JPH072109B2 - Method and apparatus for gas sparging of rotary reactor - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a rotary reactor for producing useful substances by culturing immobilized animal cells, plant cells, microorganisms, etc. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for effectively supplying gas to a gas.

(Prior Art) As a conventional technique, an immobilized enzyme is built in each chamber of a rotating body divided into a plurality of parts, and a solution is discharged from the small hole of the immobilized enzyme through a hollow rotating shaft of the rotating body. An active reactor (a Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-43228) comprising a rotating column containing an immobilized enzyme for supplying the reaction solution, and a reaction body and a gas to the reactor main body having a rotating drum made of mesh. There is known a compartment-rotating-drum type bioreactor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-215277) in which is introduced.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When culturing cells or microorganisms to obtain useful substances, it is common knowledge that smooth supply of oxygen to cells or microorganisms must be ensured.

Conventionally, in this oxygen supply, there were many cases where it was solved by directly sparging into the culture tank, but as the culture technology was established and developed, the gas sparging technology also advanced and the medium was adjusted separately. Various methods have been proposed and implemented, such as oxygen sparging that achieves a high degree of oxygen dissolution, air sparging, and sparging considering shear damage to cells when adjusting nutrients in a tank.

In this conventional technique, when supplying oxygen to cells or microorganisms attached to a carrier, many of them are intended to dissolve oxygen in the medium, which is intended to prevent shearing damage to cells and the like due to sparging. Although widely used, some cells and microorganisms are more effective when contacted directly in the gaseous state. However, there are few examples of the sparging method for the purpose of positively contacting the gas.

In particular, there is no specific example in the device for filling the carrier in the rotating body, and oxygen is separately dissolved in the medium adjusting tank, or the medium is prepared outside the rotating body by using the space in the culture tank. The method of sparging is taken.

The former known as the above-mentioned prior art relates to a device for accelerating the reaction by filling a rotating body with an immobilized enzyme and supplying a solution to it, which is used for culturing. There is no consideration and no consideration is given to gas sparging, and in the latter, there is a supply of this point gas, but the gas moves immediately above and 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 researches on such points, and aims to evenly supply the nutrients to the carrier incorporated in the rotating body in the reactor, and to perform channeling (where the nutrients do not spread). It is intended to prevent the phenomenon that a part to be killed) and to effectively sparge the gas.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, each room of the rotor in the rotary reactor, or a carrier incorporated in a part of the room, The problem is solved by sparging the gas.

That is, in the present invention, the following method and device are used.

(1) The solution is supplied along the rotation axis of the rotating body to each room or a part of the rooms in which the carrier is built as described above, and the gas is sparged depending on the rotation position of those rooms. (2) The rotating shaft of the rotating body is used as a solution ejection pipe, and
As a gas sparging means for each room partitioned by the rotor or a part of it, a gas conduit that rotates with the rotor in each room or part of the room is erected from the air supply pipe of the hollow rotating shaft. Then, a device in which a sparging pipe is connected to the gas conduit in the direction of the rotation axis, (3) A spherical body that is configured by a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion, and that opens and closes a connection opening to the small diameter portion in the large diameter portion. A device for introducing and stopping gas into the sparging tube depending on the position of the sphere, (4) The sphere incorporated in the gas conduit is the magnetic force of the magnet provided on the reactor wall outside the rotor. Device controlled by.

(Example) Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described based on drawing.

The rotary reactor in the present invention comprises a reaction container (a) and a rotating body (b) which rotates inside the reaction container.

The reaction vessel (a) is drum-shaped and is composed of a body portion (1) and end plates (2), (2 ') on both sides. The body portion (1)
There is a jacket (3) for cooling water on the outer surface of the lid, and an opening / closing lid (5) with a handle (4) for loading the carrier is provided above.
There is an air outlet (6) alongside this, and a solution outlet (7) below.

One end plate (2) has a box (9) inside the bearing (8), and an arcuate magnet (10) is provided on its side surface.

The other end plate (2 ') also has a bearing, but it is not shown.

