SE1930407A1 - Support structure, cultivation arrangement and aquaponic cultivation system - Google Patents

Abstract

A support structure (250) for cultivation boxes. The support structure (250) comprises one or more return pipe holders (252), a foot arrangement (254) and a cultivation box support surface (256). The foot arrangement (254) comprises a foot surface configured to contact the ground, and the cultivation box support surface (256) is configured to lift one or more cultivation boxes (202). The foot arrangement (254) and the cultivation box support surface (256) are connected such that the cultivation boxes 202 are distanced from the ground when being arranged at the support structure (250). The return pipe holders (252) are configured to hold a return pipe (218) under the cultivation boxes (202).By arranging the cultivation boxes on support structures above the return pipe, the excess water from the cultivation boxes may easily be led to the return pipe without need for external tube couplings.

Description

SUPPORT STRUCTURE, CULTIVATION ARRANGEMENT AND AQUAPONIC CULTIVATION SYSTEM Technical field This disclosure relates to farming, especially to cultivation arrangements in aquaponic systems.

Background Production of food for humans and animals is crucial for life on earth.

With a growing population there is a need for increasing the amount of food to feed people.One solution for extending the growing season is to invest in solutions for achieving bettergrowing conditions by arranging greenhouses where plants and crops are grown. Othersolutions are to use artificial fertilizers and pesticides.

Use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides cause negative environmental effects andcontribute to pollution and increases risks for allergies and diseases for humans and animals.

In addition, artificial cultivation in greenhouses requires substantial amounts of waterfor irrigation.

Food production also comprises feeding of animals, for production of various meatand other animal food like eggs, cheese and milk. Fishfarming is mainly performed at sea inlarge net bags. For instance, when farming salmon in fj ords, the fish is feed with pellets.Unconsumed pellets together with excrements and faeces from the fish causes nutritionalleakage to the water of the sea, with following decreased oxygen level in the seawater.

Aquaponic cultivation is one solution to combine cultivation of vegetables andfishfarming. In Aquaponic cultivation, fish are farmed on land in containers or tanks. Freshwater is added to the fish tanks and an outflow of nutritious water is diverted away from thefish tanks. The outflow of nutritious water is fed to cultivation beds where the plants aregrown and fertilizes the plants.

Continuously, fresh water is fed to the fishes and the nutritious outflow water is fed tothe cultivation beds. The plants make use of nutrients, e. g. originating from fish excrements,and consume some amount of the outflow water too. However, the nutritious outflow waterexceeds the amount of water that the plants consume, which results in an outflow of cleanedexcess water from the cultivation beds. The outflow of cleaned eXcess water is fed back to the fish tanks.

Thus, instead of adding external fertilizers to the plants, nutrition originating from fishexcrements will fertilize the plants. The resulting environmental effect of this is double, firstless artificial fertilizers must be produced, and less nutrition from the fish are polluting the seaor local water sources like lakes, and rivers. It is well known that production of artificialfertilizers consumes a lot of energy and pollutes our environment with various rest chemicals.

Even if a minor amount of water has to be added because the plants consume waterwhen growing, the main amount of water from the fish tanks is circulated after being cleanedby the plants.

With reference to Figure 1 that is a schematic illustration, a cultivation arrangementwill now be described in accordance with existing art.

The cultivation arrangement 100 comprises a cultivation box 102, which is divided intwo compartments; a cultivation compartment 104 and a drainage compartment 106. Thecultivation compartment 104 is filled with gravel, soil, fibre glass or any other suitablematerial to form a cultivation bed 108 in which plants 110 is planted and grows. Thecultivation compartment 104 is separated from the drainage compartment 106 by a barrier(not shown). The barrier prevents the material of the cultivation bed 108, e. g. gravel or soil, toenter the drainage compartment 106 but let excess water 112 pass into the drainagecompartment 106. The level or niveau of excess water 112 in the drainage compartment 106is controlled by a drainage tube 114 that is connected to a return pipe 118 via tube couplings116. Typically, the level of excess water 112 is regulated by tuming the drainage tube 114 inthe drainage compartment 106, such that its upper inlet is lowered or raised. Because thecultivation compartment 104 and the drainage compartment 106 are connected via the barrier,regulating the level of excess water 112 achieves that the water level in the cultivationcompartment 104 is correspondingly regulated. Lowering the water level in the cultivationcompartment 104 could therefore be done when the plants' 110 roots are growing whichstrengthens the plants 110. ln figure 1, a heating source 120 is also illustrated. The heating source 120 increasesthe temperature to improve the climate in the greenhouse where the cultivation arrangement100 is typically arranged. lt is a challenge to improve efficiency when arranging aquaponic cultivation systems.

