TITLE:
Numerical Simulation and Measurement of Air Temperature and Relative Humidity in an Olive Cuttings Tunnel Greenhouse
AUTHORS:
Sanae Chakir, Adil Bekraoui, Hassan Majdoubi, Allal Senhaji, Mhamed Mouqallid
KEYWORDS:
Numerical Simulation, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Greenhouse, Microclimate, Olive Cuttings
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modelling and Simulation,
Vol.10 No.1,
December
9,
2021
ABSTRACT: Understanding the environment of olive tree cuttings is a key factor in
improving these plants’ rooting rate and survival. This study aims to develop athree-dimensional (3-D) Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) model for numerically assessing air temperature and
relative humidity in an olive cuttings greenhouse
under Mediterranean climatic conditions. The results are deduced from a steady-state
simulation performed with recorded boundary conditions at 10:00 am,
12:00 pm, 02:00 pm, 04:00 pm, and 06:00 pm at different observation points. The calculations were validated
using experimental data. The simulation errors of the air temperature
were -0.8°C to 4.55°C, and errors of the leaf temperature were 0.07°C
to 2.42°C, for the air relative humidity was -33.84% to -1.64%, and -10.1% to -13.54% for the relative humidity of the leaf air. Contour
maps were obtained from the 3-D CFD simulations to evaluate the distribution of
humidity and air temperature inside the greenhouse and the vicinity of the plant canopy. This study suggests that the
developed 3-D CFD model can be a
helpful tool to understand and optimize greenhouse operation for better
crop quality.