Hydrogen Peroxide Dosing in Horticulture Water Loops
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Solution Overview
Problem
Horticultural facilities face challenges with water loop contamination due to organic deposits and pathogens, requiring aggressive cleaning agents like hydrogen peroxide, which can harm plants and necessitate extensive water flushing to ensure safety.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a hydrogen peroxide dosing system within the water loop, coupled with a measurement and control system to maintain safe hydrogen peroxide concentrations, allowing for continuous recycling and cleaning without interrupting plant growth, and enhancing disinfection through UV-C radiation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If aggressive cleansing agents like hydrogen peroxide are used to clean the water loop, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but plant safety deteriorates due to potential root damage from residual chemicals
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a feedback mechanism where a sensor continuously monitors hydrogen peroxide concentration in the recirculating water and transmits this data to a controller. The controller adjusts the dosing rate of hydrogen peroxide based on real-time concentration levels, ensuring effective cleaning while preventing excessive accumulation that could harm plant roots. This closed-loop control resolves the contradiction by dynamically balancing cleaning effectiveness with plant safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the concentration parameter of hydrogen peroxide dynamically rather than using a fixed high dose. By continuously monitoring and adjusting the concentration level based on actual water quality conditions, the system maintains effective cleaning power while keeping residual concentrations below thresholds that would damage plant roots, thus resolving the contradiction between cleaning effectiveness and plant safety.
2Reliability
If the water loop is cleaned periodically with aggressive agents, then deposit removal is improved, but system complexity increases due to the need for flushing and interruption of plant growth
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables continuous cleaning action by dosing hydrogen peroxide directly into the recirculating water loop without interrupting plant growth. The automated dosing and monitoring system maintains continuous low-level cleaning throughout the growth cycle, eliminating the need for periodic shutdowns and extensive flushing operations, thus resolving the contradiction between effective deposit removal and system operational continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The water loop performs self-cleaning through automated hydrogen peroxide dosing and monitoring. The system continuously monitors its own water quality conditions and adjusts cleaning agent dosage automatically without external intervention or system shutdown, enabling deposit removal while maintaining uninterrupted plant growth, thereby reducing operational complexity.
3Reliability
If hydrogen peroxide is dosed into the water loop, then biofilm reduction is improved, but measurement precision requirements increase to ensure safe concentrations
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a feedback mechanism where a specialized sensor continuously measures hydrogen peroxide concentration in the recirculating water and transmits real-time data to a controller. This precise monitoring enables the controller to adjust dosing rates dynamically, ensuring biofilm reduction effectiveness while maintaining concentrations below levels that would harm plants, thus resolving the contradiction between cleaning effectiveness and measurement precision requirements.
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
Effectively reduces biofilm formation and pathogen presence in the water loop while minimizing damage to plants, enabling continuous recirculation and improving decontamination efficiency without residual chemical harm.
Implementation Method 1
a hydrogen peroxide dosing unit (4,5) is provided, configured to introduce a hydrogen peroxide solution into the water loop
Implementation Method 2
The risk of contaminating plants with pests present in recycle water can be reduced by subjecting recycle water to treatment with UV-C radiation
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4
AI summary
The invention relates to a horticulture facility, comprising a grow area (3), a water loop, a nutrient dosing unit (1) configured to dose nutrients to the feed water for the grow area (3), a hydrogen peroxide dosing unit (4,5), configured to introduce a hydrogen peroxide solution into the water loop; a hydrogen peroxide measurement system configured to determine a hydrogen peroxide concentration in the water loop, said hydrogen peroxide measurement system comprising a sampling unit having a sampling point (2,6,8) downstream of said hydrogen peroxide dosing unit (4,5), which hydrogen peroxide measurement system is configured to withdraw discrete liquid samples from liquid in the water loop at the sampling point (2,6,8) configured to take samples from the water loop and configured to determine a hydrogen peroxide content of a liquid in said water loop; and wherein the horticulture facility comprises a controller unit configured to control the hydrogen peroxide content.