Energy analysis of fuel cell system for commercial greenhouse application – A feasibility study

Vadiee, Amir; Yaghoubi, M.; Sardella, Marco; Farjam, Pardis

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2014.09.073

Cited by 38 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The fuel cell would additionally tri-generate CO 2 which could be used for enrichment of the indoor atmosphere in the greenhouse, increasing its productivity. Vadiee et al (2015) have analyzed a fuel cell system for commercial greenhouse applications. The authors have estimated that a PEMFC at 11.6 KW could cover the total annual electricity demand and 40% of the annual heat demand of a 1,000 m 2 greenhouse.…”

Section: Use Of Fuel Cells In Agricultural Greenhousesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possibilities of Using Fuel Cells for Energy Generation in Agricultural Greenhouses: A Case Study in Crete, Greece

Vourdoubas¹

2019

JAS

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The possibility of using fuel cells powered by solar hydrogen for energy generation in greenhouses with reference to the island of Crete, Greece has been examined. Change of fossil fuels used in greenhouses with renewable energies and sustainable energy technologies is very important for mitigation of climate change. Various renewable energy sources and low carbon emission technologies including geothermal energy, biomass, solar photovoltaics and co-generation systems have been used so far. Use of solar photovoltaics for generating electricity consumed in water electrolysis for hydrogen production has been investigated. Hydrogen feeding a proton exchange membrane fuel cell co-generating electricity and heat was used in a greenhouse located in Crete, Greece. The system could be useful in a stand-alone greenhouse with annual specific energy consumption at 150 KWh/m2. A solar photovoltaic system with nominal power at 33.33 KWp powering an electrolytic cell at 5.71 KW could produce annually 2,083 kg hydrogen. The hydrogen could feed a fuel cell at 1.71 KWel generating annually all the electricity required in a greenhouse of 1,000 m2. Co-produced heat could also cover 11.11% of the annual heat requirements in the greenhouse. It was found though that the overall electric efficiency of the system was very low at 4.5%. The low overall efficiency and the size of the solar-PV required indicate that the abovementioned energy system is not suitable in commercial agricultural greenhouses.

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Section: Use Of Fuel Cells In Agricultural Greenhousesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possibilities of Using Fuel Cells for Energy Generation in Agricultural Greenhouses: A Case Study in Crete, Greece

Vourdoubas¹

2019

JAS

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“…It also incentivises that controlled greenhouses can be multi-storey and will be more economical and productive. Whereas, on a commercial level, high demand for energy can be met by using fuel cell technology along with other renewable technologies [51]. Perhaps greenhouses can be built more resilient using open control systems like Groener, Knopp [52] described in their research.…”

Section: State-of-the-art 21 Urban and Controlled Environment Agricmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building integrated agriculture information modelling (BIAIM): An integrated approach towards urban agriculture

Khan

Aziz

Ahmed

2018

Sustainable Cities and Society

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Urbanisation is transforming human societies in many ways. Besides bringing benefits to people in cities, it also has negative impacts such as food security. One way to meet the challenge is urban agriculture; however, traditional agricultural practices are not suitable within urban areas due to limited availability of land. Therefore, the alternative option is to grow crops inside or on top of buildings, e.g. building integrated agriculture (BIA). But, there is limited research and information available for designers and planners to design such buildings. The presented research project bridges the gap between agriculture and architecture by proposing a building integrated agriculture information modelling tool in integration with Building information modelling. The plugin tool has data on plants' requirements and automatic response to environmental factors. Environmental factors include temperature, light, water, nutrients, air, humidity, spacing and support. In this paper, seasonal tomato is selected as a reference crop, and the impact of environment (temperature, light, water, nutrients and spacing) on its health is discussed and simulated for germination stage. The undertaken project contributes to the concept of BIA and BIM maturity level, which would help to design an optimum environment building for plants.Historically, these practices have been used in many countries, while developed countries have also started taking interest due to increasing food security problems [19]. However, in urban regions, available land is limited therefore UA can be in two ways: open rooftop farming; or high-tech controlled environment agriculture (CEA) [20], which provides ultimate results by providing optimum conditions [21].CEA has been adopted to cultivate off-season crops and producing high-quality crops [22]. Though, for controlled environment building integrated agriculture (BIA), there is limited literature available. The key issue is the structural design of such modern BIA design; where the information on the plant-environment relationship is not available on state-of-the-art building designing tools [23][24][25]. For such practices to be possible, experts from various disciplines, i.e. agriculture, agronomy, architecture, urban planning, engineering, economics and public health will have to come together and work collaboratively [26]. Such intelligent collaborative platforms are also known as Building information modelling (BIM). BIM is a methodology, comprised of processes to generate and manage the information of building or group of buildings [27]. BIM can also be defined as "modelling technology and associated set of procedures to produce, communicate and analyse models" [28]. BIM tools get people and information working together effectively and efficiently through defined processes and technology [29]. Most of the developed countries have been using these tools for improvement in productivity and cost-savings throughout all stages of architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry [30]. Therefore, BI...

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“…The system maximum efficiency could reach 80%. Velumani [13] proposed a commercial hybrid CHP system composed of SOFC, micro turbine and single-effect absorption chiller. The waste gas from SOFC is combusted in micro gas turbine to generate power, and the waste heat from turbine is utilized by absorption chiller for cooling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance analysis of 5 kW PEMFC-based residential micro-CCHP with absorption chiller

Chen

Gong

Wan

et al. 2015

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

100

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Energy analysis of fuel cell system for commercial greenhouse application – A feasibility study

Cited by 38 publications

References 23 publications

Possibilities of Using Fuel Cells for Energy Generation in Agricultural Greenhouses: A Case Study in Crete, Greece

Possibilities of Using Fuel Cells for Energy Generation in Agricultural Greenhouses: A Case Study in Crete, Greece

Building integrated agriculture information modelling (BIAIM): An integrated approach towards urban agriculture

Performance analysis of 5 kW PEMFC-based residential micro-CCHP with absorption chiller

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