KR101871375B1

KR101871375B1 - Photo-bioreactor for microalgae cultivation and reuse of culture medium

Info

Publication number: KR101871375B1
Application number: KR1020170015989A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 장원석; 안덕용; 김경민; 이영재; 유지혜
Original assignee: 한국지역난방공사
Priority date: 2017-02-06
Filing date: 2017-02-06
Publication date: 2018-06-27

Abstract

The present invention relates to a photobioreactor for harvesting microalgae and reusing a culture medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a photobioreactor for filtering microbial algae, And a microbial crop harvesting and cultivation solution reusing photobioreactor capable of producing high value-added substances.

Description

[0001] PHOTO-BIOREACTOR FOR MICROALGAE CULTIVATION AND REUSE OF CULTURE MEDIUM [0002]

Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels is causing climate change and global environmental change, threatening the survival of all life forms, including humans. Therefore, many researches and developments have been made to reduce carbon dioxide, and as a part thereof, researches on the field of biochemical conversion of carbon dioxide have been actively carried out.

As a photosynthetic organism for biological conversion treatment of carbon dioxide, microalgae have been actively studied. Like other photosynthetic creatures, microalgae, which are phytoplankton, act as the energy source of the sun, and have the property of growing by carrying out a photosynthesis action to immobilize carbon dioxide.

The reason why microalgae are attracted by the means of immobilizing carbon dioxide is that the energy required to recover carbon dioxide is very small because the plant can utilize solar energy as a main energy source, just as it absorbs carbon dioxide. Therefore, since the amount of carbon dioxide generated by the operation of the carbon dioxide immobilization process is small, the removal efficiency is high in view of the carbon dioxide resin.

Second, it has a very low CO2 footprint due to its high CO2 immobilization rate. According to a study by Tokyo Electric Power Research Institute, the rate of CO2 fixation of microalgae is four times higher than the fastest growing sugarcane and 16 times higher than the most common species of pine trees in Korea.

In addition, since carbon dioxide can be directly immobilized from the combustion gas, there is an advantage that a separation and concentration process for carbon dioxide is not necessary. In addition, the microalgae produced during the carbon dioxide immobilization process contain various useful substances and can be used as biological products.

An example of such a photobioreactor is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1382989, which discloses a photobioreactor for microalgae culture.

As shown in FIG. 1, the photobioreactor for culturing microalgae comprises a photochemical incubator 10 capable of culturing microalgae by photochemical reaction; A float separator (20) capable of collecting and concentrating microalgae deposited and discharged in the photochemical incubator (10); A centrifuge 30 capable of separating and collecting concentrated microalgae in the flotation separator 20; A micro-bubble generator (40) capable of generating a micro-particle trap containing minute carbon dioxide bubbles and supplying the generated micro-particle trap to the flotation separator (20) and the photochemical incubator (10); And a regenerator 50 for regenerating the pulmonary culture fluid generated in the photochemical incubator 10, the float separator 20 and the centrifugal separator 30 so as to replenish the nutrients and regenerate the pulmonary fluid; And a circulation pump 60 for supplying the culture medium regenerated in the culture medium regenerator 50 to the photochemical incubator 10.

First, in order to cultivate the microalgae, a culture medium is filled in a culture vessel 11 of each photochemical incubator 10, micro-algae are injected, and then the culture vessel 11 is irradiated with visible light (sunlight, artificial light, Light).

The culture liquid is supplied to the culture container 11 of the first photochemical incubator 10a connected to the circulation pump 60 by using the circulation pump 60 to form a vortex to evenly mix the culture medium and the microalgae, At this time, the microalgae grown by the cyclone principle at a predetermined weight or more are precipitated to the lower part of the photochemical incubator 10a, and the remaining microalgae are discharged together with the culture liquid and transferred to the next second photochemical incubator 10b.

In the second photochemical incubator 10b, a vortex is formed by the culture liquid introduced from the first photochemical incubator 10a, and the microcurrent is mixed with the stored culture liquid. At this time, the micro-algae grown at a certain weight or more by the cyclone principle, Is deposited to the lower portion of the incubator 10b, and the remaining microalgae are discharged together with the culture liquid and transferred to the third photochemical incubator 10c to which they are connected.

In the third photochemical culture apparatus 10c, a vortex is formed by the culture liquid introduced from the second photochemical culture apparatus 10b, and the micro-algae are mixed with the stored culture liquid. At this time, the micro- Is deposited to the lower part of the incubator 10c, and the remaining microalgae are discharged together with the culture liquid and transferred to the fourth photochemical incubator 10d to which they are connected.

