpower, cost and time for removing foam by preventing the use of excessive antifoaming agent to remove foam generated during microbial culture and automating the process through a water level control sensor. do.

In addition, it is intended to improve the overall productivity and stability of the bioenergy and bio-based chemical production process using microorganisms while minimizing the use of additional power for mixing by using an antifoam spray nozzle and a draft tube.

An apparatus for removing foam generated during culturing microorganisms according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a main body 100; A water level control sensor unit 110 provided inside the main body 100; A gas injection port 200 for supplying a gas containing foam into the main body 100; A defoaming agent injection port 300 for supplying the defoaming agent into the main body 100; A gas outlet 400 formed above the main body 100 to discharge the gas from which the foam has been removed; And a mixture outlet 500 formed at the lower portion of the main body 100 to discharge a mixture of a gas containing foam and an antifoaming agent, and is installed outside the bioreactor.

A defoaming agent injection nozzle 310 for injecting a defoaming agent into the main body 100 may be formed at one end of the antifoam injection port 300 on the main body 100 side, and the main body 100 of the gas injection hole 200 A draft tube 210 may be formed at one end of the) side, and a discharge valve 510 may be formed at the mixture discharge port 500.

It is preferable that the water level control sensor unit 110 is made of a float switch sensor.

It is preferable that the body part 100 is made of a stainless steel material and has excellent flame resistance and corrosion resistance, and the body part 100 may have a transparent window 120 that can be viewed with the naked eye. The transparent window 120 is preferably a tempered glass.

In another embodiment of the present invention, there may be mentioned a method of removing the foam generated during microbial cultivation, and an antifoaming agent is injected into the body part 100 through an antifoaming agent injection port 300 formed on one side of the body part 100. A first supply step of supplying to; A second supply step of supplying the gas containing foam generated in the bioreactor to the inside of the main body 100 through a gas inlet 200 formed at a lower side of the main body 100; After the gas containing foam and the antifoaming agent are supplied above a certain water level through the water level control sensor unit 110 provided inside the main body 100, the mixture outlet 500 is opened and the gas containing foam A discharge step of discharging the mixture of the antifoaming agent; And discharging the gas from which the foam has been removed through the gas outlet 400.

In the first supplying step, it is preferable that the antifoaming agent is injected and supplied into the main body 100 through an antifoaming agent injection nozzle 310 formed at one end of the antifoaming agent injection port 300, and the second supplying step is a gas injection port As the gas containing foam generated in the bioreactor is supplied through 200, it is preferable that the antifoaming agent and the gas containing foam are mixed through the draft tube 210 formed at one end of the gas inlet 200.

In addition, a discharge step of opening the mixture discharge port 500 to discharge a mixture of a gas containing foam and an antifoaming agent; and a step of discharging the gas from which the foam has been removed through the gas discharge port 400 may be performed simultaneously.

The foam removal device according to the present invention enables effective foam removal even with the use of a smaller amount of antifoaming agent than the conventional method of removing foam using an antifoaming agent, and does not require additional power structurally and can be automated. During operation, it is possible to efficiently perform a culture process for the production of bioenergy and bio-based chemicals using microorganisms.

1 is a front view of an apparatus for removing foam according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for removing foam according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing a draft tube according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram schematically showing a process of adjusting the water level inside the main body according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a photograph of removing a foam by using the device for removing a phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Before describing in detail through a preferred embodiment of the present invention, terms or words used in the present specification and claims are limited to a conventional or dictionary meaning and should not be interpreted. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention, and thus various alternatives that can be substituted for them at the time of filing of the present invention It should be understood that equivalents and variations may exist.

Throughout this specification, when a certain part "includes" a certain component, it means that other components may be further included rather than excluding other components unless otherwise stated.

In each step, the identification code (first, second, etc.) is used for convenience of description, and the identification code does not describe the order of each step, and each step does not clearly describe a specific sequence in the context. It may be implemented differently from the order specified above. That is, each of the steps may be performed in the same order as the specified order, may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in the reverse order.

Hereinafter, an apparatus for removing foam generated during microbial culture according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a front view of an apparatus for removing foam according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for removing foam according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus for removing foam according to an embodiment of the present invention may be installed as a separate structure outside a bioreactor.

