A numerical model is developed to predict the seasonal cooling load of a greenhouse with a refrigerator cooling system. It is necessary to estimate the running cost of a refrigerator. Recent studies showed the practical possibility of using refrigerator cooling systems in greenhouses, and as a result of this, intense interest has been shown towards it lately.
The model consisted mainly of three parts: the first part for the solar energy distribution in a greenhouse, the second part for the heat and vapour balances of a greenhouse, and the last part for the cooling system and control logic. The time step of the calculation was set to be a variable in a range up to several seconds. Hence, the heat and vapour balances were described mostly in differential equation forms. The dry bulb air temperature, the humidity ratio, the direct solar radiation at normal incidence, the scattered solar radiation at horizontal surface, the cloud amount and the wind velocity were the inputs as boundary conditions. The model was characterized by following points:
1) Both the seasonal cooling loads and heating loads could be calculated simultaneously.
2) The model was not only applicable to an even-span type greenhouse but to three-quarter type as well as greenhouse type plant factories.
3) Crops, cultivation beds, pots, screens and cooling or heating equipments could be presented in the greenhouse. It made it possible to analyze the loads in different conditions.
Suitability of the model was tested by comparing the simulated results with the observed results.
Data from the experiment of previous paper (Kozai et al., 1986), which had been carried mainly for measuring the nighttime cooling load of the greenhouse with a heat pump cooling system, were used as observed data. The fitness was generally good (Fig. 2). Yearly cooling loads and heating loads of different type greenhouses in different districts were calculated (Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Table 3) as examples of using the model.
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