Rotating shafts (12) and (12 ') facing outward are projected from the end plates (11) and (11') on both sides constituting the rotating body (b), which are the reaction vessels (a). ) Through the end plates (2), (2 '), and the rotary shaft (12) is provided with a pulley (13).

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

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

An air supply pipe (17) is inserted through the rotary shaft (12) so that it is located inside each end plate (11) in each room (18) partitioned by a partition plate (16). In the radial direction, four gas conduits (19), (19), (19), and (19) are branched.

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

The gas conduit (19) is composed of a large diameter portion (19 ′) and a small diameter portion (19 ″), and a net (20) is provided in the middle of the large diameter portion (19 ′). A sphere (2) that opens and closes the connection port (19) between the connection port (19) to the small diameter part (19 ″)
1) is incorporated, and at the end of the large diameter part (19 '), there are pores (22') on the peripheral surface in the direction of the rotating shaft (12), (12 ').
A gas sparging pipe (22) having
The end portion of this gas sparging pipe (22) has an end plate (11 ').
Is supported by contact with the inner surface of the.

Partition plates (16), (16) protruding from the injection pipe (15),
The mesh plate (23) is wound so as to be in contact with the edges of (16) and (16). The mesh plate (23) may be a punched plate having many small holes.

Further, mesh plates (24), (24), (24), (24) are stretched between the partition plates (16) near the injection pipe (15).

The injection pipe (15), the partition plate (16), the gas sparging pipe (22), the mesh plates (23) and (24) are provided between the end plates (11) and (11 '). The rotating body (b) is constituted by sandwiching (25) by tightening with a bottle.

The arc-shaped magnets (10), (10) on the box (9) provided on the end plate (2) of the reaction vessel (a) are horizontally V-shaped as shown in FIG. , When the gas conduit (19) is on the vertical line above the air supply pipe (17), the sphere (21) in the large diameter portion (19 ′) is connected to the small diameter portion (19 ″) by its own weight. 19) is closed, and the gas conduit (19) is rotated so that the position of the connection port (19) is an arc-shaped magnet (10),
When in the position (10), the sphere (21) is kept in the closed position by the magnetic force, but the position of the connecting port (19) moves away from the positions of both magnets (10), (10) below and the magnetic force. When no longer affected by, the sphere (21) falls on the net (20).

As a result, the air from the air supply pipe (17) is
The gas sparging pipe (22) ejects the gas through the net (20) of the larger diameter portion (19 ') than the 9 ").

Although FIG. 5 shows a description of one gas conduit (19), as shown in FIG. 4, gas is provided in four chambers (18) partitioned by partition plates (16). Conduit (19)
With the rotation of the rotating body (b), the air is sequentially ejected from the gas sparging pipe (22) of each room (18) and the air rises as it goes downward.

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

The opening and closing of the gas conduit as in this example is not limited to the one using a sphere.

Next, the operation will be described.

Each room (18) partitioned by the partition (16) of the rotating body (b)
Immobilized substances of cells and microorganisms are filled between the mesh plates (23) and (24).

The rotating shaft (1
The solution is sent from 2 ') and the small hole (14) of the ejection pipe (15)
More spout. This jetted solution is diffused by passing through the mesh plate (24) and dispersed in the immobilization product.

On the other hand, to the immobilization product to which this solution is supplied, in order to uniformly supply the solution, oxygen is supplied by sending air through the air supply pipe (17) in the rotating shaft (12).

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

The air injected from this gas sparging pipe (22) is
Since each room (18) is rotating, the immobilization product in each room (18) is diffused together with the ejection of the solution to uniformly supply the solution.

Injecting air from the gas sparging pipe (22), as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the gas conduit (19) of each room (18) is on the vertical line with respect to the air supply pipe (17). In the lower position, the sphere (21) separates from the connection port (19) and jets from the gas sparging pipe (22), but in other positions, the sphere (21) has its own weight, Alternatively, it is closed by the magnetic force of the magnets (10) and (10).

The air from below is further diffused and rises in the immobilization product diffused by rotation and jetting of the solution.