Foam removal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the body portion 100; A water level control sensor unit 110 provided inside the main body 100; A gas inlet 200 for supplying the gas containing foam generated in the bioreactor into the main body 100; A defoaming agent injection hole 300 for supplying an antifoaming agent useful for removing chemical foam into the body part 100; A gas outlet 400 formed above the main body 100 to discharge the gas from which the foam has been removed; And a mixture outlet 500 formed under the main body 100 so as to discharge a mixture of the foam-containing gas and the antifoaming agent.

It is preferable that the main body 100 is made of a stainless steel material that is resistant to flame and corrosion.

In addition, a transparent window 120 may be formed as a side of the main body 100 so that the process of removing the foam from the inside of the main body 100 can be easily observed, and such a transparent window 120 It is desirable to be made of tempered glass for the situation.

In addition, when the microbial culture condition is high temperature, a water jacket for supplying cooling water may be additionally installed around the main body 100 because a large amount of steam may cause an error in the measurement value of the subsequent analysis device.

The antifoam injection port 300 serves to receive the antifoam agent from the antifoam tank through the antifoam pump and supply it to the inside of the main body 100. One end of the antifoam injection port 300 on the main body 100 side has a main body ( 100) The antifoam spray nozzle 310 for spraying the antifoam into the interior may be formed.

When the antifoam spraying nozzle 310 is formed in this way, the antifoaming agent supplied into the body part 100 can be spread thinly, so that the gas containing the foam supplied into the body part 100 and the antifoaming agent are evenly mixed. I can. In addition, after discharging the mixture of the gas and the antifoaming agent, which will be described later, through the mixture outlet 500, the mixture remaining on the inner wall of the main body 100 is removed by injecting the antifoaming agent again through the antifoam spraying nozzle 310. It can be wiped evenly.

The gas inlet 200 serves to supply the gas containing the foam generated in the bioreactor to the inside of the main body 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the gas inlet 200 It is preferable that a draft tube 210 is formed at one end of the body part 100 side. In the case where the draft tube 210 is formed in this way, by adjusting the direction of the gas containing the foam supplied into the main body 100 through the draft tube 210, without additional power such as a stirrer motor Foam-containing gas and antifoam can be effectively mixed.

A discharge valve 510 is formed in the mixture discharge port 500 so that the discharge valve 510 can be opened as necessary to discharge a mixture of gas and antifoaming agent including foam inside the main body 100 and discharge speed Can be adjusted.

The water level control sensor unit 110 is for controlling the timing of supplying the antifoaming agent and discharging the mixture of the gas containing the foam and the antifoaming agent, and operating the antifoaming agent pump by sensing the water level inside the body unit 100 or discharging valve 510 ) By opening and closing, the water level inside the main body 100 can be adjusted. The sensor constituting the water level control sensor unit 110 is not particularly limited as long as it is a sensor capable of measuring the water level inside the body unit 100, but is preferably made of a float switch sensor.

A process of adjusting the water level inside the main body 100 using the water level control sensor unit 110 formed of a float switch sensor will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The water level control sensor unit 110 includes a first pillar 113 and a second pillar 114 formed inside the main body 100, as shown in FIG. 4, and the first pillar 113 A first float switch sensor 111 that can move up and down along the first pillar 113 may be installed in the second pillar 114, and a second float that can move vertically along the second pillar 114 A switch sensor 112 may be installed.

In addition, a first upper limit bar 115 and a first lower limit bar 117 may be formed on the first column 113 so that the first float switch sensor 111 can be caught, and the second column 114 may have a 2 The second upper limit bar 116 and the second lower limit bar 118 may be formed so that the float switch sensor 112 can be caught. The positions of the first upper limit bar 115, the second upper limit bar 116, the first lower limit bar 117, and the second lower limit bar 118 may be adjusted according to the water level to be adjusted. The first upper limit rod 115 may be formed at a higher position than the second lower limit rod 116, and the first lower limit rod 117 and the second lower limit rod 118 may be formed at the same height.

As shown in FIG. 4(c), when the first float switch sensor 111 and the second float switch sensor 112 are caught by the first lower limit bar 117 and the second lower limit bar 118, respectively, the discharge valve The 510 is closed, and the antifoam pump is operated (on) to supply the antifoam to the interior of the main body 100.

