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Thermal Model Development of a Biomass Regenerated Desiccant Supported

Greenhouse Cooling for Orchid Cultivation

Article in IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering · February 2021
DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

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Thermal Model Development of a Biomass Regenerated Desiccant

Supported Greenhouse Cooling for Orchid Cultivation
To cite this article: Chandan Mandal and A. Ganguly 2021 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 1080 012044

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ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

Thermal Model Development of a Biomass Regenerated

Desiccant Supported Greenhouse Cooling for Orchid
Cultivation

Chandan Mandal1* and A.Ganguly2

1,2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and
Technology, Shibpur, Howrah-711103, West Bengal, India.

*Corresponding author’s e-mail: mandalc39@gmail.com

Abstract. In this paper, a novel scheme of biomass regenerated desiccant supported

greenhouse cooling with distributed fan-pad evaporative system has been proposed. The
system aims to provide suitable thermal condition inside the greenhouse for cultivation of high
value flowers like varieties of Orchid which require a temperature between 21 0C to 26 0C and
humidity from 50 to 70% for the sub-tropical climate prvailing in the plains of India. In the
proposed system two stage desiccant based cooling is used to obtain a low humidity ratio. A
biomass based heating system is coupled for regeneration of the desiccant. Thermal modeling
of desiccant wheel and greenhouse are done to estimate air temperature inside the greenhouse.
A comparative study has been made based on estimated greenhouse air temperature with the
results of the reference model available in the literature. From the performance analysis of the
proposed system, it is revealed that the maximum temperature of the greenhouse air can be
restricted within 25 0C and 25.8 0C for a hot and humid day prevailing in the month of July and
September respectively. However the system can maintain a lower temperature of 19 0C during
the morning time which is more conducive for target plantation (Orchid) in the given region.

1. Introduction
Greenhouse technology is a method of cultivation of plants under a suitable environment for their
optimum growth. It is used to protect the plants from the adverse climatic conditions and promotes off
seasonal cultivation. The plains of sub tropical countries like India receive abundant solar radiation for
major part of a calendar year resulting in high ambient temperature coupled with high humidity levels.
Most of the time of a calendar year, the values of ambient temperature and humidity highly exceed the
prescribed ranges for Orchid (Orchidaceous) cultivation in the open field. The cultivation of high
value target Orchids require optimum temperature ranges between 21 0C to 26.5 0C and relative
humidity ranges between 50% - 70% [1]. The greenhouse cultivation of Orchids can be a potential
solution to this problem. Thus, the maintenance of proper inside temperature and humidity are major
challenges behind the greenhouse cultivation of the Orchids.
The desiccant wheel based air conditioning system for greenhouse cultivation is a promising
alternative to maintain low humidity and low temperature as per requirement. Desiccant wheels driven
by waste heat or solar thermal heat [2]. From the literature, it is observed that few works are available
for greenhouse cooling using desiccant. There liquid desiccants were used and the regeneration was
done using solar energy.

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

Till now, no work has been reported on two stage composite desiccant based greenhouse cooling,
where biomass based heating system is used for regeneration of the desiccant. This study aims to
propose a scheme of a biomass regenerated two stage desiccant cooling system for high growing value
Orchid cultivation in a subtropical greenhouse. In this paper, a thermal model has been developed and
using the thermal model the temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse have been estimated.

2. Description of the proposed system

Figure 1 shows the scheme of the proposed biomass regenerated desiccant supported greenhouse
cooling system for Orchid cultivation. It consists of a free standing even span greenhouse oriented
lengthwise in the east-west direction. The process air in this system is obtained from the atmosphere,
which passes through desiccant wheel 1 (DW1) made of synthesized metal silicate. After
dehumidification, the air is passed through heat exchanger 1 (HE1) for sensible cooling.

Figure 1. Scheme of a biomass regenerated desiccant supported greenhouse cooling for Orchid
cultivation in subtropical region.

It may be noted the moisture adsorption capacity of the desiccant wheel decreases with increase in
temperature. Considering this aspect the air at the outlet of HE1 is again passed through desiccant
wheel 2 (DW2) and heat exchanger 2 (HE2) in series. After passing through the second heat exchanger
(HE2), the dehumidified process air goes to the cooling pads located in the both longitudinal sidewalls
of the greenhouse, where the process air is cooled due to evaporative cooling and finally supplied into
the greenhouse. A circulating water pump (CWP) is used for circulation of water from the Ground

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ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

well to the pad to keep the same wet. The induced draft (ID) fans are mounted vertically at the top of
the greenhouse, the arrangement is known as distributed fan pad cooling system [3]. A portion of the
return air is mixed with the ambient air in an air mixing plenum and the same is allowed to pass
through a direct evaporative cooler (DEC) to obtain further lower temperature. Then the same is
equally divided into two groups operating in parallel, one flowing through HE2, air heater and DW2,
while the other passing through HE1, air heater and DW1. In the air heater the air is heated to the
regeneration temperature of the desiccant wheel using a biomass based heating system as shown in
Fig.1.
Hot water from biomass boiler is supplied to the Heater 1 and then it flows through the Heater 2. The
water coming from Heater 2 is stored into a storage tank from where the water is supplied to the boiler
using a feed water pump. Greenhouse crop residues (GCR) and wood pellets are used as the biomass
fuel. The biomass based fuels from the biomass storage are fed to the boiler through a screw conveyor.
The heat energy produced in the biomass combustion is transferred to the water to produce steam.

