(219c) Optimization of a Greenhouse Farming System Under Food-Energy-Water Nexus System Considerations

Food security remains a major challenge for many countries due to a globally increasing population. Additionally, urbanization and soil degradation reduce the amount of available agricultural land, which further stresses food supply systems. Moreover, for semi-arid and arid water scarce regions with high temperatures and harsh external conditions, outdoor agriculture is neither a viable nor a sustainable option [1]. One possibility of overcoming these challenges is the utilization of closed systems in the form of greenhouses, which provide a controlled environment to reduce the risks related to plant development [2]. While the control of the greenhouse farming systems is a well-researched area, literature regarding the design optimization of a greenhouse is scarce. In fact, the greenhouse design is almost exclusively assumed to be fixed.

This work focuses on modeling, optimization and design of a greenhouse farming system dependent on a geographic location, available crops, and utilized technologies. Climate data in the form of solar DNI, ambient air temperature and humidity are considered to incorporate geographic dependencies [3]. Accordingly, the influence of hot or cold external climate profiles on the greenhouse productivity, resulting in different heating or cooling greenhouse profiles, is investigated. Further, various crops with different temperature, humidity and irrigation requirements are taken into account, which dictate the operating point of the greenhouse [4]. An array of viable cooling and heating technologies are evaluated for the optimal design and operation of the greenhouse, such as natural ventilation, evaporative cooling, or conventional HVAC systems. A food-energy-water nexus approach is employed with the objectives to minimize cost, while maximizing water and energy resource utilization [5, 6]. This approach results in a multi-objective mixed-integer optimization problem enabling the trade-off analysis between completely isolated greenhouses and glass greenhouses.

References

[1] F. Mahmood, R. Govindan, A. Bermak, D. Yang, C. Khadra, T. Al-Ansari. Energy utilization assessment of a semi-closed greenhouse using data-driven model predictive control, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 324, p. 129172, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129172

[2] I. Ghiat, F. Mahmood, R. Govindan, T. Al-Ansari. CO2 utilisation in agricultural greenhouses: A novel ‘plant to plant’ approach driven by bioenergy with carbon capture systems within the energy, water and food nexus, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 228, p. 113668, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113668

[3] J. Chen, J. Yang, J. Zhao, F. Xu, Z. Shen, L. Zhang. Energy demand forecasting of the greenhouses using nonlinear models based on model optimized prediction method, Neurocomputing, vol. 174, pp. 1087–1100, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2015.09.105

[4] P. Van Beveren, J. Bontsema, G. Van Straten, E. Van Henten. Minimal heating and cooling in a modern rose greenhouse, Applied Energy, vol. 137, pp. 97–109, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.09.083

[5] M. Di Martino, R. C. Allen, E. N. Pistikopoulos. The Food-Energy-Water Nexus in Sustainable Energy Systems Solutions, Handbook of Smart Energy Systems, Springer, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72322-4_168-1

[6] M. Di Martino, S. Avraamidou, J. Cook, E. N. Pistikopoulos. An Optimization Framework for the Design of Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants under Food-Energy-Water Nexus Considerations, Desalination, 503, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2021.114937