Modeling and optimal design of evaporative cooling system in controlled environment greenhouse

This communication deals with the development of a mathematical model for experimental validation of the thermal behavior in the greenhouse after evaporative cooling. Extensive experiments have been performed during July to October 2000 for an even span greenhouse of effective floor area of 24 m(2) and having a brick north wall. A parametric study involves the area of the cooling pad (height of cooling pad and greenhouse), mass flow rate and length of greenhouse. The optimum value of various parameters has also been determined. A computer program based on MatLab software has been used to predict the temperature profile as a function of various design parameters. The predicted room temperature of various zones shows fair agreement with the experimental values. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.