JPH03201975A - Sparging method for gas in rotary reactor and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the title method intended to feed a gas in high efficiency into a rotator for incubating e.g. cells, so designed that the interior of a rotator with immobilized material therein within a rotary reaction vessel is partitioned into a number of chambers, and a gas is sparged into the respective chambers or some of these chambers. CONSTITUTION:In a rotary reaction vessel made up of (A) a drum-shaped reaction vessel (a) composed of a shell 1 and end plates 2, 2' on both sides and (B) a rotator (b) rotating within the reaction vessel (a), revolving shafts 12, 12' are externally projected on the respective end plates 11, 11' on both the sides of the rotator (b). The revolving shaft 12', which is a hollow one, is equipped with a solution-ejective pipe 15 with small holes 14 extended inwardly from the end plate 11', and a number of partition plates 16 are projected radially on this pipe 15 to partition the rotator (b) into a number of chambers 18, and each of these chambers 18 is branchedly provided with a gas feed pipe 19, and its end is fitted with a gas-sparging pipe 22 with fine holes on its circumference. With this system, a gas is sparged into the respective chambers 18 or some of these chambers.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention is directed to a rotary reactor for culturing immobilized animal cells, plant cells, microorganisms, etc. and producing useful substances. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for effectively supplying gas to a gas.

(Conventional technology) In the conventional technology, an immobilized enzyme is housed in each chamber of a rotating body divided into multiple parts, and a solution is supplied to the immobilized enzyme through a small hole in the rotating body through a hollow rotating shaft of the rotating body. An active reactor (Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-43228) consists of a rotating column containing an immobilized enzyme that is designed to supply a reaction liquid and a gas. A compartment rotating drum type bioreactor (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-215277) is known.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) It is common knowledge that when culturing cells and microorganisms to obtain useful substances, it is necessary to ensure smooth oxygen supply to the cells and microorganisms.

In the past, this problem of oxygen supply was often solved by direct evaporation into the culture tank, but as culture technology was established and developed, gas sparging technology also progressed, and the culture medium was adjusted separately. When adjusting nutrients in a tank, various methods have been proposed and implemented, including oxygen sparging, which achieves a high degree of oxygen dissolution, air sparging, and sparging methods that take into account shear damage to cells.

In this conventional technology, when supplying oxygen to cells, microorganisms, etc. attached to a carrier, the purpose is often to dissolve oxygen into the culture medium, and this is to prevent shear force damage to cells etc. due to sparging. Although it is widely used, there are some cells and microorganisms that are more effective when contacted directly in a gaseous state. However, there are still few examples of sparging methods that actively aim at contacting with gas.

In particular, there are no specific examples of equipment that fills carriers into a rotating body, and oxygen is dissolved in a separate culture medium adjustment tank, or a space outside the rotating body inside the culture tank is used to fill the culture medium. A sparging method is used.

The former, known as the above-mentioned prior art, involves a device that charges immobilized enzymes into a rotating body and supplies a solution to the rotating body to promote the reaction. There is no consideration given to gas sparging, and in the case of the latter, although there is a gas supply, the gas moves immediately upwards and interacts with the cells and microorganisms inside the rotating body. There is little contact, and effective gas dissolution and contact cannot be obtained.

The present invention was created as a result of various experiments and research on these points, and it aims to uniformly supply nutrients to the carrier built in the rotating body in the reactor, and also to prevent channeling (nutrients are not distributed properly). The purpose of this is to effectively sparge the gas by preventing the phenomenon in which some parts die (the phenomenon in which parts die).

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for supporting carriers built in each chamber or some of the chambers of a rotating body in a rotary reactor. , attempts to solve the problem by sparging the gas.

That is, the present invention employs the following method and apparatus.

(1) Each room in which the carrier is built as described above,
or a method of sparging gas to some rooms; (2) a method of performing or stopping gas sparging depending on the rotational position of each room in this method; (3) a method of sparging gas to each room of a rotating body; Or, as a gas sparging means for some rooms, a gas conduit that rotates together with the rotating body in each room or some rooms is installed upright from a hollow rotating shaft, and this A device in which a sparging pipe is connected to a gas conduit, (4) a device in which the gas conduit is composed of a large diameter part and a small diameter part, and a sphere is incorporated in the large diameter part to open and close the connection port to the small diameter part; ( 5) A device in which a sphere built into a gas conduit is controlled by the magnetic force of a magnet provided on the reactor wall outside the rotating body.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

The rotary reactor according to the present invention is composed of a reaction vessel (a) and a rotating body (b) rotating inside the reaction vessel (a).

