JPH03219807A - Plant culture equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the title equipment intended to reduce the initial cost, electric power cost necessary for its air conditioning, etc., so designed that the irradiation area onto a culture panel per high voltage metallic vapor discharge lamp is specified and the distance between the light center of each of said lamps and the upper surface of the culture panel is also specified. CONSTITUTION:The ceiling of a culture equipment 1 is fitted with high voltage metallic vapor discharge lamps 2 consisting of high voltage sodium-vapor lamps through a lighting fixture 3, while a culture panel 4 made of expanded polystyrene is installed on the bottom surface and planted with vegetables 5 such as lettuce. Under the bottom, a nutriculture solution necessary for plant growth is circulated through a culture bed 6. Water is flowing between the outer bulb of each lamp 2 and the corresponding cooling cylinder 7. The irradiation area onto the culture panel 4 per lamp should be 1-3m<2> and the distance between the light center of each of said lamps 2 and the upper surface of the culture panel 4<1m. Thereby, the electric power cost for air conditioning and the initial cost of the equipment relative to plant culture capacity will be reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a plant cultivation device, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fully controllable plant cultivation device with high cultivation efficiency that uses a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp as an artificial light source. .

Conventional technology Fully controlled plant cultivation equipment (hereinafter referred to as cultivation equipment) blocks natural (sunlight) light and uses only artificial light to determine the optimal temperature, CO□ concentration, air volume, light volume, and iI for plants. Liquid temperature/
Plants are cultivated in a factory manner by adjusting environmental conditions such as the composition of the nutrient solution.

In conventional cultivation devices, high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps such as high-pressure sodium lamps and metal light lamps, and fluorescent lamps are used for growing plants using artificial light sources. In general, the higher the wattage of a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp, the better the luminous efficiency becomes, so a high wattage lamp of 70014-1 is usually used, and the distance between the top surface of the cultivation panel and the lamp is approximately 1.5-2.
1 improves the uniformity of the illuminance distribution on the cultivation panel surface and prevents the adverse effects of heat from the lamps on the plants.

In addition, when fluorescent lamps are used, unlike when high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps are used, the light output per unit surface area of the light source is significantly lower and the luminous efficiency is low, so the area above the cultivation panel is covered almost entirely with fluorescent light. Lights are installed. The distance between the cultivation panel and the fluorescent lamp is approximately 30cm because the heat from the fluorescent lamp is dispersed in the same way as the light output, and even if the cultivation panel is placed close to the plants, it is unlikely to be affected by the adverse effects of heat. Therefore, it is common practice to install cultivation panels and artificial light sources in multiple stages to effectively utilize the cultivation space. In addition, in these cultivation devices, the wattage of the high pressure metal vapor discharge lamp or fluorescent lamp per area of the top surface of the cultivation panel is 150 to 250 W/l''.

Further, these conventional cultivation devices have a structure of an eave-shaped building, and a passageway etc. are provided inside the cultivation room so that an operator can carry out operations such as planting and harvesting inside the cultivation room.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Conventional cultivation using high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps as an artificial light source uses high-wattage lamps, so the energy utilization efficiency of the artificial light source is high, but the artificial light source and the cultivation panel surface are This increases the distance from the plant and creates a large space, which makes it impossible to grow plants in multiple stages, resulting in poor plant cultivation efficiency per floor area of the building, and high air conditioning costs and construction costs for cultivation equipment. In addition, when using fluorescent lamps as an artificial light source, although the efficiency of cultivation space is high, the luminous efficiency of fluorescent lamps is low, making it difficult to obtain the illuminance necessary for plant growth, and the longevity characteristics such as luminous flux maintenance rate are poor. It had problems such as: Furthermore, in these cultivation devices, the artificial light source is located in the same space as the cultivation space, and all the heat generated from the artificial light source is released into the cultivation space. Therefore, in order to maintain a constant temperature inside the cultivation room, a large-capacity air conditioner is required. It needed air conditioning. In this way, conventional cultivation equipment that uses artificial light sources requires a highly insulated and airtight building, a high-precision, large-capacity air conditioner to maintain the optimum room temperature, a lighting device, a CO2 supply device, and these environmental control devices. Although expensive and large-scale equipment is required, plant production efficiency and energy use efficiency are poor, which hinders the use of cultivation equipment and is a major factor in increasing plant production costs.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a box-shaped cultivation device in which a plurality of high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps are arranged on the upper ceiling and a cultivation panel is provided on the bottom bottom of the box-shaped cultivation device. The steam discharge lamp is cooled with a cooling medium such as water or air, and the irradiation area on the cultivation panel per high-pressure metal steam discharge lamp is reduced to 1.
~3 m', and the distance between the light center of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp and the top surface of the cultivation panel was within 1 m.