The fourth photochemical incubator 10d mixes the culture medium and the microalgae formed by the culture liquid introduced from the third photochemical incubator 10c to form a microalgae. At this time, the microalgae, which are grown to a certain weight or more by the cyclone principle, The microalgae are settled to the lower part of the incubator 10d and the remaining microalgae are discharged together with the culture liquid and transferred to the connected culture liquid regenerator 50. [

At this time, the microscopic algae settled in each photochemical incubator 10 is accumulated in the hopper of the fine algae discharger 14. When the deposited fine algae are accumulated in the hopper above a predetermined height, they are discharged to the sedimentation algae transport pipe 17 And the fine algae discharged to the sediment algae feed pipe 17 are supplied to the float separator 20.

The microalgae settled and discharged in the photochemical incubator 10 are fed to the floating separator 20. The floating separator 20 separates the microbubble generator 40 and the carbon dioxide bubbles and floating plates supplied from the microbubble generator 40 And the micro-algae are floated and separated.

The micro-algae that have been separated and floated are collected and removed by a skimmer, transferred to a micro-algae storage tank and stored in a concentrated state, and the concentrated micro-algae are transferred to the centrifuge 30 through a floating algae transfer pipe 26.

The pulmonary culture fluid generated in the process of floating and concentrating the microalgae is stored in a storage tank and then transferred to the culture medium regenerator 50 through the pulmonary fluid transfer pipe 28.

The microalgae transferred through the floating algae feed pipe (26) are separated and recovered in the centrifuge (30) to be further concentrated. The recovered microalgae can be discarded or recycled as a raw material of biodegradable plastic or biofuel, Is transferred to the culture medium regenerator (50).

The regenerated culture liquid supplemented with the nutrients in the culture medium regenerator (50) is transferred to the first photochemical incubator (10a) by the circulation pump (60).

On the other hand, the fine particle catcher generated in the fine bubble generator 40 is sent to the float separator 20 for flocculating and separating micro-algae, which are partially precipitated and discharged through the fine particle catchers 49a and 49b, Fed to the regenerated culture medium and sent to a photochemical incubator 10 (specifically, the first photochemical incubator described above) for microalgae culture.

However, in the conventional photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation, since the pulmonary culture fluid discharged from the floatation separator or the centrifugal separator is immediately stored by the regenerator of the culture medium, when the microorganism, foreign matter or microorganism is mixed in the recycled pulmonary culture fluid, And when contamination occurs, homogeneous microalgae are produced. Therefore, there is a problem that separation and purification can not be performed with high value-added materials.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1382989

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [8] Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a microorganism, which comprises filtering a lung culture fluid through a disk filter and a bag filter, sterilizing the microorganism through ultraviolet And to provide a photobioreactor for harvesting microalgae and reusing a culture medium.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a photobioreactor for harvesting microalgae and reusing a culture medium, which can be recycled by applying a simple disk filter to reduce maintenance operation costs.

According to an aspect of the present invention,

A plurality of reactors for growing the photobioregion using a culture medium and carbon dioxide introduced into the culture medium; A recovery tank for collecting and storing the culture solution in which the growth of the photobiologist is completed in each of the reactors, separating the grown photobioregion and the pulmonary culture solution into different gravity differences, and discharging them separately; A centrifugal separator for supplying the photobiestheses discharged from the collection tank through a first supply pump and centrifugal separation to remove moisture; A lyophilizer for receiving the photobiological matter discharged from the centrifugal separator through a second supply pump and lyophilizing the same; A primary filter that receives the waste culture fluid discharged from the collection tank through a third supply pump and primarily removes foreign organisms and foreign matter; A secondary filter for receiving the pulmonary fluid discharged from the primary filter through a fourth supply pump and removing secondary organisms and foreign matter; And a pulmonary culture fluid storage tank for storing the pulmonary fluid discharged through the secondary filter and supplying the pulmonary fluid to the respective reactors through a fifth supply pump.

Here, the microalgae harvesting apparatus and the culture fluid reuse photobioreactor further include a UV lamp for sterilizing the waste culture liquid in the pipeline connecting the secondary filter and the waste culture liquid storage tank.

Here, the reactor may be one of an agitated reactor, a plate reactor, a tubular reactor, a column reactor, and a polymer film reactor.

Here, the collection tank is formed in a hopper shape so that the photobiological organism collects at the bottom.

Here, the collection tank is provided with a floating skimmer so as to separate only the filtered supernatant by the specific gravity of the pulmonary culture liquid.