After supplying nutrients to the immobilized product in each room (18), the solution is
The solution is discharged from the solution discharge pipe (7) at the bottom of the reaction vessel (a), treated, and then pumped again into the rotary body (b) through the rotary shaft (12 ') for circulation.

On the other hand, the air in which the immobilized substance is diffused and activated is discharged to the outside from the air discharge port (6) in the upper part of the reaction container (a).

It should be noted that the rotating body and the reaction container may have a rectangular tubular shape as well as a cylindrical shape. The rotating body may be divided into several partitions, and the partition may be partitioned in the axial direction and may be partitioned in the circumferential direction.

Further, the supply and discharge of the culture medium may be performed through the outer wall of the reaction container instead of using the hollow shaft. Supply from the shaft is only effective.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, a solution is fixed along the axis of rotation of a rotary body with respect to an immobilized substance filled in each of the partitioned chambers of the rotary body or a part of the chambers. Since the gas is supplied and the gas is sparged for each room, the chances of direct contact between the immobilization product and the gas in the solution and the diffusion state increase, and the gas can be effectively supplied.

Gas can be supplied or stopped depending on the rotating position of the rotating body.For example, when the sparging pipe in the rotating body comes up, stop sparging, and when the sparging pipe comes down, sparging is done. It can be carried out, and the force of the gas to rise in the solution of the immobilization product is also added, so that the solution can be supplied in a diffusive manner and a uniform supply can be achieved. The sparging effect is reduced by flowing only to the lower pressure side, but this can be prevented by providing an opening / closing valve.

In addition, this is combined with the rotational force of the rotating body, and more effective stirring can be performed than stirring of the immobilization product merely by rotation to prevent the immobilization products from adhering to each other.

Further, the stirring by sparging in each room in the rotating body can prevent the channeling more effectively.

In addition, this makes the supply of nutrients even, and
The stagnant flow of waste products is eliminated, and the productivity of useful substances can be maintained high.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings relate to the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cross section with a part cut away, FIG. 2 is a front view showing a cross section with a part cut away, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 2, FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory views of the function of the gas conduit, FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing a part of another form of the gas conduit in a sectional view. Reference symbol a ... Reaction vessel b ... Rotating body 2, 2 '... End plate 6 ... Air discharge port 7 ... Solution discharge port 9 ... Box 10 ... Magnet 11, 11' ... End plate 12, 12 ′ …… Rotary shaft 15 …… Spout pipe 16 …… Partition plate 17 …… Air supply pipe 18 …… Partition chamber 19 …… Gas conduit 19 ′ …… Large diameter part 19 ″ …… Small diameter part 19 …… Connection port 20… ... mesh 21 ... sphere 22 ... gas sparging tube 23, 24 ... mesh plate

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A rotary reactor in which a rotating body containing an immobilization product rotates in the reactor, wherein the rotating body is rotated with respect to each room or a part of the rooms of the rotating body partitioned into a number of rooms. A method for gas sparging in a rotary reactor, characterized in that a solution is supplied along an axis and gas is sparged or stopped depending on the position of rotation of those chambers. 2. In a rotary reactor in which a rotating body containing an immobilized product rotates in the reactor, the rotating shaft of the rotating body serves as a solution ejection pipe, and the rotating body is partitioned into a number of chambers. Alternatively, a gas pipe that rotates together with a rotating body in a part of the chamber is erected from an air supply pipe of a hollow rotary shaft, and a sparging pipe is connected to the gas pipe in the rotary shaft direction. Gas sparging device. 3. A gas conduit erected on the air supply pipe of a hollow rotary shaft comprises a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion, and a spherical body for opening and closing a connecting port to the small diameter portion is incorporated in the large diameter portion. The gas is guided to the sparging tube or stopped depending on the position of the sphere.
A gas sparging device for a rotary reactor according to item 1. 4. A sphere in a gas conduit that rotates in a rotor,
The gas sparging device for a rotary reactor according to claim 3, wherein its position is controlled by the magnetic force of a magnet fixed to the reactor wall outside the rotor.