Function: Since the device according to the present invention uses a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp as an artificial light source, it is possible to obtain sufficient illuminance necessary for plant growth, and also has high efficiency, high output characteristics, and excellent life characteristics. Because of this, the number of lamps installed can be reduced, and equipment costs for lighting can be reduced. or,
By cooling the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp with a cooling medium such as water or air, the heat generated by the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp can be reduced without substantially reducing the light that is effective for photosynthesis in plants. This makes it possible to remove a large amount of air, thereby significantly reducing air conditioning costs within the cultivation room. Furthermore, the effect of heat on plants is reduced and the distance between the artificial light source and the cultivation panel can be significantly shortened, resulting in significant space savings and equipment cost reductions without compromising the plant growth effect of the light source. be able to.

Example The present invention will be explained below using preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a plant cultivation apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of FIG. 1. On the ceiling of the inside of the cultivation device 1, there is a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 consisting of a straight tube type outer spherical high-pressure sodium lamp as an artificial light source, and a lighting fixture 3
A cultivation panel 4 made of, for example, styrofoam is installed on the lower surface, and vegetables 5 such as salad greens and lettuce are planted there. At the bottom thereof, a cultivation bed 6 with a slight slope in the longitudinal direction circulates a nutrient solution necessary for plant growth. High pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2
The outer bulb of the lamp is completely covered with a cooling tube 7 made of transparent hard glass, and water is flowed between the outer bulb of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 and the cooling tube 7. The cultivation device has a height of about 1 m, a width of about 1.6 m, and a length of about 5.6 m, and a cultivation panel 4 is provided on almost the entire lower surface of the cultivation device. The distance between the light center of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 and the top surface of the cultivation panel is about 0.7 m, and the illumination intensity on the top surface of the cultivation panel 4 is about 1:20. In addition to the light components of the artificial light source, the uniformity of illuminance on the surface of the cultivation panel is a major factor in light conditions for growing plants economically and uniformly. When using the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 at a short distance from the top surface of the cultivation panel 4, one way to improve the uniformity of illuminance is to disperse the light using a large number of low-wattage lamps.
Similar to the method of using fluorescent lamps as an artificial light source, this method is not a preferable method because it increases equipment costs due to an increase in the number of installed lights, increases lighting power costs due to a decrease in luminous efficiency, and increases the production cost of cultivated plants. Therefore, it is necessary to use a high-wattage, high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp with the highest possible luminous efficiency.
In this example, a 450W high pressure sodium lamp is used. Most of the heat generated from the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 (approximately half of the power consumption of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp) is absorbed by the water flowing into the cooling cylinder 7, and the light center of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 and the cultivation panel are absorbed. Even if the distance from the top surface of 4 is close to about 0.7n, there is no thermal effect on the plants. In addition, the light necessary for photosynthesis emitted from the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 is supplied to the cooling cylinder 7.
Even if water is allowed to flow inside, there is no particular problem as the drop will only decrease by 2 to 3%. Cold air is circulated in the cultivation room 8 by an air conditioner 89, and the environment such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, CO2: a degree, etc. is controlled to be the optimal conditions for plant growth. The total area of the cultivation panel 4 in the cultivation room is approximately 9 m2, and the irradiation area on the cultivation panel 4 per high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp is 2.3 m2.
m2, and the illuminance distribution on the upper surface of the cultivation panel 4 is made almost uniform by the lighting equipment 3. In addition, the inside of the cultivation room is made of a highly light-reflecting material with a light reflection characteristic of 70% or more, which further improves the effective use of light and the uniformity of the illuminance distribution. High pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 and cultivation panel 4
The distance from the top surface is preferably as short as possible from the point of view of utilization efficiency of the cultivation space. Considering that the artificial light source/cultivation bed is multi-tiered, at least the light center of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 and the cultivation panel 4 The distance between the top surfaces must be within 1 m. Here, if the irradiation area of each high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 on the top surface of the cultivation bed is less than 1 m2, the number of installed lamps will increase, and of course the number of mats (lamps size) is also small,
It is not economical because the luminous efficiency also decreases. Also, conversely, 1
Although the number of installed lights will decrease when the irradiation area per light exceeds 3 m'2, since the distance between the center of light and the cultivation panel is shortened to 1 m or less, the variation in the illuminance distribution on the top of the panel will increase, and the There are areas where the illuminance deviates from the optimum illuminance, which is still undesirable.