Here, the floating skimmer may include a body having a cylindrical shape with an open upper end, a triangular protrusion formed on an upper end of the floating skimmer, and a discharge port formed on a lower end thereof; A buoyant material provided on an outer surface of the main body to provide a buoyancy to always keep the main body below the level of water so that the supernatant of the pulmonary culture liquid in the recovery tank flows into the main body through the triangular projections of the main body; And a corrugated pipe having one end connected to an outlet of the main body and the other end passing through a lower end of the collection tank to discharge a supernatant discharged through an outlet of the main body to the centrifuge.

Here again, the primary filter is a disk filter that can be cleaned and reused.

Here, the secondary filter is a bag filter.

Here, in the above-mentioned waste liquid storage tank, the photobioregion is injected and a new culture liquid is replenished.

According to the microalgae harvesting and culture reutilization photobioreactor of the present invention having the above-described structure, the pulmonary culture fluid is filtered through a disk filter and a bag filter, sterilized through ultraviolet rays, and reused to grow microalgae .

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to recycle the disc filter by applying the disc filter, thereby reducing the maintenance operation cost.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a conventional photobioreactor for microalgae culture.
2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a microbial algae harvesting apparatus and a culture medium reuse photobioreactor according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the construction of a floating skimmer among microbial algae harvesting and culture reutilizing photobioreactors according to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the structure of a microbial algae harvesting and culture reutilizing photobioreactor according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and these may be changed according to the intention of the user, the operator, or the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the construction of a photobioreactor for harvesting microalgae and reusing a culture medium according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of a floating skimmer among microbial harvesting and culture reutilizing photobioreactors according to the present invention .

2 and 3, the apparatus for harvesting microalgae and reusing a culture medium according to the present invention comprises a reactor 110, a collecting tank 120, a centrifuge 130, a freeze dryer 140, a primary filter 150, a secondary filter 160, a waste culture liquid storage tank 170, and a UV lamp 180.

First, a plurality of reactors 110 are connected in parallel to grow the photobioregion using the culture medium and the carbon dioxide injected into the reactor. At this time, it is preferable that carbon dioxide contained in the exhaust gas discharged from the industrial facility be used, and it is preferable that any one of an agitation type reactor, a plate type reactor, a tubular reactor, a column type reactor and a polymer film type reactor is applied.

The recovery tank 120 collects and stores the culture liquid in which the growth of the photobiologist has been completed in the reactor 110, separates the grown photobioregions and the pulmonary culture liquid into different gravity differences, and discharges them separately. At this time, the collection tank 120 is formed in a hopper shape so that the photobiestheses are collected downward, and the floating skimmer 200 is provided to separate only the filtered filtered supernatant by the specific gravity of the pulmonary culture liquid.

3, the floating skimmer 200 includes a main body 210 having a cylindrical shape with an open upper end, a triangular protrusion 211 formed continuously at an upper end thereof, and a discharge port 213 formed at a lower end thereof, And a buoyant force is provided on the outer surface of the main body 210 so that the main body 210 is constantly positioned directly below the water level so that the supernatant of the pulmonary culture liquid in the recovery tank 120 flows through the triangular projections 211 of the main body 210 The main body 210 is shrunk when the main body 210 is lowered due to the discharge of the supernatant water to discharge the supernatant discharged through the discharge port 213 of the main body 210 to the centrifuge 130, And a corrugated pipe 230 having one end connected to the discharge port 213 of the recovery tank 210 and the other end passing through the lower end of the recovery tank 120. At this time, the bellows pipe 230 is bent in an L shape so as not to be lowered below a certain water level, and the horizontal part is fixed to the body 210 in a pipe shape in which deformation is not generated, Wrinkles are formed so as to be variable.

In addition, the centrifugal separator 130 receives the photobiological matter precipitated in the recovery tank 120 and discharged from the lower part through the first supply pump P1, and centrifugally separates and removes moisture (pulmonary fluid).

In the freeze dryer 140, the lump-shaped organisms discharged from the centrifugal separator 130 are supplied through the second supply pump P2, lyophilized, and powdered to produce a high value-added substance.

The primary filter 150 receives the pulmonary fluid discharged from the floating skimmer 200 of the collection tank 120 through the third supply pump P3 and primarily removes the photobiological matter and foreign matter. At this time, it is preferable that a disk filter capable of cleaning and reusing the primary filter 150 is applied.

Next, the secondary filter 160 receives the pulmonary fluid discharged from the primary filter 150 through the fourth supply pump P4 and removes the photobioregions and the foreign matter in a secondary order. At this time, it is preferable that the secondary filter 160 is applied with a bag filter.