By the defoaming agent supplied, the first float switch sensor 111 and the second float switch sensor 112 rise according to the water level, and as shown in FIG. 4(a), the second float switch sensor 112 has a second upper limit. When caught on the rod 116, it senses this and stops the operation of the antifoam pump to stop the supply of the antifoam. Accordingly, excessive injection of the antifoaming agent can be prevented.

Thereafter, a gas containing foam is supplied from the bioreactor through the gas injection port 200 to the inside of the main body 100, and the first float switch sensor 111 rises as shown in FIG. 4(b). When the upper limit rod 117 is caught, the discharge valve 510 is opened by sensing this, and a mixture of gas and antifoaming agent containing foam inside the body part 100 is discharged.

When the mixture inside the main body 100 is discharged, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the first float switch sensor 111 and the second float switch sensor 112 each have a first lower limit bar 117 and a second lower limit bar. It is caught in 118 and senses this, closes the discharge valve 510, and operates the antifoam pump (on) to supply the antifoam to the interior of the main body 100 again. In this way, by automatically controlling the timing of supplying the antifoaming agent and discharging the mixture of the gas containing the foam and the antifoaming agent through the water level control sensor unit 110, manpower, cost, and time required for foam removal can be saved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, there is a method of removing the foam generated during microbial cultivation using the foam removal device of the present invention, through the antifoam injection port 300 formed on one side of the main body 100 A first supply step of supplying an antifoaming agent to the interior of the main body 100; A second supply step of supplying the gas containing foam generated in the bioreactor to the inside of the main body 100 through a gas inlet 200 formed at a lower side of the main body 100; After the gas containing foam and the antifoaming agent are supplied above a certain water level through the water level control sensor unit 110 provided inside the main body 100, the mixture outlet 500 is opened and the gas containing foam A discharge step of discharging the mixture of the antifoaming agent; And discharging the gas from which the foam has been removed through the gas outlet 400.

In the first supplying step, it is preferable that the antifoaming agent is sprayed into the main body 100 and supplied through the antifoaming agent spray nozzle 310 formed at one end of the antifoaming agent injection port 300. In the case of using the antifoam spray nozzle 310, the antifoam supplied into the main body 100 can be spread thinly, so that the foam-containing gas and the antifoam can be evenly mixed. In addition, by spraying the antifoaming agent through the antifoam spraying nozzle 310, there is also an effect of evenly wiping off the foam-containing gas and the antifoaming agent mixture remaining on the inner wall of the main body 100.

In the second supplying step, the gas containing the foam generated in the bioreactor is supplied through the gas inlet 200, and the gas containing the defoaming agent and the foam through the draft tube 210 formed at one end of the gas inlet 200. It is preferred that it is carried out so that it is mixed. By adjusting the direction of the foam-containing gas supplied into the main body 100 through the draft tube 210, the foam-containing gas and the antifoaming agent can be effectively mixed without additional power such as an agitator motor.

The first supply step, the second supply step, and the discharge step are automatically performed according to the water level inside the main body 100 through the water level control sensor unit 110 as described above, so that the manpower and cost required for foam removal And save time.

In addition, a discharge step of discharging a mixture of a gas containing foam and an antifoaming agent by opening the mixture discharge port 500; and discharging the gas from which the foam has been removed through the gas discharge port 400 are performed at the same time, whereby the gas discharge port Through 400, it is possible to prevent the foam from being included in the gas supplied to the subsequent analysis equipment.

[ Example ]

The bioreactor system including the foam removal device according to the present invention, unlike conventional systems, can cultivate microorganisms sensitive to antifoaming agents, and perform cultivation while minimizing the decrease in the efficiency of material transfer in the bioreactor. I can.

When used with an antifoaming agent, a water gas conversion operation was performed using the mutant strain WTC155T (accession number: KCTC12414BP) of Thermococcus onnurineus NA1 (deposited as KCTC12157BP in 2012), a microorganism that is difficult to cultivate, and the gas used was a steel mill. (LDG, Linze Donawitz Gas) 60 vol.% of CO and 40 vol.% of N ₂ were used as mogas.

