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Effect of light intensity and air velocity on the thermal exchange of indoor-cultured lettuce

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A Correction to this article was published on 09 May 2022

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Abstract

Heat and moisture transfer have a substantial influence on plant photosynthesis and productivity. Therefore, this study investigated the combined effect of light intensity (100, 200, and 300 μmol m−2 s−1) and air velocity (0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 m s−1) on the sensible heat flux (Sh), convection regime (CR), and latent heat flux (Lh) of lettuce plants grown in a plant factory with artificial light. The growth, photosynthetic rate, and occurrence of tipburn in lettuce plants were also evaluated. The effect of light intensity and air velocity on the thermal exchange of indoor-cultured lettuce was achieved through their combined effect on conductance to heat and mass transfer. Stomatal conductance was found to be strongly correlated with light intensity, with a correlation coefficient of 73%. The boundary layer conductance was highly correlated with air velocity, with a correlation coefficient of 96%. Accordingly, the Sh and Lh increased by 41.0% and 46.9%, respectively, with an increase in light intensity from 100 to 300 μmol m−2 s−1, and by 33.2% and 30.4%, respectively, with an increase in air velocity from 0.25 to 0.75 m s−1. Air velocity had a greater impact on CR, and forced convection was dominant between lettuce plants and the surrounding air. During the dark period, a decrease in stomatal conductance was accompanied by a decrease in Lh, particularly as air velocity increased. The photosynthetic rate and fresh weight of lettuce plants were strongly correlated with light intensity, and increased by 60.9% and 54.7%, respectively, as light intensity increased from 100 to 300 μmol m−2 s−1. However, the occurrence of tipburn in lettuce plants was significantly related to light intensity, and the highest number of lettuce leaves injured with tipburn of 5 leaves/plant was observed at a light intensity of 300 μmol m−2 s−1. When air velocity increased from 0.25 to 0.75 m s−1, the occurrence of tipburn decreased by 87.3%. Our results reveal that there was an obvious interaction between light intensity and air velocity on the thermal exchange, growth, and occurrence of tipburn in indoor-cultured lettuce. This study provides valuable insights into the combinational regulation of light intensity and air velocity for improving the growth and marketability of indoor-cultured lettuce.

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Abbreviations

⍴ a :

Air density (1.2 kg m−3)

b :

Empirical coefficient

c :

Empirical coefficient (257.14)

Cp a :

Specific heat of air at constant pressure (1010 J kg−1 K−1)

CR :

Convection regime

C sat-l :

Concentration of saturated water vapor in the leaf (mol m−3)

C w-a :

Concentration of water vapor in the air (mol m−3)

D AB :

Binary diffusion coefficient of the water vapor in the air (m2 s−1)

f :

Empirical coefficient

g :

Gravitational acceleration (m s−2)

g bv :

Leaf boundary layer conductance to heat and water vapor (m s−1)

Gr :

Grashof number (dimensionless)

g sv :

Stomatal conductance to water vapor (m s−1)

g sv, mol :

Stomatal conductance to water vapor in molar units (mol m−2 s−1)

g tv :

Total leaf conductance to heat and water vapor (m s−1)

h c :

Average convective heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

k a :

Thermal conductivity of the air in the boundary layer (W m−1 K−1)

Le :

Lewis number (dimensionless)

L h :

Latent heat flux (W m−2)

L h , mol :

Transpiration rate in molar units (mol m−2 s−1)

L l :

Characteristic length of the leaf in air velocity direction (m)

M w :

Molar mass of water (0.018 kg mol−1

Nu :

Nusselt number (dimensionless)

Pr :

Prandtl number (dimensionless, 0.70 for air)

P sat-l :

Saturated pressure of water vapor in the leaf (Pa)

P w-a :

Water vapor pressure in the air (kPa)

P w-l :

Water vapor pressure in the leaf (kPa)

R ab :

Absorbed short-wave radiation (W m−2)

Re :

Reynolds number (dimensionless)

R mol :

General constant of gases (8.314472 in J mol−1 K−1)

S h :

Sensible heat flux (W m−2)

T a :

Air temperature (K)

T b :

Air temperature in the boundary layer (K)

T l :

Leaf temperature (K)

v a :

Kinematic viscosity of the air (m2 s−1)

V a :

Air velocity near the leaf surface (m s−1)

α a :

Thermal diffusivity of the air (m2 s−1)

β :

Volumetric expansion of the air (K−1)

a :

Empirical coefficient (611.21)

a s :

Fraction of the transpiring leaf surface area (–)

λ E :

Latent heat of vaporization (2.45 × 106 J kg−1

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Eng. Moath Bader Othman, Sana’a University, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Yemen, for his valuable assistance in proofreading and editing the article.

Funding

This work was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program, Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2020YFE0203600), the Science and Technology Partnership Program, Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. KY201702008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Hesham A. Ahmed, Yangmei Li & Yu-xin Tong

  2. Key Laboratory of Energy Conservation and Waste Management of Agricultural Structures, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Hesham A. Ahmed, Yangmei Li & Yu-xin Tong

  3. Department of Agricultural Engineering and Modern Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Sana’a University, 13020, Sana’a, Yemen

    Hesham A. Ahmed

  4. College of Biology and Food Science, Hebei Normal University of Nationalities, Chengde, 067000, Hebei, China

    Lingzhi Shao

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  1. Hesham A. Ahmed
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  2. Yangmei Li
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  4. Yu-xin Tong
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Contributions

Authors contributed to this work in the following roles: Conceptualization, HAA, YT; Methodology, HAA, YT; Software, HAA; Formal Analysis, HAA, YT; Investigation, HAA, YT, YL, LS; Resources, HAA, YT, YL, LS; Writing-Original Draft Preparation, HAA; Writing-Review & Editing, HAA, YT; Visualization, HAA, YT, YL, LS; Project Administration, YT; Funding Acquisition, YT.

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Correspondence to Yu-xin Tong.

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Communicated by Myung-Min Oh.

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The original online version of this article was revised: In Table 1, the column headings were incorrectly placed.

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Ahmed, H.A., Li, Y., Shao, L. et al. Effect of light intensity and air velocity on the thermal exchange of indoor-cultured lettuce. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 63, 375–390 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-021-00410-6

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