The pulmonary fluid storage tank 170 stores the pulmonary fluid discharged through the secondary filter 160 and supplies the pulmonary fluid to the respective reactors 110 through the fifth feed pump P5. At this time, the lung biomass storage tank 170 is filled with the photobioregion and the new culture liquid is replenished.

On the other hand, the UV lamp 180 is installed in a pipeline connecting the waste liquid storage tank 170 with the secondary filter 160 to sterilize the waste culture liquid.

Hereinafter, the operation of the photobioreactor for harvesting microalgae and reusing a culture solution according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, when the growth of the photobioregulation is completed in the reactor 110, the pulmonary culture fluid containing the photobiologic is discharged and stored in the recovery tank 120, and the photobioregion and the lung culture fluid, The photobioregion is precipitated to the bottom.

The organisms precipitated in the collection tank 120 are supplied to the centrifugal separator 130 through the first feed pump P1 together with the pulmonary culture liquid and the pulmonary culture liquid is dehydrated in the centrifuge 130, The organism is supplied to the freeze dryer 140 through the second feed pump P2 and then lyophilized to be powdered so that the high value added powder itself can be commercialized and the powder is subjected to the pretreatment, And can be formulated into a product through a process.

The supernatant of the recovery tank 120 flows into the main body 210 of the floating skimmer 200 and is discharged through the discharge port 213 and the corrugated pipe 230 and then discharged through the third supply pump P3, (150) and then filtered.

Thereafter, the pulmonary fluid filtered and discharged by the primary filter 150 flows into the secondary filter 160 through the fourth supply pump P4 and is filtered.

Subsequently, the pulmonary culture fluid discharged through the secondary filter 160 is sterilized by ultraviolet rays generated in the UV lamp 180 and stored in the pulmonary culture fluid storage tank 170.

Finally, the clean pulmonary fluid after sterilization after filtering is stored in the pulmonary fluid storage tank 170, and then supplied to the respective reactors 110 through the fifth feed pump P5 and reused. At this time, the living organism storage tank 170 is filled with the photobioregion and the new culture liquid is replenished.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms thereof, which are to be considered as being limited to the specific embodiments, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. .

110: Reactor 120: Recovery tank
130: Centrifuge 140: Freeze dryer
150: primary filter 160: secondary filter
170: Lung culture tank 180: UV lamp
200: Floating skimmer P1 to P5: First to fifth supply pumps

Claims

A plurality of reactors for growing the photobioregion using a culture medium and carbon dioxide introduced into the culture medium;
The culture medium in which the growth of the photobiologist has been completed in each of the reactors is collected and stored, and the hopper is formed so that the photobioregivers are collected in the lower part. The separated photobioregions and the pulmonary culture liquid are separated by specific gravity, A recovery tank provided with a floating skimmer so as to discharge only filtered supernatant separated by a specific gravity in the culture liquid;
A centrifugal separator for supplying the photobiestheses discharged from the collection tank through a first supply pump and centrifugal separation to remove moisture;
A lyophilizer for receiving the photobiological matter discharged from the centrifugal separator through a second supply pump and lyophilizing the same;
A first filter for removing waste organisms and foreign substances by supplying the waste liquid discharged from the recovery tank through a third supply pump;
A second filter for receiving the pulmonary fluid discharged from the primary filter through a fourth supply pump and removing secondary organisms and foreign substances;
A pulmonary culture fluid storage tank for storing pulmonary fluid discharged through the secondary filter and supplying the pulmonary fluid to the respective reactors through a fifth feed pump; And
The pipeline connecting the secondary filter and the waste culture liquid storage tank includes a UV lamp for sterilizing the waste culture liquid,
The floating skimmer includes:
A main body having a cylindrical shape with an upper opening, a triangular protrusion formed on an upper end thereof and a discharge port formed on a lower end thereof;
A buoyant material provided on an outer surface of the main body to provide a buoyancy to always keep the main body below the level of water so that the supernatant of the pulmonary culture liquid in the recovery tank flows into the main body through the triangular projections of the main body; And
L "shape so as to be lowered below a predetermined level, and the horizontal portion is formed into a pipe shape in which deformation is not generated, and the bottom portion of the recovery tank is passed through the bottom of the recovery tank And a corrugated tube which is formed in a vertical part and has a corrugated shape so as to have a variable length according to a water level, and is fixed to an outlet of the main body, wherein the corrugated tube is harvested and reused for culture.

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The method according to claim 1,
The reactor comprises:
Wherein at least one of an agitation type reactor, a plate type reactor, a tubular reactor, a column type reactor, and a polymer film type reactor is applied to the apparatus for harvesting microalgae and reusing the culture fluid.

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