3. Thermal model development

3.1. Desiccant wheel

Relative humidity and enthalpy of the process air coming from the desiccant wheel can be obtained
from equations (1) and (2), respectively [4].

ϕ p.in − ηϕ (ϕ p.in − ϕr ,in )

ϕ p.out = (1)

hp.in − ηh ( hp.in − hr .in )

hp.out = (2)
where, ηφ and ηh are the humidity and enthalpy effectiveness respectively. In Eq.s (1) and (2), hp.in and
φp.in are enthalpy and relative humidity of the inlet process air respectively. Therefore, humidity ratio
(Xp.out), temperature (Tp.out) and water vapour saturation pressure (Pp.out.vsat) of the outlet process air are
obtained using Eq.s (3) through (5).
ϕ p . out
X p.out = 0.622 Ptot
−ϕ p . out (3)
Pp . out . vsat

h p . out − µ X p . out
Tp.out = C p . da + X p . out C p . wv (4)

= (
Pp.out .vsat exp 23.196 × Tp .out + 273.15
3816
− 46.13 ) (5)

In Eq. (4), μ is latent heat of vaporization of water in kJ kg-1. Cp.da and Cp.wv are specific heat of dry air
and water vapour. (ηφ) is obtained from equation (6) with specific correlation coefficients In Eq.s (7)
through (11).
ηϕ = α v.r × α v. p × αT × α X × α N (6)

α v.r = C1vr2.in + C2 vr .in + C3 (7)

α v. p = C4v 2p.in + C5v p.in + C6 (8)

αT C7 ln (Tr .in − Tp.in ) + C8

= (9)

α X = C9 X p.in − C10 X r .in + 1 (10)

α N C11 N + C12
= (11)

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ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

Similarly, (ηh) can be calculated using equation (12) with respective correlation coefficients In Eq.s
(13) through (17).
η h = β v . r × β v . p × βT × β X × β N (12)

β v.r = K1 ( vr .in )
K2
(13)

β v. p = K 3 ( v p.in )
K4
(14)

βT = K 5Tr .in + K 6Tp.in + K 7 (15)

β X = K8 X r .in + K 9 X p.in + 1 (16)

β N K10 N + K11
= (17)

where vp.in and vr,in are process air and regeneration air velocity (m s-1) at inlet of the desiccant wheel
respectively. Tr.in and N are regeneration air temperature (0C) and revolution speed (rev h-1). C1 through
C12 and K1 through K11 are the correlation constant are taken from the work of [5].

3.2. Thermal model of greenhouse

To develop the thermal model of the greenhouse, it has been assumed that heat flux of the soil is
negligible and the transmissivity of the greenhouse cover material is constant. The heat transfer due to
radiation from the crop is negligible and the absorptivity of the structural material is negligible. Then
the steady state energy balance equation of the greenhouse can be expressed as [3]:

(1 − S ) α G0τ + U=
g ∆T K s (Tamb − Tpad ) − K s ∆T + λ.E (18)

In Eq. (18), S, α, Go, τ, Ug, Ks, Ta, Tpad, λ and E are shading factor, absorbance of the canopy, global
solar radiation intensity (kJ m-2), roof transmittance, total heat transfer coefficient (W m-2 K-1) of the
greenhouse covering material, sensible heat transfer coefficient (W m-2 K-1) of air, ambient temperature,
temperature of the cooling pad end, latent heat of vaporization (kJ kg-1) and crop canopy transpiration
(kg m-2 s-1) respectively. Where, ΔT denotes the temperature difference between the atmospheric air
and greenhouse air.
In Eq. (18), the heat transfer coefficient (Ks) due to sensible load inside the greenhouse can be given
by [6]:

=K s ρ a C pa ( ACM ) Vg / ( 60 ⋅ Agf ) (19)

The rate of plant transpiration rate in greenhouse can also be calculated from the Penman-Monteith
formula as given below [7]:

 2 I la ρ a C paWg 
δ ( λ .E + H ) + 
λ .E =  
ra
(20)
  rs  
δ + γ 1 +  
  ra  
where, Ila indicates area index of leaf for the given plantation, while γ indicates a psychrometric
constant (Pa K-1). In Eq. (20), the stomatal resistance of the crop (rs) can be written as.

rs =
 {
200 1 + 1/ exp 0.05 ( S gi − 50 ) 
 } (21)

In Eq. (20), the resistance due to aerodynamic effect, ra (s m-1) can be written as.

