Greenhouse Engineering: New Technologies and Approaches

Montero, J.I.; Henten, E.J. van; Son, J.E.; Castilla, N.

doi:10.17660/actahortic.2011.893.1

Cited by 25 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…An analysis of the statistical data on tomato, sweet pepper, and cucumber reveals that annual production per unit greenhouse area (kg m -2 ) for tomato in The Netherlands increased by 113% over the last 27 years, while sweet pepper production increased by 90%, and cucumber production by 35% ( Figure 1). This increase was due to several factors, including improved climate conditioning (Montero et al, 2011), improved cultivars (Higashide and Heuvelink, 2009), improved crop and pest management, and better control of the rooting medium. Although the energy used per unit of production decreased by 70% between 1980 and 2008, the greenhouse industry still has a large demand for fossil fuels (Van der Velden and Smit, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

An overview of climate and crop yield in closed greenhouses

Gelder¹,

Dieleman²,

Bot³

et al. 2012

The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology

105

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The closed greenhouse is a recent innovation in the horticulture industry. Cooling by ventilation is replaced partly (in semi-closed greenhouses) or completely (in closed greenhouses) by mechanical cooling. Excess solar energy is collected and stored to be reused to heat the greenhouse. In temperate climates, this concept combines improved crop production with energy savings. This paper presents an overview of climate, crop growth and development, and crop yield in closed and semi-closed greenhouses. The technical principles of a closed greenhouse are described and the macroclimate and microclimate arising from this are studied. The consequences of the typical growth conditions found in closed greenhouses for crop physiology and crop yield are examined. Finally, the experiences of commercial growers are presented. In temperate climates, closed greenhouses can reduce the use of fossil fuel-derived energy by 25 -35%, compared with open greenhouses. With high global radiation, the climate in closed greenhouses is characterised by high CO 2 concentrations, high air humidity, improved temperature control, and a vertical temperature gradient. An annual increase in production of 10 -20% is realistic, with reduced amounts of supplied CO 2 . The yield increase is primarily obtained through increased rates of photosynthesis due to the higher CO 2 concentrations in closed greenhouses. To introduce this innovation into practice, knowledge transfer was a key factor for its implementation and the realisation of increased production levels. Future trends will require minimising the use of fossil fuels and increasing the level of control of the production process. Closed and semi-closed greenhouses fit seamlessly into this trend as they allow for a more controlled climate and higher levels of production, combined with savings in fossil fuel use.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of climate and crop yield in closed greenhouses

Gelder¹,

Dieleman²,

Bot³

et al. 2012

The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Important subjects addressed in the Netherlands are energy conservation and increasing mechanisation, and in the Mediterranean there is growing interest in semiclosed greenhouses with CO 2 enrichment and control of excessive humidity (Montero et al, 2011); (2) to achieve a sustainable greenhouse that is energy neutral, consumes only the essential amount of water, and has minimal negative environmental impact, recent years have witnessed the development of photovoltaic cells for power generation, insect-proof screens, and the use of tools of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations to investigate the effects of structure shape, ventilator size and arrangement of microclimates (Teitel, Montero, & Baeza, 2012); (3) the contribution of a low energy concept by combining energy saving methods with an improved control of greenhouse microclimate, and also by improving the cropping system and using new cultivars, so that the closed greenhouse can be developed and propagated as an energy producing greenhouse, and that the greenhouse should be operated semi-closed to improve the use of solar energy for heating (Tantau et al, 2011);and (4) passive greenhouses using only renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, wind and solar, by means of cool water heat pumps, wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, are thereby fully free of any energetic infrastructure and can be installed in remote areas, so offer a fundamentally sustainable agricultural resource and a global ecological reconstruction opportunity (Balas, 2014).…”

Section: New Approaches Of Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Green-energy, water-autonomous greenhouse system: an alternative-technology approach towards sustainable smart-green vertical greening in smart cities

