TITLE:
CFD Assisted Study of Multi-Chapels Greenhouse Vents Openings Effect on Inside Airflow Circulation and Microclimate Patterns
AUTHORS:
Allal Senhaji, Mhamed Mouqallid, Hassan Majdoubi
KEYWORDS:
Greenhouse Microclimate, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Ventilation, Solar Radiation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Fluid Dynamics,
Vol.9 No.2,
June
12,
2019
ABSTRACT: The aim of this work is to study and quantify the air mass flow exchanged between inside and outside of the greenhouse, in order to determine the ventilation openings layout and the design effect on greenhouse airflow and microclimate distribution. The study was conducted over a 945 m2 multi-chapels arched greenhouse with a polyethylene cover and has thirteen crop rows oriented from north to south; the greenhouse was equipped with side wall and roof vents openings. A simulation was performed using different arrangements and configurations of ventilation openings with the same wind direction. Numerical simulation has been adopted in three dimensions (CFD), using the Fluent computer code which relies on the resolution of the Navier-Stokes equations. These equations were solved in the presence of the turbulence model (k - ε) and the Boussinesq model equation adopted to incorporate buoyancy forces. The effects of solar and atmospheric radiation were included by solving the radiative transfer equation (RTE), using Discrete Ordinate (DO) model. The effects of the roof openings, the presence of anti-insect screens and crops orientation were investigated and quantified. In a 3-span greenhouse with an anti-aphid in-sect screen in the vent openings, combining roof and sidewall vents gave a ventilation rate per unit opening area that was 1.4 times more than with only side vents. In the latter case, the difference of temperature between the inside and the outside of the greenhouse was greater than 3°C. Numerical simulations with an anti-insect screen having a porosity of 56% showed that the air exchange rate with combined ventilation was reduced by 48%. Finally, the paper focused on the effect of vent arrangement on the efficiency of the ventilation and the distribution of the microclimate inside the greenhouse. Results showed that computed ventilation rates varied from 53.43 to 70.95 kg/s, whereas temperature differences varied from 7.15°C to 10.14°C. This study also showed that other characteristics such as climate heterogeneity must be investigated in order to define the best ventilation configuration.