The reaction vessel (a) is drum-shaped and consists of a body part (1) and end plates (2), (2°) on both sides, and this body part (1)
There is a cooling water jacket (3) on the outer surface of the M, and an opening/closing M (5) with a handle (4) for inserting carriers is provided above.
Alongside this is an air outlet (6), and below is a solution outlet (7).

One end plate (2) has a box (9) inside the bearing part (8), and an arc-shaped magnet (10) is provided on the side surface of the box (9).

It goes without saying that the other end plate (2) also has a bearing, but this is not shown.

End plates (11) on both sides constituting the rotating body (b), (IF>
have rotating shafts (12), (12') protruding outward, which are connected to the end plates (2), (2') of the reaction vessel (a).
The rotary shaft (12) is equipped with a pulley (13).
is provided.

The rotating shaft (12') is hollow, and the end plate (11')
) extends inward to form a solution spouting pipe (15) having a small hole (14) in the drawing.

This ejection pipe (15) has four partition plates (1
6), (16), (16), (16) are protruding,
This partition plate (16) is also provided with a through hole (16').

An air supply pipe (17) is inserted through the rotating shaft (12), and is connected to the partition plate (16) inside the end plate (11).
) four gas conduits (19), (19), (19), located in the radial direction within each room (18) partitioned by
(19) is branched.

At the outer end of the air supply pipe (17) there is a joint part (17') for transmitting air from the air pump (p) to the rotating part.

The gas conduit (19) has a large diameter part (19') and a small diameter part (19').
”), and the large diameter part (19') has a rope (
A connecting port (19') is provided between the vl (20) and the connecting port (19') to the small diameter part (19').
A sphere (21) that opens and closes the large diameter part (19'') is incorporated, and a rotating shaft (12), (1
A gas sparging pipe (22) having pores (22') on the circumferential surface is provided in the direction 2'), and the end of this gas sparging pipe (22) is in contact with the inner surface of the end plate (11'). directly supported.

Partition plates (16), (1) protruding from the injection pipe (15)
6), (16), and the mesh plate (
23) is wound. This steel plate (23) may be a punched plate with a large number of small holes.

Moreover, mesh plates (24), (24), (24), and (24) are stretched between each partition plate (16) near the injection pipe (15).

And these injection pipes (15), partition plates (16),
Gas sparging pipe (22), rope plate (23), (24
) is sandwiched between both end plates (11), (11°) by tightening the tightening rod (25),
A rotating body (b) is constructed.

The arc-shaped magnets (10), (lO) on the box (9) provided on the end plate (2) of the reaction vessel (a) are horizontally arranged in a V-shape as shown in Fig. 5. , gas conduit (19
) is on the vertical line above the air supply pipe (17),
The sphere (21) in the large diameter part (19') moves under its own weight to the small diameter part (
Close the connection port (19”) to the gas conduit (19”).
) is rotated, and when the position of the connection port (19°") is at the position of the arc-shaped magnets (10), (10), the sphere (21) is kept in the closed position by magnetic force, but the connection port When the position of (19゛) moves downward away from the positions of both magnets (lO) and (10) and is no longer affected by the magnetic force, the sphere (2
1) falls onto the net (20).

As a result, the air from the air supply pipe (17) is transferred to the small diameter portion (1
9') through the line (20) of the larger diameter part (19') and is injected by a gas sparging pipe (22).

What is shown in Fig. 5 is an explanation of one gas conduit (19), but as shown in Fig. 4, it is arranged in four rooms (18) separated by partition plates (16). As the rotating body (b) rotates, air is sequentially injected from the gas sparging pipes (22) of each room (18) into the gas conduit (19), and the air rises.

What is shown in FIG. 6 is an example in which a cam mechanism is used to open and close the connecting port between the large diameter portion and the small diameter portion of the air conduit (19).

The opening and closing of the gas conduit is not limited to the use of spheres as in this example.

Next, the effect will be explained.

Each part ffi of the rotating body (b) partitioned by the partition body (16)
The space between the mesh plates (23) and (24) of (18) is filled with immobilized cells and microorganisms.

The rotating shaft (1
2') and through the small hole (1) of the spout tube (15).
4) Make it squirt more. This ejected solution is diffused and dispersed within the immobilized material by passing through the mesh plate (24).

On the other hand, in order to uniformly supply the solution to the immobilized object to which the solution is being supplied, air is sent through the air supply pipe (17) within the rotating shaft (12) to supply oxygen.

This air is introduced into each gas conduit (19) from the air supply pipe (17), and then passes through the gas sparging pipe (22) arranged in each room (18) through its pores (22').
).

Since each chamber (18) is rotating, the air injected from this gas sparging pipe (22), together with the ejection of the solution, diffuses the immobilized material in each chamber (18) and causes the solution to Supply evenly.

