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An intelligent system for the climate control and energy savings in agricultural greenhouses

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Abstract

A greenhouse for crop production is a complex thermodynamic system where the indoor temperature and the humidity conditions have a great impact on the crop yields. This system can be considered a multivariable input output system MIMO. This paper aims at presenting a physical model of a greenhouse, experimentally validated, in order to propose a fuzzy-based controller to manage the indoor climate of a greenhouse using some actuators (induction motors, heating system etc.…) for ventilation, heating, humidifying, and dehumidifying purposes. In addition, a novel approach is presented for energy management by involving the photovoltaic energy in order to minimize the use of conventional electrical grid and to lower costs of agriculture production. The photovoltaic (PV) generator will serve to power a direct torque control (DTC) controlled induction motor which drive a variable speed fan. The validation of the physical model shows a high agreement with the experimental measurement. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the fuzzy controller as well as the PV generator for saving the energy and lowering the costs of crop production into greenhouses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural, Lab of Research in Analysis Design and Control Systems, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia

    Azaza Maher, Echaieb Kamel & Mami Abdelkader

  2. Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Grugliasco, TO, Italy

    Fabrizio Enrico

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    Iqbal Atif

Authors
  1. Azaza Maher
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  2. Echaieb Kamel
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  3. Fabrizio Enrico
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  4. Iqbal Atif
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  5. Mami Abdelkader
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Correspondence to Azaza Maher.

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I testify on behalf of all co-authors that our article submitted to Energy Efficiency: Title: An intelligent system for the climate control and energy savings in agricultural greenhouses.

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Maher, A., Kamel, E., Enrico, F. et al. An intelligent system for the climate control and energy savings in agricultural greenhouses. Energy Efficiency 9, 1241–1255 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-015-9421-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-015-9421-8

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