CFD Simulation of Heat and Mass Transfer for Climate Control in Greenhouses

Greenhouse plant production involves a number of processes such as transpiration, condensation, photosynthesis, and climate control. Such processes, in turn, set off mass and heat transfer phenomena that influence not only the quality and quantity of crop production but also its environmental cost. While these processes have considerably been analyzed in separate, they strongly interact with one another. For instance, increased radiation (mainly thermal infrared) increases temperature, reduces humidity, consequently increases transpiration, and affects CO2 exchange as well as other reaction rates. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a numerical tool with a solid physical basis which allows, through the construction of a computational model, to simulate the fluid flow environment. Heating, ventilation, and condensation have been analyzed in the greenhouse environment with CFD techniques. The current challenge is the interaction of these processes and their impact on the production system. The present work summarizes some CFD investigations carried out in this topic, in order to analyze the processes of heat and mass transfer in a greenhouse for agronomic purposes.