Summary It Would be desirable to improve operational performance when arranging cultivationarrangements. It is an object of this disclosure to address at least one of the issues outlinedabove.

Further there is an object to provide a mechanism that makes installation andmaintenance of cultivation arrangements more efficient. These objects may be met by anarrangement according to the attached independent claims.

According to a first aspect, a support structure for cultivation boxes is provided. Thesupport structure comprises one or more return pipe holders, a foot arrangement and acultivation box support surface. The foot arrangement comprises a foot surface configured tocontact the ground, and the cultivation box support surface is configured to lift one or morecultivation boxes. The foot arrangement and the cultivation box support surface are connectedsuch that the cultivation boxes 202 are distanced from the ground when being arranged at thesupport structure. The return pipe holders are configured to hold a return pipe under thecultivation boxes.

According to another aspect, a cultivation arrangement, a cultivation arrangement foraquaponic cultivation is provided. The cultivation arrangement comprises a support structureaccording to the first aspect, a plurality of cultivation boxes, where each cultivation box isdivided by a barrier to form a cultivation compartment and a drainage compartment. Thebarrier is provided with an opening that enables excess water to flow from the cultivationcompartment to the drainage compartment. Each drainage compartment comprises arespective outlet opening provided in the bottom of the drainage compartment. Thecultivation arrangement also comprises a return pipe with holes configured to receive excesswater from the cultivation boxes' outlets and transport away the excess water.

According to yet another aspect, an aquaponic cultivation system is provided andcomprises a cultivation arrangement according to the second aspect, and a fishfarm containerfor growing creatures, from a set of: fish, shrimps, and crayfish. The fishfarm container isconnected to the return pipe to receive the excess water from the cultivation box. The fishfarmcontainer is further connected to the cultivation arrangement to deliver nutritious water to thecultivation box.

By arranging the cultivation boxes on support structures above the return pipe, theexcess water from the cultivation boxes may easily be led to the return pipe without need for external tube couplings. As installation of each tube coupling may require about half an hour, the above defined concept may save substantial amounts of time. Thereby, efficiency atinstallation of large cultivation arrangements with several hundreds of cultivation boxes may be increased.

Brief description of drawingsThe solution will now be described in more detail by means of exemplifying embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l is a schematic illustration of a cultivation arrangement in accordance withexisting art.

Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a cultivation arrangement, according to possibleembodiments.

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of cultivation arrangements, according to possible embodiments.

Figures 4a-b are schematic illustrations of support structures, according to possible embodiments.

Figure 5 is a schematic illustration of cultivation arrangements, according to possibleembodiments.

Figure 6 is a schematic illustration of cultivation arrangements, according to possible embodiments.

Detailed description ln this disclosure, some eXemplifying embodiments that could solve problems andimprove functionality when arranging aquaponic cultivation systems will be described.

Especially, when installing aquaponic cultivation systems, it is beneficial to make theinstallation work easy and fast. The solutions below are suitable to be used in closedaquaponic cultivation systems where both plants and fish are grown together. However, thesolutions to be described is not limited to be used only for fish and plants and in closedsystems.

One can understand that the solutions below also could be beneficial to use in otherenvironments, e. g. in any suitable arrangements where nutritious water will be cleaned byplants. For instance, nutritious water from animal farming, agriculture, etc. may be cleanedand as long as the nutritious water is non-toXic, the plants grown could be taken care of for producing vegetables. lt is also to be noted that in aquaponics, the solutions are not limited to fishfarrning or pisciculture, and that other suitable creatures may be used. For instance,shrimps, prawns, clams, oysters, or crayfish may be grown.

With reference to Figure 2 which is a schematic cross- sectional view, a cultivationarrangement 200 will now be described in accordance with one exemplifying embodiment.

The cultivation arrangement 200 comprises a cultivation box 202, a support structure250, and a return pipe 218. The cultivation box 202 is divided in a cultivation compartment204 and a drainage compartment 206. A barrier is separating the cultivation compartment 204from the drainage compartment 206, and the barrier is provided with openings (illustrated asfour elongated slots in figure 2) that enables excess water 212 to flow into the drainagecompartment 206 but blocks the material of the cultivation bed 208. In the figure plants 2l0that grows in the cultivation bed 208 is illustrated. ln this embodiment the cultivation box 202is designed with a knob 222 extending from the drainage compartment 206. The knob 222 isprovided with an opening and the knob 222 is intended to be inserted into a correspondinghole in the return pipe 2l8 to deliver drainage water 2l2 from the drainage compartment 206to the return pipe 2l8 via the opening in the knob 222. The level of excess water 2l2 in thedrainage compartment 206 is controlled by the length of a drainage tube 224 when insertedthe knob 222. The drainage tube 224 has two openings, one inlet opening that will set thelevel of excess water 2l2, and an outlet opening that will face the opening in the knob 222and lead the excess water 2l2 into the retum pipe 2l8 when inserted in the knob 222.

