Effect of Vent Arrangement on Windward Ventilation of a Tunnel Greenhouse

The effect of ventilation configuration of a tunnel greenhouse with crop on airflow and temperature patterns was numerically investigated using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The numerical model was firstly validated against experimental data collected in a tunnel greenhouse identical with the one used in simulations. The airflow patterns were measured and collected using a three-dimensional sonic anemometer and the greenhouse ventilation rate was deduced using a tracer gas technique. A good qualitative and quantitative agreement was found between the numerical results and the experimental measurements. After its validation, the CFD model was used to study the consequences of four different ventilator configurations on the natural ventilation system. The ventilation configuration affects the ventilation rate of the greenhouse and the airflow and air temperature distributions as well. For the different configurations, computed ventilation rates varied from 10 to 58 air changes per hour for an outside wind speed of 3 m s−1 and for a wind direction perpendicular to the openings. Likewise, the simulations highlight that while the mean air temperature at the middle of the tunnels varied from 28·2 to 29·8°C, for an outside air temperature of 28°C, there are regions inside tunnels 6°C warmer than outside air. Average air velocity in the crop cover varied according to the arrangement of the vents from 0·2 to 0·7 m s−1. The consequences of the marked climate heterogeneity on plant activity through the variation of crop aerodynamic resistance as well as the influence of the vent configurations on the efficiencies of ventilation on flow rate and air temperature differences between inside and outside, are also discussed.