Hung

Peng

2017

IRSPSD International

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Abstract:By means of "going greener", "getting smarter" and "converging smart-green", an innovation-driven smart city could address the steps toward more sustainability and aim toward improved human well-being. A vertical greening means a vertical triumph of greenery in a high density urban area, in some ways it displays the level of smartness and greenness in a city. Researchers have suggested the use of vertical greening in urban areas to improve sustainability of the environment. However, conventional vertical greening is in open fields, unprotected, threatened by climate disasters, lacking in better controlled climate conditions and plant response-based circumstances. In addition are always the challenges of energy saving, reduction of CO 2 emissions, reduction in water use and in pesticide use. A greenhouse system could instead solve different facets of these problems in conventional vertical greening to achieve an optimal balance between an efficient environmental control and efficient plant use of available resources. The greenhouse solution appears to be intellectually justifiable, adaptable and innovative, and appears beneficial to a smart-green and sustainable smart city. Through the literature review and foresighted design point of view, the paper first summarizes the major concepts and trends of smart cities, vertical greening usage and new greenhouse technologies, and approaches an introduction to the relationship and development between vertical greening and greenhouse systems, and is followed by a presentation of a proposed novel prototype of a green-energy, water-autonomous greenhouse system. The sophisticated and multidisciplinary greenhouse system reveals its innovations and advantages by using water resources and solar energy in a rational way, fit for an alternativetechnology approach towards sustainable smart-green vertical greening in smart cities. Aimed at improving responsiveness, efficiency and performance for environmental and resource sustainability, and also aimed at improving well-being, the system is expected to be a foresight with simplicity in evolutionary vertical greening. By means of Industry Foundation Classes file format, with a true BIM model consisting of a digital prototype of the physical elements, further design of the system will allow us to simulate an ideal greenhouse type of vertical greening and understand its behavior in both the computer environment and actual on-site construction, as well as allow the building of a smart-green point cloud with BIM workflow on any network in a smart city.

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“…An agricultural greenhouse (GH) is an enclosed transparent house used to protect crops from critical ambient climate conditions and pests, and provide the opportunity to adjust the indoor microclimate suitable for crop growth and production, both in terms of quantity and quality [6]. GH enables year-round crop production and improves the yield and quality of crops through control of the physical environmental factors such as light, water, temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, and ventilation [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Driven Agricultural Greenhouse Integrated with Desalination System; Energy-Water-Food Nexus

Abdullahi

Salah

Fath

2020

Preprint

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This study presents the effective performance of a sustainable solar driven agricultural greenhouse (GH) self-reliant of energy and irrigation water via desalination. The GH is furnished with infrastructures such as; (i) - an inlet condenser for cool air exchanger and partial water production, (ii) - an internal cavity for crop production (iii) - roof transparent solar distillers (TSD) for solar desalination and partial shading and (iv)- a thermal chimney for natural air ventilation. A mathematical model is developed to predict the performance of the sustainable GH system. A coupled approach of MATLAB/Simulink and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based on three simulation models were used: solar radiation, thermal energy balance and CFD model. Two parametric studies were carried out. The first one analyzed the effects of different air velocity on the system thermal performance and natural ventilation rate. The second study assessed the effects of different covering material on the transmitted solar radiation. Results from the model shows that 8.5 MJ/m2.day of total solar radiation is transmitted into the GH. The greenhouse air temperature is lowered by 5 °C and humidified by 20%, to satisfy the required conditions necessary for plant growth. Maximum water yield of 11.5 L/m2.day was obtained, aided by the addition of Al-metal net. Additionally, 2.6 kWh/m2.day of power is consumed by the air-cooling condenser. At air velocity of 0.3 m/s, there is a natural tendency of air to flow by draft, due to air temperature difference of up to 4 °C. Furthermore, glass and EVA cover materials transmit 52 and 48% of solar radiation into the GH respectively. The proposed system will enable the parallel production of water and food and enhance economical plant productivity.

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Greenhouse Engineering: New Technologies and Approaches

Cited by 25 publications

References 61 publications

An overview of climate and crop yield in closed greenhouses

An overview of climate and crop yield in closed greenhouses

Green-energy, water-autonomous greenhouse system: an alternative-technology approach towards sustainable smart-green vertical greening in smart cities

Solar Driven Agricultural Greenhouse Integrated with Desalination System; Energy-Water-Food Nexus

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