Numerical and experimental analyses of a transparent solar distiller for an agricultural greenhouse

Rabhy, Omar O.; Adam, Ihab G.; Youssef, M. Elsayed; Rashad, A. B.; Hassan, Gasser E.

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113564

Cited by 32 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Pigment volume fraction (fv), optimization parameter (OP), and particle diameter of selected pigments for greenhouse cladding materials [20]. capabilities for pesticides have been developed to suppress the spread of insect-vector diseases in plants such as tomato yellow leaf curl disease [33,47]. The mobile release capabilities are augmented by halloysite nano-composite films [33].…”

Section: Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beyond the modification of the optical properties of polymers, TiO 2 has biocompatible antimicrobial properties [2], which are essential for plant growth, considering fungal and bacterial infections retard plant growth. Additionally, novel polymers such as LLDPE with slow-releasing capabilities for pesticides have been developed to suppress the spread of insect-vector diseases in plants such as tomato yellow leaf curl disease [33,47]. The mobile release capabilities are augmented by halloysite nano-composite films [33].…”

Section: Distillersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Covering Materials

Maraveas

2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The fundamental objective of the review article was to explore the ecological sustainability of greenhouse covering material based on the following themes; considerations for greenhouse materials, properties of polymers and glass, additives, fillers, stabilizers and reinforcements, performance, Ultraviolet (UV) transmittance, phase change materials (PCMs), and environmental sustainability. A comparison of various polymers (polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylic, D-polymer, Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polyolefins), and silica glasses illustrated that each type of greenhouse cladding material has its unique merits and limitations. The performance of silica glasses, PVC, polyolefins was influenced by weather, greenhouse design, plant under cultivation, percentage UV transmittance, incorporation of additives and stabilizers, reinforcements, and integration of photovoltaic panels into the greenhouse roof among other factors. Polymers can be customized to achieve 0%UV transmittance, slow-insecticide release, and anti-microbial properties. In contrast, glass materials are preferred based on suitable photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) transmittance and near-infrared (NIR) reflection and less risk of photo-oxidation. From an ecological perspective, polymers can be recycled via mechanical and chemical recycling, closed-loop cycling, and polymerization of bio-based feedstock. However, post-consumer plastic films do not possess the same optical and energy properties as virgin polymers. The combined benefits of different polymers suggest that these materials could be adopted on a large scale over the long-term.

show abstract

Section: Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Distillersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Covering Materials

Maraveas

2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2. The solar distillers are oriented to face the south with a cover tilt angle of 30°, which is equal to the solar latitude angle of the target study area [28]. The solar distillers are designed to be transparent to enable solar light reach plant region for photosynthetic process.…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The system can produce about 8.6 kg/m 2 .day of water. Rabhy et al [28] developed an experimental and numerical analyses of a transparent solar distiller suitable for agricultural GH. The system results show about 37.5% of irrigation water can be produced, whiles the power consumption of the GH cooling system can be reduced by 60%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Driven Agricultural Greenhouse Integrated with Desalination System; Energy-Water-Food Nexus

Abdullahi

Salah

Fath

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study presents the effective performance of a sustainable solar driven agricultural greenhouse (GH) self-reliant of energy and irrigation water via desalination. The GH is furnished with infrastructures such as; (i) - an inlet condenser for cool air exchanger and partial water production, (ii) - an internal cavity for crop production (iii) - roof transparent solar distillers (TSD) for solar desalination and partial shading and (iv)- a thermal chimney for natural air ventilation. A mathematical model is developed to predict the performance of the sustainable GH system. A coupled approach of MATLAB/Simulink and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based on three simulation models were used: solar radiation, thermal energy balance and CFD model. Two parametric studies were carried out. The first one analyzed the effects of different air velocity on the system thermal performance and natural ventilation rate. The second study assessed the effects of different covering material on the transmitted solar radiation. Results from the model shows that 8.5 MJ/m2.day of total solar radiation is transmitted into the GH. The greenhouse air temperature is lowered by 5 °C and humidified by 20%, to satisfy the required conditions necessary for plant growth. Maximum water yield of 11.5 L/m2.day was obtained, aided by the addition of Al-metal net. Additionally, 2.6 kWh/m2.day of power is consumed by the air-cooling condenser. At air velocity of 0.3 m/s, there is a natural tendency of air to flow by draft, due to air temperature difference of up to 4 °C. Furthermore, glass and EVA cover materials transmit 52 and 48% of solar radiation into the GH respectively. The proposed system will enable the parallel production of water and food and enhance economical plant productivity.

show abstract

“…modules on the roof of the greenhouse can rotate automatically according to the changes of solar height angle and intensity, so as to reduce the shadow of photovoltaic components in the room as much as possible. O.Rabhy [5] used a completely transparent solar distiller integrating with agricultural greenhouse to produce fresh water for irrigation by using surplus solar radiation. A number of methods for analyzing the performance of the distiller were proposed based on the mathematical model.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical Analysis of A Sliding-Type Cylindrical Fresnel Lens Concentrating Collector for Agricultural Greenhouse

Zheng

et al. 2021

Journal of Daylighting

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Agricultural greenhouses are commonly built around cities to supply residents with agricultural products or green plants. With an increasing demand for plants’ growing environment, the temperature and illumination inside the greenhouses are counted especially during cold winter. This paper proposes a new construction idea of an energy-saving agricultural greenhouse, by which a solar energy collector is added onto the agricultural greenhouse to improve the energy utilization efficiency. Besides, the solar collector does not occupy extra land resource and merely influence the illumination inside the greenhouse. The design and modeling of solar system are introduced in accordance with the actual parameters of agricultural greenhouse. Then the characteristics of energy collection and inner house’s illumination are elaborated by simulation. It shows that when the inclination incident angle of the sunlight ranges from -38° to 38°, the receiving efficiency of ray in receiver is more than 80%. This implies that the system can work about 5 hours in heat collection. The light environment and the thermal environment are both important. When scattered and direct light are set 40% and 60% of daylight, respectively, the illumination of ground is up to 8.38×105 Lux. The minimum illumination is not less than 4.22×105 Lux. In addition, the illumination of rear wall ranges from 3.05×105 Lux to 7.62×105 Lux. Thus, the light environment in the greenhouse is not influenced and all the indoor activities could be maintained. Finally, local meteorological data are combined with simulated solar collection results to evaluate the economy. It shows that the system could provide about 1887.8 MJ/m2 in six cold months, which approximately equals to 6153.9$ per year.

show abstract

Numerical and experimental analyses of a transparent solar distiller for an agricultural greenhouse

Cited by 32 publications

References 59 publications

Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Covering Materials

Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Covering Materials

Solar Driven Agricultural Greenhouse Integrated with Desalination System; Energy-Water-Food Nexus

Optical Analysis of A Sliding-Type Cylindrical Fresnel Lens Concentrating Collector for Agricultural Greenhouse

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About