Abstract: An apparatus for the automatic, continuous cleaning of the pipe of a solar receptor of a photobioreactor also having a carbonator associated with the solar receptor. The solar receptor and the carbonator both being traversed in series in a closed loop by a nutrient medium solution. A branch duct being provided between an outlet and an inlet of the solar receptor to permit a circulation of cleaning balls therebetween. The apparatus including a motorized valve on a vertical portion of the branch duct for bringing about the automatic passage of the balls with the exclusion of the solution, as well as a pivoting sleeve placed in the inlet of the solar receptor, downstream of the junction with the branch duct. The sleeve serving as a support for a controllable manual valve and permitting the introduction or removal of cleaning balls with respect to the pipe.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 27, 1992
Date of Patent:
September 7, 1993
Assignees:
Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Ussi-Ingenierie
Inventors:
Daniel Chaumont, Patrick Ferreira Dos Santos, Leopold Sauze