Numerical Simulation and Measurement of Air Temperature and Relative Humidity in an Olive Cuttings Tunnel Greenhouse

摘要

style="font-family:Verdana;">Understanding the environment of olive tree cuttings is a key factor in improving these plants’ rooting rate and survival. This study aims to develop style="font-family:Verdana;"> a  style="font-family:Verdana;">three-dimensional (3-D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model for style="font-family:Verdana;"> numerically assessing air temperature and relative humidity in an olive cuttings style="font-family:Verdana;">greenhouse under Mediterranean climatic conditions. The results are deduced from a steady-state simulation performed with recorded boundary style="font-family:Verdana;"> conditions at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 02:00 pm, 04:00 pm, and 06:00 pm at different obser style="font-family:Verdana;">vation points. The calculations were validated using experimental data. The style="font-family:Verdana;">simulation errors of the air temperature were -0.8°C to 4.55°C, style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;">and errors of style="font-family:;" "=""> style="font-family:Verdana;"> the leaf style="font-family:Verdana;">temperature were 0.07°C to 2.42°C, for the air relative humidity w style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;">as style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;white-space:normal;">-33.84% to style="font-family:Verdana;white-space:normal;">-1.64% style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;"> style="font-family:Verdana;">, style="font-family:;" "=""> style="font-family:Verdana;"> and style="font-family:Verdana;white-space:normal;">-10.1% to style="font-family:Verdana;white-space:normal;">-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 style="font-family:Verdana;">and the vicinity of the plant canopy. This study suggests that the developed style="font-family:Verdana;"> 3-D CFD model can be a helpful tool to understand and optimize style="font-family:Verdana;"> greenhouse operation for better crop quality.