As the drainage tubes 224 are setting the level of excess water 2l2 in the drainagecompartment 206 and indirectly controls the water level in the cultivation compartment 204,exchanging the drainage tubes 224 with shorter drainage tubes 224 is a convenient way tolower the water level in the cultivation compartment 204. Thereby, suitable growingconditions with appropriate water level in the cultivation compartment could easily beachieved conditions when plants grow. However, even if exchanging the drainage tubes 224with shorter ones is a convenient process, the inventive concept is not limited thereto. Insteadand as an altemative, the drainage tubes 224 may be designed with variable lengths, e. g.stepless telescopic, etc.

The support structure 250 keeps the cultivation box 202 at a level above the groundand carries the return pipe 2l8 under the cultivation box 202. It has been found that plants 2l0grow better when air flows under the cultivation box 202. Another reason to lift thecultivation box 202 is to achieve more convenient working conditions for people working with the plants 2l0, e. g. when harvesting. A suitable height for working is about 87 cm from the ground. The support structure 250 will be further described in a separate exemplifyingembodiment. A height of 36 cm for the support structure 250, has shown to achieve both aconvenient working height, an appropriate size of cultivation bed in the cultivation box andwill allow air to circulate around the cultivation boXes 202.

In figure 2, an optional heating source 220 is further illustrated. The heating source 220 may be used to heat the ambient air to further improve growing conditions.

The cultivation arrangement 200 is adapted be part of an aquaponic cultivation system.

In another eXemplifying embodiment, which is based on some above defined embodiments,an aquaponic cultivation system comprises a fishfarrn container (not shown) and the returnpipe 218 is connected both to the drainage compartment 206 and to the fishfarm container totransport eXcess water from the drainage compartment 206 to the fishfarm container.

In addition, a further pipe (not shown) connects the fishfarm container to thecultivation compartment 204 to transport an outflow of nutritious water from the fishfarmcontainer to the cultivation compartment 204.

With reference to Figure 3, which is a schematic cross-sectional view, the cultivationarrangement 200 will be described in accordance with an eXemplifying embodiment.

This cross-sectional view illustrates how cultivation boXes 202 could be arranged on asupport structure 250. This view is a cut through the cultivation boXes 202 along the retumpipe 218. The cultivation arrangement 200 is related to the cultivation arrangement of someembodiments described with reference to figure 2. To facilitate the understanding the samereference numbers have therefore been applied when appropriate.

To further facilitate, in figure 3 the support structure 250 is only shown by its contour,i.e. in order to emphasize its functionality and to not hide details of the cultivationarrangement 200, the support structure 250 is illustrated transparent. However, the supportstructure 250 will normally be designed of any strong and stable material such as sheet metalor plastics, e. g. vacuum formed plastics.

In figure 3, two cultivation boXes 202 are shown when arranged after each other. Asdescribed above, the cultivation boXes 202 are divided in cultivation compartments 204 anddrainage compartments 206 and the drainage compartments comprise 206 respective drainage224 configured to set the level of eXcess water in the drainage compartments 206. Thereby,also the water level in the cultivation compartments 204 could be controlled by variating thelengths of the drainage tubes 224, as described above. The plants 210, the retum pipe 218, the optional heating element 220 could also be seen in figure 3.

Furthermore, it is illustrated how one support structure 250 is arranged to lift twoadjacent cultivation boxes 202 above the ground. The return pipe 218 is provided with aplurality of holes 226 to receive the knobs 222 of the cultivation boxes 202. By designing thereturn pipe 218 such that the distance between its holes 226 match the length of thecultivation boxes 202, the cultivation boxes could be appropriately positioned in a directionalong the return pipe 218. In addition, by placing the support structures 250 under respectiveholes 226 of the return pipe 218, the support structure 250 will reliably lift the ends of twoadjacent arranged cultivation boxes 202 from the ground. When arranging cultivationarrangements with a plurality of cultivation boxes, the staff does not need to performmeasurements to know where the support structures 250 should be placed, instead they couldeasily and effectively place one support structure under each hole 226. This saves time andmakes the process of arranging cultivation beds and support structures more efficient. Largeinstallations of cultivation arrangements could typically comprise more than thousandcultivation boxes, so each action that could be more effective performed will result insubstantial time savings. With 15 rows of cultivation boxes and 70 cultivation boxes per row,a typical installation will comprise 1050 cultivation boxes.