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ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

ra = 220 ( L0.2
c / ui )
0.8
(22)

where, Lc is the characteristic length of the leaf and ui denotes the average air velocity inside the
greenhouse. In Eq. (20), sensible heat load (H) can be expressed as.

H K s (Tamb − Tpad ) − K s ∆T
= (23)

In Eq. (20), δ denotes the slope of the water vapour saturation curve in (Pa K-1) at any temperature T
(K) and may be expressed as [6].

T )
δ = ( 5385
2 × 2.229 × 1011 exp ( −5385
T ) (24)

In Eq. (20), Wg indicates water vapour pressure deficit and can be expressed as.
Wg = δ ⋅ ∆T − ∆e + Wa (25)
In Eq. (25), Δe denotes the water vapour pressure difference (Pa) between the ambient air and
greenhouse air. Wa denotes the water vapour pressure deficit (Pa) of the ambient air [6]. The
expression for the greenhouse plant transpiration rate can be written as [8].
λ .E
= K L ⋅ ∆e (26)
In Eq. (26), KL denotes the latent heat transfer coefficient (W m-2 Pa-1) and may be written as.

K L = λ ⋅ ζ ⋅ ρ a ⋅ ( ACM ) ⋅ Vg / ( 60 ⋅ Agf ) (27)

In Eq. (27), ζ is a conversion factor for the water vapour present in the air at standard temperature and
pressure. In this present model the value of ζ is considered to be 6.25×10-6 kgw kga-1 Pa-1 [8]. Now
combining the above following equations (20), (23), (25) and (26), we get.
 Wa    P2  
  δ ⋅ P1 + P2 ⋅   δ −  
  K L ⋅ ra  
 − ( S gi − C ) ⋅ 1 −
ra 1 
 
P3  P3 

 
 

∆T = (28)
   P2    P2 ⋅ δ 
  δ −   − δ ⋅ Ks  
 U + K ⋅ 1 −  K L ⋅ ra    ra
( g s )  P
−
P


  3  3

 
 
 
In Eq. (28), P1, P2 and P3 represent the constants, which can be written further as:

=P1 K s (Tamb − Tpad ) (29)

P2 =2 ⋅ I la ⋅ ρ a ⋅ C pa (30)

P3 = δ + γ ⋅ (1 + rs / ra ) (31)

Therefore, the average greenhouse temperature can be written as.

= Tamb − ∆T
TGH (32)

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ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

The conditioned air that is supplied to the greenhouse is to be cooled in a distributed fan-pad cooling
system where evaporative cooling is taken place. The expression of the air temperature at the end of
the cooling pad can be given by [3].
Tpad = The 2 − ε cp ⋅ (The 2 − Twb.he 2 ) (33)

In Eq. (33), εcp and Twb.he2 are the effectiveness of the cooling pads and wet bulb temperature of the air
coming from the second heat exchanger (HE2) respectively. The heat exchanger is modelled based on
the work of Asadi and Roshanzadeh [5]. A computer code in Engineering Equation solver (EES) has
been written to solve the above equations. The input parameters to the computer code are listed in
Table 1. The initial temperature of the greenhouse is guessed as ambient temperature for the first
iteration. After each successive iteration, the same is shifted to its previous value. In this study the
greenhouse is assumed to be located in the plains of Gangetic Bengal (Kolkata) in the Indian sub-
continent. Thus, the weather data for Kolkata as available from the Indian Meteorological Department,
New Delhi [9] have been used for the simulation.

Table 1. Value of the input parameters to the thermal model.

Variable Value Variable Value
Absorptivity(α) 0.7 [10] Effectiveness of the cooling pad 0.88 [6]
(εcp)
Roof area (Agf) 240 m2[11] Effectiveness of the heat exchange 0.8 [5]
(εh)
Greenhouse volume (Vg) 728 m3[11] Diameter of the desiccant wheel 60 cm
(D)
Shad factor (S) 0.5 [3] Axial length of the wheel (L) 20 cm
Transmissivity (τ) 0.8 [10] Aspect ratio (a/b) 0.51
Overall heat transfer coefficient 4.5 W m-2 Speed of the wheel (N) 5-30 rev h-
(Ug) K-1[3] 1
[4]
Psychometric constant (γ) 72.08 Pa K- Regeneration air temperature at 45 0C-78 0C
1
[6] inlet (Tr.in) [4]
Leaf area index of lettuce (Ila) 0.5 m2 m-2 Process air temperature at inlet 17 0C-35 0C
(Tp.in)
Latent heat of vaporization of water (λ) 2,260,000 J Velocity of the inlet regeneration 1.75-2.86 m
kg-1 air (vr.in) s-1 [4]
Velocity of the inlet process air 1.81-2.5 m
(vp.in) s-1 [4]

