Abstract

FLORES-VELAZQUEZ, Jorge  and  VILLARREAL-GUERRERO, Federico. Design of a forced ventilation system for a Zenithal greenhouse using CFD. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2015, vol.6, n.2, pp.303-316. ISSN 2007-0934.

The growth of greenhouse crops in Mexico has been hampered by factors related to climate control. The climate produced in the greenhouse is largely a consequence of the environmental conditions where the greenhouse is located and the design thereof; as well as the configuration and operation of control systems like ventilation systems. The analysis of the effect of ventilation systems on the behavior of the climate is critical to optimize its management. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a numerical technique that allows analyzing the behavior of greenhouse climate under different scenarios. This technique was used to model climate of a zenith greenhouse of three spans. Each span is 7.5 m wide by 28 m long. The greenhouse has a mechanical ventilation system consisting of a front window as air intake and an extractor fan on the opposite side. Three configurations were analyzed for the ventilation system, which combine the position of the windows, air intake surface, and the height of installation of both windows and extractor fan. The results indicate that the plane front window of air intake, produces an average air velocity of 0.81 ± 0.69 m s^-1, average temperature of 297.97 ± 1.17 K, maximum temperature of 303.62 K, a thermal gradient of 8.67 K, and showed limiting the air renewal mainly in the lower part next to the entrance window.

Keywords : fluids; horticulture; thermal gradient; wind speed.

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