Coned Reactor Oxygenation for Hydroponic Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current plant cultivation systems, particularly hydroponics and Deep Flow Technique, face challenges in maintaining optimal oxygen levels in water, leading to reduced growth rates and yields due to insufficient dissolved oxygen, especially under high temperatures and with the presence of growth supplements that reduce oxygen uptake capacity.
Innovation Solution
A coned-shaped reactor assembly with pressurized water and air inlets and a venturi outlet valve is used to increase oxygen absorption and mixing, allowing for oxygen levels exceeding 100% saturation, ensuring optimal oxygen concentration in water by maintaining pressure and preventing oxygen loss during mixing with oxygen-poor water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If oxygen is added through diffusion with outside air in large storage tanks, then oxygen contact surface area is increased, but the contact surface is still too small to provide sufficient oxygen saturation for optimal plant growth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by pressurizing the water to increased pressure levels (e.g., 2-10 bar) before introducing it to the oxygenation system. This pressure increase fundamentally changes the water's oxygen uptake capacity, allowing it to absorb significantly higher concentrations of oxygen (exceeding 100% saturation) compared to atmospheric pressure conditions. The pressurization parameter change enables the system to overcome the limitation of contact surface area by enhancing the driving force for oxygen dissolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes pneumatic and hydraulic principles by introducing pressurized air or pure oxygen gas into the pressurized water stream. The system employs gas injection points where compressed gas mixes with pressurized water, creating fine bubbles that maximize gas-liquid contact. The hydraulic pressure maintains the system in a supersaturated state, preventing oxygen escape and ensuring high dissolved oxygen concentrations are delivered to the plant roots.
2Area of stationary object
If oxygen bubbles are injected into water to increase contact surface area, then oxygen contact with water is improved, but plants cannot directly take up oxygen bubbles and dissolution occurs very slowly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the pressure parameter of the water from atmospheric to elevated pressure (2-10 bar). This pressure increase dramatically accelerates the oxygen dissolution rate by increasing the partial pressure of oxygen and enhancing the driving force for mass transfer. The pressurized environment allows oxygen to dissolve rapidly into the water stream, converting bubble oxygen into dissolved oxygen at a much faster rate than atmospheric pressure systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary oxygenation of the water under pressurized conditions before the water reaches the plant roots. By pre-dissolving oxygen into the pressurized water stream within the oxygenation chamber, the system ensures that the water is already saturated or supersaturated with dissolved oxygen before delivery. This preliminary action eliminates the need for slow bubble dissolution at the root zone and provides immediate oxygen availability to plants.
3Quantity of substance
If conventional oxygenation systems are used, then some oxygen addition is achieved, but oxygen levels are insufficient to prevent limiting plant growth and yield
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a fundamental parameter change by pressurizing the water to 2-10 bar before oxygenation. This pressure increase expands the water's oxygen holding capacity beyond atmospheric limits, enabling dissolved oxygen concentrations to exceed 100% saturation (e.g., 8-20 ppm). The pressurization parameter transformation creates a supersaturated oxygen environment that actively prevents oxygen limitation, ensuring optimal conditions for maximum plant growth rates and yields throughout the cultivation period.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a composite oxygen-rich water solution by combining pressurized water with pressurized oxygen or air in controlled proportions. This composite mixture results in water with exceptionally high dissolved oxygen content (8-20 ppm), far exceeding conventional oxygenation capabilities. The composite nature of this oxygen-enriched water ensures that oxygen availability never becomes a limiting factor for plant productivity, directly supporting enhanced growth rates and yields.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves oxygen concentrations of 8 to 20 ppm, ensuring non-limiting oxygen availability for plant growth, enhancing growth rates and yields, and maintaining high oxygen levels even under varying conditions.
Implementation Method 1
the outlet comprises one or more outlet valve(s) for providing a venturi effect and for mixing the pressurized water from the reactor with water outside the reactor
Implementation Method 2
Due to the specific coned shape reactor, the flow rate of pressurized water coming into the reactor at the tapered end of the cone and flowing from the tapered end toward the base end of the cone shaped reactor will decrease. This decrease in flow rate will provide an increased oxygen uptake/absorption by the pressurized water
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention further relates to a method for introducing oxygen into water of a system for plant cultivation by the assembly of present invention. Due to the combination of reactor and specific mixture valves an optimal, homogenous mixture of the oxygen rich water is produced in a reactor and mixed with oxygen poor water present in for examples a plant cultivation system (e.g. a hydroponic system). The resulting mixture comprises an oxygen concentration that is optimal for plant growth.