With reference to the Figures 4a-b, which are schematical perspective views, a supportstructure 250 will now be described according to some exemplifying embodiments.

As seen in Figure 4a, the support structure 250 comprises two return pipe holders 252,a foot arrangement 254, and a cultivation box support surface 256. The support structure 250is designed as a unit to be placed at the ground. The cultivation box support surface 256 isconnected to the foot arrangement 254. ln this embodiment they are connected via long viathe two long sides. The return pipe holders 252 are designed as U-formed recesses in the shortends of the support structure 250, e.g. at the gables. The recesses are configured to hold theretum pipe 218 under the cultivation box 202. The retum pipe holders 252 may be equippedwith brims to abut the return pipe 228, and the brims may have a soft surface in order toprotect the return pipe from mechanical wear.

In this embodiment, the cultivation box support surface 256 is divided in twoelongated sub-surfaces along the long sides of the support structure. As was seen in figure 2and 3, the cultivation box 202 will then extend downwards in the support structure 250 butalso rest on the two elongated sub-surfaces. This is advantageous and contributes to prevent the cultivation box from moving transversal the retum pipe 218.

Even if the support structure 250 of this embodiment has its foot arrangement 254designed as brims at the long sides of the support structure 250, the inventive concept is notlimited thereto. The foot arrangement 254 may be altematively designed when appropriate.For instance, the foot arrangement 254 may be designed as brims at both the long sides andshort sides, or at the short sides only. In another alternative implementation, instead of brimsthe foot arrangements 254 may be designed as an appropriate number of separate feet, e. g. inthe respective comers of the support structure 250.

Figure 4b illustrates the support structure 250 in conjunction with an alternativeembodiment, which is based on some above described embodiments. The support structure250 is here manufactured from two support structure parts 250a, 250b, that are connectable toeach other and will be put together before being arranged in the cultivation arrangement to liftthe cultivation box (not shown). The support structure parts 250a, 250b are here two identicalhalves of sheet metal that have specific arrangements for connecting them together. In thefigure 4b, one can see metal tongues and corresponding slots at the ends.

By designing the support structure 250 in two identical parts 250a, 250b to be puttogether, manufacturing, transport and storage will be easy and efficient. The supportstructure parts 250a, 250b could be punched from a metal sheet, and be bent to its form.Furthermore, the design of the support structure parts 250a, 250b makes them easy to stack,and therefore also to transport and store efficiently.

By making use of the support structure 250 of the above described embodiments, theinstallation staff does not have to build conventional holders for the cultivation boXes. Insteadthey could easily place a plurality of support structures at the ground under the retum pipe°sholes and place the cultivation boxes upon the support structures 250. This results insubstantial time savings and large efficiency in large installations.

The support structure parts 250a, 250b, may be provided by further suitable featuresthat facilitate use and improves functionality. For instance, as seen in figure 4b, the supportstructure parts 250a, 250b may be provided with holes at their long sides to enable air to flowunder the cultivation boxes also where the support structures are placed. As described abovean air flow contributes to improve growing conditions and will strengthen the plants. Forlocking the support structure parts 250a, 250b to each other when arranged, they may beequipped with locking arrangements. ln figure 4b, one can see metal tongues 258a to befolded into recesses 258b. However, even if metal tongues 258a and corresponding recesses 258b are easy to implement when manufacturing the support structure parts 250a, 250b, the inventive concept is not limited thereto, and other suitable locking arrangements may beimplemented instead when appropriate. ln addition, the support structure 250 may be equipped with means for connecting aheating source 220, as was shown in figure 2. For instance, such means may be implementedas slots at the long sides of the support structure parts 250a, 250b, or flanges to be bent outfrom the support structure parts 250a, 250b.

With reference to Figure 5, which is a schematic illustration, a cultivation arrangement200 will now be described in accordance with one exemplifying embodiment. As thecomponents illustrated correspond to components of other embodiments of this disclosure, thesame reference numbers have been applied when appropriate.

The cultivation arrangement 200 comprises a plurality of cultivation boXes 202 liftedup by support structures 250. As seen in the figure the cultivation boXes are provided byknobs 222 that are placed in respective holes of the return pipe 218. As describe above, theknobs are provided with holes in the knobs 222 to dewater the cultivation box 202. In thisfigure the cultivation boxes' 202 compartments are not shown.

