Abstract
Controlled crop growth parameters, such as average air velocity, air temperature, and relative humidity (RH), inside the greenhouse are necessary prerequisites for commercial greenhouse operation. Frequent overshoots of such parameters are noticed in the Middle East. Traditional heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in such greenhouses use axial fans and evaporative cooling pads to control the temperature. Such systems fail to respond to the extreme heat load variations during the day. In this study, we present the design and implementation of a single span, commercial greenhouse using box type evaporative coolers (BTEC) as the backbone of the HVAC system. The HVAC system is run by a fully-automated real time feedback-based climate management system (CMS). A full-scale, steady state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the greenhouse is carried out assuming peak summer outdoor conditions. A pilot study is conducted to experimentally monitor the environmental parameters in the greenhouse over a 20-h period. The recorded data confirm that the crop growth parameters lie within their required ranges, indicating a successful design and implementation phase of the commercial greenhouse on a pilot scale.
Highlights
In regions with harsh climates, it is challenging to provide suitable conditions in terms of temperature, relative humidity, and proper micro-biological environments essential for good crop growth in open farming methods (Ghani et al, 2017) [1]
The relative humidity (RH) range recommended by agronomists is 45 to 85%, a tighter RH range of 55 to 65% is sometimes advocated, based on the use of movable dehumidifiers typically employed in commercial greenhouses (Lefers et al, 2016) [3]
This study describes the design of a commercial greenhouse in Dubai employing new technology in the form of box type evaporative coolers (BTEC) coolers in HVAC systems
Summary
In regions with harsh climates, it is challenging to provide suitable conditions in terms of temperature, relative humidity, and proper micro-biological environments essential for good crop growth in open farming methods (Ghani et al, 2017) [1]. This is true in the Middle East, as the average temperature during the day is much higher. A prerequisite to greenhouse farming is keeping the indoor air velocity, air temperature, and relative humidity (RH) within desired ranges for good crop growth These three quantities together will be referred to as crop growth parameters in this study. A small change in temperature will result in a change of RH and the air velocity distribution due to the convection of air
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