Evaluating Required Heat Flow by Software Analyses in Greenhouses: Case Study of Iran

Abstract

The greenhouse sector is responsible for the largest proportion of total final energy consumption in agriculture. One effective method to reduce overall energy consumption in greenhouses is through an economical and efficient control strategy. In this study, a computer program was developed using the Visual Basic programming language to calculate the required heat flow for the growth and cultivation of greenhouse crops in most cities of Iran. The results indicated that the plastic covering material with double artificial plates was superior to other materials in maintaining internal heat. In the cities of Shiraz and Yazd, it was possible to cultivate pepper, tomato, cucumber, rose, lettuce, and strawberry with heat flow within the range of 0–24 kW and 0–30 kW, respectively. For colder cities such as Tabriz and Arak, the investigated parameter was calculated to be within the ranges of 24–70 kW and 17–63 kW, respectively. When comparing two other greenhouse covering materials, the minimum and maximum heat flow required for lettuce (glass with steel frame – Yazd and Shiraz) and rose cultivation (glass single plate – Tabriz) were observed to be 0 kW and 156.75 kW, respectively.