Table 1 shows that a high-pressure sodium lamp is used as the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2, and the distance between the light center and the top surface of the cultivation panel 4 is 1 m.
An example of the experimental results for the case is shown below.

The design illuminance on the top of the cultivation panel is approximately 1 in 20! I made it so that

In order for plants to grow efficiently and uniformly, the variation in the illuminance distribution on the top surface of the cultivation panel should be 20% of the average illuminance.
It is necessary to keep it within 5%, preferably within about 5%. Also,
The wattage of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp per unit area of the cultivation bed is 150 to 250w/1 in conventional plant factories.
Unless the wattage is at least 250w/n2 or less compared to 12, it will not be possible to maintain an advantage in terms of power consumption costs required for lighting.

As shown in Table 1, the desired illuminance (in this example, the design value is 20
In order to obtain approximately Klx ) and to keep the variation in illuminance within 20% of the average illuminance, a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 1 is used.
The area irradiated onto the top surface of the cultivation panel per light must be 3m2 or less. Also, from the point of view of economy, if the number of lamps installed is to be minimized and the wattage per unit area on the top surface of the planting panel is at least 250w/n2 or less, the irradiation area per high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp. must be at least 1 m2.

In addition, by flowing water through the cooling cylinder 7, unlike the conventional method, the heat to the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 can be reliably reduced, and the distance between the light center of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 2 and the cultivation panel 4 can be brought closer. By using water such as cheap underground water, the load on the air conditioner 9 can be reduced, and equipment costs and power consumption costs for air conditioning can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, it is also possible to use the heat-exchanged hot water as a heat source for heating in greenhouse cultivation. This cultivation device is usually installed in three stages, one above the other, and has approximately three times the cultivation efficiency in terms of installation area compared to conventional cultivation devices that use high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps. Since it can be used in common with other cultivation devices, the cost required for the entire cultivation system can be reduced.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of the cultivation device according to the present invention. There are two cultivation chambers, upper and lower, and the four cultivation devices shown in Figures 1 and 2 are combined into one cultivation device. It is more efficient in terms of equipment costs and air conditioning costs to combine them into one cultivation device.

In the example, water was used as the cooling medium introduced into the cooling cylinder 7, but the cooling medium is not limited to water, and air (outside air) etc. can be used to effectively absorb the heat of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp. It can be used as long as it has excellent light transmittance.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, the plant cultivation device according to the present invention has the following effects:
In addition to reducing the electricity costs required for air conditioning, by making the equipment three-dimensional, it is possible to further improve the space utilization efficiency for plant cultivation. It has advantages.

As described above, the present invention can reduce operating costs such as initial equipment costs and electricity costs required for air conditioning, and is therefore highly effective in widely displacing fully controllable plant cultivation devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a plant cultivation device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the plant cultivation device of FIG. 1. Third
The figure is a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of the plant cultivation apparatus according to the present invention. 1... Cultivation device, 2... High pressure metal vapor discharge lamp 4.
...Cultivation panel, 7...Cooling tube 8...Cultivation room, 9...Air conditioner well 1 Indon 7 Prisoner

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a plant cultivation device with a structure in which multiple high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps are arranged on the upper ceiling of a box-shaped cultivation device and a cultivation panel is provided on the bottom bottom, the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamps are used as a cooling medium such as water or air. The irradiation area on the cultivation panel per high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp is 1 to 3 m^2.
, and the distance between the light center of the high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp and the top surface of the cultivation panel is within 1 m.