2015 6th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)

Experimental study of two insulated solar

greenhouses one of them use a solar air heater with
latent heat
Salwa BOUADILA, Safa SKOURI, Sami KOOLI, Mariem LAZAAR,
Abdelhamid FARHAT
Research and Technology Center of Energy
Thermal Processes Laboratory
Hammam Lif, B.P. 95, 2050 Tunis, Tunisia

Abstract—The use of solar energy for greenhouse heating in
cold period for Mediterranean climate is an important issue. In
this paper, the thermal performance of a new solar air heater
collector using a packed bed of spherical capsules with a latent
heat storage system in east–west oriented greenhouse is analyzed
and discussed. An experimental comparative study was
conducted in two greenhouses installed in the Research and
Technologies Centre of Energy (CRTEn) in Tunisia. The
greenhouse heat balance has used to investigate the impact of the
phase change material (PCM) on greenhouse temperature.
Results show the nighttime recovered heat of this system attained
30% of the total requirements of heating.
Keywords—Latent heat storage; packed bed solar air heaters;
control climate greenhouse.
I. INTRODUCTION
Many heating systems for air-conditioning
greenhouse used renewable energy sources, the concept of
stored excess energy inside greenhouse have been developed,
such as the use of the rock beds [1]. Latent heat storage using
phase change materials (PCMs) is one of the most efficient
ways of storing thermal energy for greenhouse applications.
There are a large numbers of Phase Change Materials (PCMs)
that melt and solidify at a wide range of temperatures are used
in greenhouse, such as CaCl2·6H2O, Na2SO4·10H2O and
paraffin Boulard et al. [2] used a CaCl26H2O latent heat
storage system in a double-skin polycarbonate greenhouse
equipped with a forced ventilation system. They founded the
inside greenhouse temperature roughly 10 °C higher than the
outside temperature during typical nights of March and April.
Huang and Toksoy [3] used a 3000 kg of CaCl2·6H2O placed
in the heat exchanger inside a 200 m2 glass covered
greenhouse, they found that the interior air temperature was
maintained at 2°C higher than the outdoor conditions. Huseyin
et al. [4] studied experimentally the energy efficiency of a
seasonal latent heat storage system for greenhouse heating.
Performance analysis of a latent heat storage system with
phase change material for new designed solar collectors in
greenhouse heating is treated by Benli et al. [5]. Berroug et al.
[6] studied the thermal performance of a greenhouse with a
phase change material north wall. Ozturk et al. [7] performed
an experimental evaluation of energy and exergy efficiency of
a seasonal latent heat storage system for greenhouse heating
using 6000 kg of paraffin wax as a PCM in a 180 m2
greenhouse ground areas. They observed that the average
energy and exergy efficiency of the arrangement was 40.4%
and 4.2%, respectively.
The aim of this work is to determine the provided
heat by a Solar Air Heater with Latent Storage Collector
(SAHLSC) inside an Insulated Greenhouse (IG).
II. EXPERIMENTAL GREENHOUSE DESIGN AND SITE
DESCRIPTION
Experiments were carried out in two identical
greenhouses designed and realized in the Research and
Technology Center of Energy (CRTEn) in Tunisia (Fig. 1).
The first is an Insulated Greenhouse (IG); the second used a
solar air heater with latent storage collector (SAHLSC) and
named Insulated Greenhouse with Latent Heat System
(IGLHS).
A. Description of the experimental greenhouse
The experimental small chapel-shaped greenhouse
occupies a floor area equal to 14.8 m2 (3.7 m x 4 m) and 3 m
of height. The greenhouse structure is galvanized steel fixed to
the ground with stones and concrete. The greenhouse wall and
roof oriented to the south are covered by plexiglass with 3 mm
of thickness. Sidewalls and the northern roof are built by
sandwich panels with 0.4 m and 0.6 m of thickness,
respectively. The slope of the southern wall is equal to 30° and
of the southern roof is 33°. The greenhouse was equipped with
a centrifuge fan controlled by a differential thermostat.

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2015 6th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)