With reference to Figure 6, which is a schematic illustration, a cultivation arrangement200 will now be described in accordance with one exemplifying embodiment.

The cultivation arrangement 200 corresponds to some above described embodiments,and the figure shows a row of cultivation boXes 202 in an aquaponic cultivation system. In thecultivation boXes plants are growing that filters nutritious water from a pisciculture orfishfarrn. Cleaned eXcess water is flowing from the cultivation boXes 202 via the return pipe 218 to the fishes.

Reference throughout the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" isused to mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection withan embodiment is included in at least one embodiment.

Thus, the appearance of the eXpressions "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment"in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily referring to the sameembodiment. Further, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or several embodiments. Although the present invention has beendescribed above with reference to specific embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to thespecific form set forth herein. Rather, the invention is limited only by the accompanying claims and other embodiments than the specific above are equally possible within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the terms "comprise/comprises"or "include/includes", as used herein, do not eXclude the presence of other elements or steps.

Furthermore, although individual features may be included in different claims, thesemay possibly advantageously be combined, and the inclusion of different claims does notimply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. ln addition, singularreferences do not eXclude a plurality. Finally, reference signs in the claims are providedmerely as a clarifying example and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claimsin any Way.

The scope is generally defined by the following independent claims. Exemplifying embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

Claims (8)

11 Claims

1. A support structure (250) for cu1tivation boxes,comprising:0 one or more return pipe ho1ders (252),0 a foot arrangement (254), and 0 a cu1tivation box support surface (256), Wherein the foot arrangement (254) comprises a foot surface configured tocontact the ground, the cu1tivation box support surface (256) being configuredto 1ift one or more cu1tivation boxes (202), the foot arrangement (254) and thecu1tivation box support surface (256) being connected such that the cu1tivationboxes 202 are distanced from the ground When being arranged at the supportstructure (250), and Wherein the return pipe ho1ders (252) are configured to hold a return pipe (218) under the cu1tivation boxes (202).

2. The support structure (250) according to c1aim 1, comprising two connectab1e ha1ves(250a, 250b) and configured to be mounted together before arranging the return pipe(218) and the cu1tivation boxes (202).

3. A cu1tivation arrangement (200) for aquaponic cu1tivation comprising: 0 a support structure (250) according to c1aim 1 or 2, 0 a p1ura1ity of cu1tivation boxes (202), Where each cu1tivation box (202) isdivided by a barrier to form a cu1tivation compartment (204) and a drainagecompartment (206), the barrier being provided With an opening enab1ingexcess Water (212) to floW from the cu1tivation compartment (204) to thedrainage compartment (206), each drainage compartment (206) comprising arespective out1et opening provided in the bottom of the drainage compartment(206), and 0 a return pipe (218) comprising ho1es configured to receive excess Water (212)from the cu1tivation boxes' (202) out1ets and transport away the excess Water (212). 12

4. The cultivation arrangement (200) according to claim 3, wherein the drainage compartments' (206) Outlet openings are configured as knobs (222) extending fromthe drainage compartments (206), wherein the knobs (222) are provided with holes,and wherein the knobs (222) fit into respective ones of the return pipe°s (218) holes.

5. . The cultivation arrangement (200) according to claim 4, further comprising a plurality of drainage tubes (224) configured to be inserted into the drainage compartments'(206) knobs (222), where each of the drainage tubes (224) has a level orifice and anoutlet orifice, such that when the drainage tube (224) is inserted into its respectivedrainage compartment' s (206) knob (222), the eXcess water (212) level of the drainagecompartment (206) is set by the distance between the drainage tube°s (218) distance between the level orifice and the outlet orifice.

6. . The cultivation arrangement (200) according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of drainage tubes (224) comprises drainage tubes (224) of at least two lengths, such thatfor each drainage compartment (206) the eXcess water (212) level could be regulatedby replacing a drainage tube (224) of a first length with a drainage tube (224) of a second length.

7. . The cultivation arrangement (200) according to claim 4, further comprising a steplessly length-adjustable drainage tube (224).

8. An aquaponic cultivation system comprising: 0 a cultivation arrangement (200) according to any of the claims 3 to 7, and 0 a fishfarm container for growing creatures, from a set of: fish, shrimps, andcrayfish,wherein the fishfarrn container is connected to the return pipe (218) to receivethe eXcess water (212) from the cultivation box (202),and wherein the fishfarrn container is further connected to the cultivation arrangement (200) to deliver nutritious water to the cultivation box (202).