Abstract
This study was carried out to develop an automatic mixing system of nutrient solution for closed-loop hydroponics using ion electrodes. The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1. It appeared that ion-electrodes had not to be soaked into nutrient solution for a long time since it was much less durable than EC or PH sensors. Once ion-electrodes were soaked into real nutrient solution for a long time, they became unstable. 2. ion measurement modules, which were able to sample recirculated nutrient solution and easily wash and dry ion-electrodes, were developed in order to use ion-electrodes continuously. 3. The results of calibration tests on three kinds of ion electrodes presented that the time required to read measurement data was over 30 seconds. Using the calibration data the regression equations for the ion electrodes were developed. 4. An automatic nutrient-solution mixing system using the three kinds of ion electrodes was developed and then its accuracy was examined. The control errors of the mixing system using ion electrodes were in the range of 9.8 to 12%.