Calibration and comparison of different CFD approaches for airflow analysis in a glass greenhouse

Submitted: 1 June 2016
Accepted: 10 October 2016
Published: 17 February 2017
Abstract Views: 2426
PDF: 1216
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CFD has been increasingly applied to greenhouses to optimise indoor environmental conditions for cultivation and management. Numerical simulations have proved fundamental for the enhancement of energy-efficient design criteria and management procedures. The objective of the study is the comparison between different computational approaches for the study of airflow patterns in a representative study case of a glass greenhouse, also through the calibration of the models and the validation of simulation results against experimental data. A three-span greenhouse of about 300 m2 located in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) has been considered as study case. Several analyses with the same boundary and initial conditions were performed using two codes, broadly used for research and design purposes. With both programs, 2D or 3D models have been used and, for every case, the grid convergence was verified by performing multiple steady state analyses with increasingly finer meshes. The results led to define the most suitable solutions to set up computational models for the simulation of airflow patterns inside a greenhouse. The study provided a preliminary outline of the differences due to the adoption of various computational approaches characterised by different levels of accuracy and complexity. The results indicate the advisability of further developing the research by carrying out deeper experimental insights necessary to quantify more in detail the validity and the reliability of the adopted analytical methodologies.

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Stefano Benni, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna

Department of Agricultural Sciences

Assistant Professor

Enrica Santolini, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna

Department of Agricultural Sciences

PhD student

Alberto Barbaresi, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna

Department of Agricultural Sciences

Research Fellow

Daniele Torreggiani, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna

Department of Agricultural Sciences

Associate Professor

Patrizia Tassinari, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna

Department of Agricultural Sciences

Full Professor

How to Cite

Benni, S., Santolini, E., Barbaresi, A., Torreggiani, D. and Tassinari, P. (2017) “Calibration and comparison of different CFD approaches for airflow analysis in a glass greenhouse”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 48(1), pp. 49–52. doi: 10.4081/jae.2017.568.