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Model validation for desiccant wheel

The validation of present thermal model of desiccant wheel is carried out by comparing the numerical
results estimated by our model with the experimental results reported by the reference work [4]. Figure
2 shows the comparison of numerical results and experimental results on specific humidity and
temperature of the process air outlet from the desiccant wheel, for different inlet conditions. From the
Fig. 2 (a) and (b), it is observed that the present model agrees well with the reference model, having
average absolute error of 4.3% and 4.5 % respectively.

4.2. Performance analysis

Figure 3 shows the difference of atmospheric temperature and average greenhouse air temperature for
a typical day of monsoon season (24th July, 2009). The ambient air temperature and relative humidity
both remain high during the month of July. The results of the present model have been compared with
the reported work of Banik and Ganguly [3] and Kittas et al. [12] respectively. To maintain the
suitable air temperature inside the greenhouse, a traditional fan-pad cooling system is suggested by

6
ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

Kittas et al., while, liquid desiccant based distributed fan-pad evaporative cooling system is proposed
by Banik and Ganguly[10].

12 60
(a) (b)
11 57

10 54
51
9
48
XPout (g kg-1)

TPout (oC)
45
7
42
6
39
5 XPout(Numerical) 36 TPout(Numerical)
XPout(Experimental) TPout(Experimental)
4 33
3 30
16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36
TPin (oC) TPin (oC)

Figure 2. Numerical and experimental values of (a) specific humidity and (b) temperature of the
process air at the outlet from the desiccant wheel for different inlet conditions.

From the figure 3 (a), it is evident that our proposed system (two stage composite desiccant based
distributed fan-pad evaporative cooling) can maintain the greenhouse air temperature within 24 0C
even during the peak sunshine hour (12 Noon), while during the same period the temperature of other
two considered models, TKittas and TBanik and Ganguly can maintain a temperature at 28.4 0C and 27 0C
respectively.
TGH (Present Model)
Tatm
Tatm
TGH (Present Model)
TRef (Banik and Ganguly_2017)
TRef (Banik and Ganguly_2017)
TRef (Kittas et al_2003) 38
34 TRef (Kittas et al_2003)
36
32 (a)
34 (b)
30 32
Temperature (oC)

Temperature (oC)

28 30
28
26
26
24
24
22 22
20 20
18 18
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Time of the Day (Hours) Time of the Day (Hours)

Figure 3. Difference of atmospheric temperature and average greenhouse air temperature for a typical
day of (a) July and (b) September.

In the present model for a typical day July, the maximum greenhouse air temperature reaches at 25 0C,
which is 7.9 0C less than the corresponding ambient temperature. From the figure, it is also seen that
during the morning time (6:00 to 8:00 am), the system can maintain a temperature about 19 0C due to
efficient desiccation and recirculation of the process air.

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 ICAMEI 2021 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1080 (2021) 012044 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1080/1/012044

Figure 3 (b) epitomizes the difference of atmospheric air and greenhouse air temperature for a typical
day in the autumn season (12th September, 2009) in Kolkata. It is observed from Fig. 3 (b) that the
maximum greenhouse air temperature can be maintained within 25.8 0C, while the same reaches to
about 28 0C with a traditional fan-pad cooling system and 26.1 0C with that of distributed fan-pad
ventilated system with liquid desiccation respectively during the peak sunshine hours. It is also noticed
that during the same period, the present system can reduce the greenhouse air temperature by about 10
0
C below that of ambient (35.8 0C), while the other considered two systems can reduce the same by
only about 7.8 0C and 9.5 0C respectively. During the morning and evening time, present system can
very well maintain the required suitable low temperature conducive for the growing of the considered
plantation.

5. Conclusions
In this present study, a scheme of a biomass regenerated composite desiccant supported greenhouse
cooling for Orchid cultivation is presented. A thermal model of the greenhouse and its desiccation
system is presented and validated against available reference study in the literature. The performances
of the proposed system have been analyzed for a hot and humid day in the month of July and
September respectively. From the study, it is observed that the proposed model can conserve the
greenhouse air temperature between 19 0C to 25.8 0C by using two stage desiccants cooling with
distributed fan-pad evaporative system. From the study, it is also revealed that proposed model can
reduce the specific humidity of the ambient air by a maximum value of 11 g kg-1. The system can
very well maintain the desired climate in terms of temperature and humidity ratio inside the
greenhouse for the year round cultivation of the target flora. the study thus reinforces the need and
viability of such system for the sub-tropical countries like India.

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