This air injection from the gas sparging pipe (22) is as follows:
As shown in Figures 4 and 5, when the gas conduit (19> of each room (18) is located below the air supply pipe (17) on the vertical line, the sphere (21) Connection port (19”
), the gas is injected from the gas sparging tube (22), but at other positions, the sphere (21) is closed by its own weight or by the magnetic force of the magnets (10), (10).

This air from below diffuses through the immobilized material, which is diffused by the rotation and jetting of the solution, and rises.

After the solution provides nutrients to the immobilized material in each chamber (18), it is discharged from the solution discharge pipe (7) at the bottom of the reaction vessel (a), and after being processed, it is pumped again to the rotating shaft (12°). It is fed into the rotating body (b) and circulated.

On the other hand, the air that has diffused and activated the immobilized product is discharged to the outside from the air outlet (6) at the top of the reaction volume ff1li(a).

Note that the shape of both the rotating body and the reaction container may be cylindrical or rectangular. The rotating body can be partitioned for any reason, and the partitions may be partitioned in the axial direction or further into several partitions in the circumferential direction.

Furthermore, the medium may be supplied and discharged from the outer wall of the reaction container instead of using the hollow shaft. It is only that feeding from the shaft is effective.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, gas is sparged for each room of the immobilized material filled in each partitioned room or some of the rooms of the rotating body. There are more opportunities for direct contact with the immobilized material, and gas can be supplied effectively.

Gas can be supplied or stopped depending on the rotational position of the rotating body. For example, when the sparging tube in the rotating body is at the top, sparging is stopped, and when the sparging tube is at the bottom, sparging is stopped. Since the gas is carried out, the force of the gas rising in the solution of the immobilized substance is also added, making it possible to supply the solution in a diffusive manner and uniformly. This will flow only in the lower direction, reducing the sparging effect, but this can be prevented by providing an on-off valve.

In addition, this combined with the rotational force of the rotating body enables more effective stirring of the immobilized materials than simply stirring the immobilized materials by rotation to prevent the immobilized materials from adhering to each other.

Furthermore, channeling can be more effectively prevented by stirring by sparging in each chamber within the rotating body.

This also ensures an even supply of nutrients and
There is no backflow of waste products, and the productivity of useful substances can be maintained at a high level.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings relate to the device of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view shown in cross section, FIG. 2 is a partially cut away front view shown in cross section, and FIG. 3 is a partially cut away perspective view shown in cross section. 2, FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams of the functions of the gas conduit, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of another form of the gas conduit in cross section. Code a ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ b ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 2, 2′ ・ ・ 6 ・ ・ ・ ・ 7 ・ ・ ・ ・ 9 ・ ・ ・ ・ 1O・ ・ ・ ・ 11. 11' ・ ・ 12 ．12° ・ ・ 15・ ・ ・ ・ 16・ ・ ・ ・ 17・ ・ ・ ・ 18・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 19・ ・ ・ ・ 19′ ・ ・ ・ ・ 19°° ・ ・ ・ ・ 19゛″・ ・ ・ ・ 20・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 21・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 22・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Reaction vessel Rotating body end plate Air outlet Solution outlet box Magnet end plate Rotating shaft Ejection pipe Partition plate Air supply pipe Partition room Gas Conduit large diameter section small diameter section connection port mesh spherical gas sparging pipe 23, 24... mesh plate Fig. 3

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In a rotary reactor in which a rotating body containing immobilized substances rotates, gas is sparged to each room or some of the rooms of the rotating body that is partitioned into many rooms. Characteristic gas sparging method for a rotary reactor. (2) Claim (1) characterized in that gas sparging to each room or some of the rooms of a rotating body partitioned into a large number of rooms is performed or stopped depending on the rotational position of each room. ) Gas sparging method for a rotary reactor. (3) In a rotary reactor in which a rotating body containing an immobilized substance rotates within the reactor, the rotating body is divided into many rooms, and each room or some of the rooms contains a gas that rotates with the rotating body. A gas sparging device for a rotary reactor, characterized in that a conduit is provided upright from a hollow rotating shaft, and a sparging pipe is connected to the gas conduit. (4) The gas conduit installed upright on the hollow rotating shaft consists of a large diameter part and a small diameter part, and the large diameter part has a built-in sphere that opens and closes the connection port to the small diameter part. 4. The sparging device for a rotary reactor according to claim 3, wherein the sparging device is configured to guide or stop the gas to the sparging pipe depending on the position. (5) The rotating type according to claim (4), wherein the position of the sphere in the gas conduit rotating inside the rotating body is controlled by the magnetic force of a magnet fixed to the reactor wall outside the rotating body. Reactor gas sparging equipment.