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A modeling framework for the integration of electrical and thermal energy systems in greenhouses

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Abstract

Greenhouse horticulture is associated to a significant energy consumption in temperate countries, mainly for lighting and for heating. Interestingly, the potential for energy optimization and energy savings is high but requires detailed models capable of considering various system configurations and control systems. This paper provides an open-source modeling framework capable of simulating and optimizing the design and the control of both the greenhouse and the generation systems covering all energy needs. The proposed model is composed of sub-models from different scientific fields: a greenhouse climate model, a crop yield model, a large number of energy generation and storage units models and different rule-based control strategies. The association of such state-of-the-art models in a single framework provides a powerful tool for optimization purposes and allows the definition of completely customized systems by means of an object-oriented interface. In this work, various control strategies are defined and simulated, thus demonstrating the capabilities of the proposed model. Results indicate that, by performing minor changes to the control of the thermal screen, heating consumption can be reduced by 3% without any loss in crop yield. The control of heat-generation units also has a significant impact on the operational costs, which vary by up to 17% when self-consumption levels are accounted for in the control strategy.

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Abbreviations

A :

area [m2]

B :

benefit [€]

C :

cost [€]

c p :

specific heat capacity [J kg−1 K−1]

d :

diameter [m]

E :

integrated energy [MWh]

e :

thickness [m]

F :

view factor [—]

Ḣ :

heat flow associated to a mass transfer [W]

h :

vertical dimension; enthalpy [m]; [J kg−1]

ḣ :

heat flow averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [W m−2]

Δhfg :

latent heat of evaporation of water [J kg−1]

I :

solar irradiation [W m−2]

K :

coefficient [—]

LAI :

leaf area index [m2leaf m−2flr]

l :

length per square meter of greenhouse floor [m m−2]

M :

molar mass [kg mol−1]

Ṁ :

mass flow rate [kg s−1] or [mg s−1]

m :

mass averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [mg m−2]

ṁ :

mass flow rate averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [kg s−1 m−2] or [mg s−1 m−2]

N :

total number [—]

n :

number of fruits averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [fruits m−2]

ṅ :

number of fruits flow rate averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [fruits m−2 s−1]

P :

power input [W]

P v :

vapor pressure of water [Pa]

\({\dot Q}\) :

heat flow [W]

\(\dot q\) :

heat flow averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [W m−2]

r :

resistance [s m−1]

RH :

relative humidity [—]

SLA :

specific leaf area index [m2leaf mg−1]

T :

temperature [K]

t :

time [s]

U :

heat exchange coefficient [W m−2 K−1]

u :

control variable [—]

V :

volume [m3]

v :

speed [m s−1]

\({\dot v}\) :

airflow rate averaged per square meter of greenhouse floor [m3 s−1 m−2]

W :

width of fully deployed screen [m]

Ẇ :

electrical power [W]

α :

absorption coefficient [—]

γ :

mass concentration [mg m−3]

ε :

FIR emission coefficient [—]

η :

efficiency; ratio [—]

λ :

thermal conductivity [W m−1 K−1]

ξ :

conversion factor [—]

π :

energy price [€ MWh−1]

ρ :

density; reflection coefficient [kg m−3]; [—]

δ :

transmission coefficient; time constant [—]; [s]

φ :

roof slope [°]

g :

gravitational constant [m s−2]

R :

molar gas constant [J mol−1 K−1]

γ :

psychrometric constant [Pa K−1]

σ :

Stefan-Boltzmann constant [W m−2 K−4]

acc:

accumulated

air:

greenhouse main air zone

amb:

ambient air

b:

boundary

buf:

carbohydrate buffer

can:

canopy

Carnot:

Carnot cycle

cell:

cells of a discretization model

chp:

combined heat and power

cov:

cover

d:

discharge

dev:

development stage

el:

electrical

ex:

exhaust node

ext:

external source of CO2

flr:

floor

fru[i]:

crop fruits at the ith development stage

gas:

fuel gas

har:

harvest

hx:

heat exchanger

II:

second-law

ilu:

supplementary lighting

in:

within boundaries

leaf:

crop leaves

leak:

leakage

n:

nominal

oh:

overheating

out:

outside air

pip:

heating pipes

s:

stomata

scr:

thermal screen

sky:

sky

so[i]:

the ith soil layer

SP:

set-point

stem:

crop stems and roots

su:

supply node

sun:

sun

th:

thermal

thr:

threshold

top:

greenhouse top air zone

tot:

total

uh:

underheating

ven:

ventilation

w:

wind

τ:

transmitted

24:

24-hour mean

buy:

energy bought

c:

CO2

ch:

carbohydrate

chp:

CHP unit

cnd:

conduction

cnv:

convection

DM:

dry matter

G:

global radiation

gh:

greenhouse

lat:

latent

max:

maximum value

min:

minimum value

NIR:

near infrared radiation

PAR:

photosynthetically active radiation

rad:

long-wave infrared radiation

sell:

energy sold

sens:

sensible heat

sum:

summation

swr:

short-wave radiation

tes:

thermal storage tank

v:

vapor

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Walloon Region of Belgium for funding this research in the context of the EcoSystemePass project (convention 1510610).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy Systems Research Unit, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Liège, Allée de la Découverte 17, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Queralt Altes-Buch, Sylvain Quoilin & Vincent Lemort

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  1. Queralt Altes-Buch
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Correspondence to Queralt Altes-Buch.

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Altes-Buch, Q., Quoilin, S. & Lemort, V. A modeling framework for the integration of electrical and thermal energy systems in greenhouses. Build. Simul. 15, 779–797 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0851-2

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