The operating volume of the entire reactor system was 20 L, and the microorganism was cultured at a gas flow rate of 0.1 VVM (Volume of gas added to liquid perminute) as an initial operating condition of the bioreactor.

The operation state of the foam removal device at each stage is photographed and shown in FIG. 5 (FIG. 5(a) is a state before operation, FIG. 5(b) is a step of spraying and supplying an antifoam agent, and FIGS. 5(c) and (d)) Is a step of supplying a gas containing foam, and FIG. 5(e) means a state in which the mixture is discharged). As can be seen in Figure 5, it was confirmed that the foams supplied by mixing with gas from the bioreactor were smoothly removed by mixing with the antifoaming agent in the foam removal apparatus according to the present invention.

100: main body 110: water level control sensor unit
111: first float switch sensor
112: second float switch sensor
113: first pillar 114: second pillar
115: first upper limit bar 116: second upper limit bar
117: first lower limit bar 118: second lower limit bar
120: transparent window 200: gas inlet
210: draft tube 300: antifoam inlet
310: antifoam spray nozzle 400: gas outlet
500: mixture outlet 510: exhaust valve

Claims (10)

In the device for removing the foam generated during microbial culture,
Main body 100;
A water level control sensor unit 110 provided inside the main body 100;
A gas injection port 200 for supplying a gas containing foam into the main body 100;
A defoaming agent injection port 300 for supplying the defoaming agent into the main body 100;
A gas outlet 400 formed above the main body 100 to discharge the gas from which the foam has been removed; And
Including; a mixture outlet 500 formed in the lower portion of the body portion 100 to discharge a mixture of a gas containing foam and an antifoaming agent,
An antifoam spraying nozzle 310 for spraying an antifoam into the body 100 is formed at one end of the antifoam injection port 300 on the main body 100 side,
A draft tube 210 is formed at one end of the gas injection port 200 on the main body 100 side,
The water level control sensor unit 110 includes a first pillar 113 and a second pillar 114 formed inside the main body 100, and the first pillar 113 is formed in the first pillar 113 A first float switch sensor 111 capable of moving up and down along the line is installed, and a second float switch sensor 112 capable of moving up and down along the second column 114 is installed in the second column 114. Characterized in that, the device for removing foam installed on the outside of the bioreactor.
delete delete delete The method of claim 1,
A device for removing foam installed outside the bioreactor, characterized in that the body part 100 has a transparent window 120 that can be seen with the naked eye.
The method of claim 1,
The body portion 100 is a device for removing foam installed outside the bioreactor, characterized in that the stainless steel material.
In the method of removing the foam generated during microbial culture
A first supply step of supplying an antifoaming agent into the interior of the body part 100 through an antifoaming agent injection port 300 formed on one side of the body part 100;
A second supply step of supplying the gas containing foam generated in the bioreactor to the inside of the main body 100 through a gas inlet 200 formed at a lower side of the main body 100;
After the gas containing foam and the antifoaming agent are supplied above a certain water level through the water level control sensor unit 110 provided inside the main body 100, the mixture outlet 500 is opened and the gas containing foam A discharge step of discharging the mixture of the antifoaming agent; And
Including; discharging the gas from which the foam has been removed through the gas outlet 400,
In the first supply step, the defoaming agent is injected into the main body 100 through the antifoam spray nozzle 310 formed at one end of the antifoam injection hole 300,
In the second supply step, the gas containing the foam generated in the bioreactor is supplied through the gas inlet 200, and the gas containing the defoaming agent and the foam through the draft tube 210 formed at one end of the gas inlet 200. Is mixed,
The water level control sensor unit 110 includes a first pillar 113 and a second pillar 114 formed inside the main body 100, and the first pillar 113 is formed in the first pillar 113 A first float switch sensor 111 capable of moving up and down along the line is installed, and a second float switch sensor 112 capable of moving up and down along the second column 114 is installed in the second column 114. Characterized in, a method for removing the foam generated during microbial culture.
delete delete The method of claim 7,
A discharge step of discharging a mixture of a gas containing foam and an antifoaming agent by opening the mixture discharge port 500; and discharging the gas from which the foam is removed through the gas discharge port 400; How to remove foam that occurs during cultivation.

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