ENERGY- AND YIELD-BASED PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL–INTEGRATED SINGLE-SPAN DOUBLE-LAYERED WITH A THERMAL SCREEN GREENHOUSE
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Date
2024-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Thermal Science and Engineering Progress
Abstract
Greenhouse technology emerged to ensure the optimum yield of the host crop —a prerequisite to achieving
Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 2. To achieve this, supplemental energy is needed under extreme weather
conditions at about half the operational cost. Researchers have focused and succeeded in reducing the energy
demand using numerical methods with little focus on the impact of these methods on crop yield. A novel
greenhouse system—phase change material–integrated single-span double-layered strawberry greenhouse with a
thermal screen—is introduced herein. Furthermore, how the energy management method affects the yield of the
host crop is explored. Moreover, the energy-saving potential and yield enhancement achieved by integrating
PCMs and other passive thermal-management systems in a specific agricultural setting is investigated. TRNSYS
18 software is used to evaluate the effect of three passive variables on two performance indices. The passive
variables are location: Daegu (DG), Seoul, and Jeju Island (JE); orientation: 90◦ (E-W), 45◦ (NE-SW), and 0◦ (NS);
and PCM type: “No-fill”, water, and Paraffin (ParC13–C24). The effect of thermal screen control was also
studied on the localized optium configuration. Finally, economic analysis was conducted to ascertain the most
sustainable configuration. The performance indices are the heating demand and strawberry yield. The results
show that the location, orientation, and PCM usage inside the greenhouse greatly affect the greenhouse’s heating
demand and crop yield. The configuration selected must be in such a way that the indoor nighttime temperature
does not exceed 2 ◦C above the minimum nighttime optimum value of the host crop.
Description
Keywords
Greenhouse evaluation, Energy management, Heating demand, Strawberry yield, PCM-integration, Economic analysis