Fig. 1. External view of two insulated greenhouses. (Fig. 5) shows the SAHLSC manufactured inside the IGLHS.
The length, the width and the total volume of the collector are
B. Measuring equipment inside and outside the greenhouse 2 m, 1 m and 0.28 m3, respectively. A 0.004 m thick
transparent glass cover was placed 0.015 m apart from the
Eleven K-type thermocouples placed in the IG as follows:
packed bed absorber. A 0.05 m thick polyurethane insulation,
four sensors to measure the horizontal distributions of
with heat conductivity 0.028 Wm-1K-1, is placed in the bottom
temperature; three sensors for the vertical temperature
and the edge of the collector. The packed bed absorber is the
distributions, four sensors for measuring the temperatures at the
most important component of the solar air heater collector,
top and the bottom of the plexiglass and sandwich panels. The
formed of spherical capsules with a black coating and fixed
inside greenhouse temperature and relative humidity sensor
with steel matrix. Capsules, confined with a PCM, have an
(HMP155A, Campbell Scientific Inc) was inserted in the center
outer diameter of 0.077 m and are blow molded from a blend
at 1.5 m of level from the ground (Fig. 2). The HMP155A
of polyolefin with an average thickness of 0.002 m [8].
sensor was put into the 14-plate radiation shield houses and
protects. Its louvered construction allows air to pass freely
through the shield, thereby keeping the probe near ambient
temperature. Temperatures under the soil inside the IG at 0,
0.25 and 0.5 m depth were measured using three PT-107
sensors. The average temperature of the canopy was measured
using an infrared temperature sensor IR120 (Fig. 3).
The global solar irradiation in the horizontal plane was
measured with a Kipp and Zonen pyranometer. It’s situated at
1.5 m above the ground in the center of the IG. Ambient
temperature and relative humidity are measured by a
HMP155A sensor situated at a height of 1.5 m above the
greenhouse.
All climatic and measured parameters are sample recorded Fig. 5. SAHLSC inside greenhouse.
every 10 min using a CR5000 data logger (Campbell Scientific
Inc) (Fig. 4).
III. ENERGY ANALYSIS
The energy analysis presented in this section is mainly
based on the first law of thermodynamics. Our interest has
been focused on the absorbed, useful, stored and lost energy
and the efficiencies of the greenhouse and the solar air heater.
The theoretical analysis employed for the study of the IGLHS
consists of using static thermal energy balance and involves the
following heat fluxes:

Fig. 2. HMP155A sensor Fig. 3. IR120 sensor.

x The fluxes entering the greenhouse: net needs energy
delivered by the heating system ( Qnet ) and total solar
energy collected inside the greenhouse ( Qcol ).

x The fluxes leaving the greenhouse: total thermal losses

( Qlos ).

x The fluxes stored inside the greenhouse: stored energy

in the greenhouse ( Qsto ).

Qnet  Qcol  Qlos  Qsto 0 (1)

The expressions for each term of the above equation are
formulated as:
Fig. 4. CR5000 data logger.

C. Description of the heating system [Collected energy] = Qcol J IT Ag (2)

The heating system of the IGLHS is a new Solar Air Heater
with Latent Heat Storage Collector (SAHLSC) using a packed The solar efficiency J is the fraction of the solar radiation
bed of spherical capsules as a latent heat storage system [8]. A absorbed by the greenhouse components. I T is the total solar
new type of the SAHLSC was designed as a means to heat the
radiation ( W / m2 ). Ag is the surface area of greenhouse ( m2 ).
interior environment of the greenhouses during the nighttime.

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2015 6th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)

Ug Ag Ti IGLHS  To 
Fig. 6. Air temperature inside IG and IGLHS as a function of days (26th and
[Loss energy] = Qlos (3) 27th February, 2013).

The energy loss coefficient, U g , includes only the thermal

losses by the plexiglass cover. U g was calculated from
experiments. Ti and To are respectively the inside and outside
greenhouse temperature ( K ).

[Stored energy] = Q dTg (4)

sto Ag Cg
dt
Then the equation (1) becomes:
dTg
Qnet J I T Ag  Ug Ag Ti  To   Ag Cg
dt
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. Performance of the SAHLSC inside IGLHS
An experimental study has been carried out on selected
days from 23th to 27th February, 2013 in winter season.. The
maximum of the global solar irradiation intensity in the
horizontal plane varied between 300 and 650 wm-1. The two
first days of this period were very windy, air speed varied
between 3 and 8 ms-1.
The air temperature variation inside both IG and IGLHS are
presented in Fig. 6. On 27th of February 2013, the diurnal
variation of the IG inside temperature exceed the IGLHS inside
temperature with a difference varied between 1– 3.6 °C from
10 h to 16:30 h (local time). This is due to the fraction of solar
radiations stored in the packed bed absorber. From 21 h (local
time), the analysis of the curves illustrates a clear effect of
heating of the solar air heater at night. The SAHLSC maintain
air temperature inside IGLHS constant, around 12°C, along the
night.
The Fig. 7 presents the effect of the SAHLSC on relative
humidity inside the greenhouse. The IGLHS air relative
humidity maintained 10–17 % lowers than the IG relative
humidity. The SAHLSC create a passive dehumidification
process at night time due to the increase of the air temperature
inside the IGLHS.
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(5)
Fig. 7. Humidity inside IG and IGLHS as a function of days (26th and 27th
February, 2013).
B. Energy performance assessment
Fig. 8 gives the hourly variation of heating
requirements, heating excess inside IGLHS and heating
recovered from SAHLSC on 27th of February 2013. During
the best winter days, a significant heat portion can be provided
by the SAHLSC at the nighttime inside the greenhouse. The
hourly average heating recovered from SAHLSC all the night
is around 1.1 MJ and the hourly average heating demand at the
nighttime is around 4 MJ. The stored solar heat provided is
26% of the total greenhouse heating requirements. The hourly
heating excess of solar energy in the IGLHS (Fig. 8), from 11 h
to 16 h (local time), varied between 5 to 13 MJ. An important
portion of solar heat transmitted to the greenhouse is stored by
SAHLSC which will be exploited later.
Fig. 8. Variation of hourly heating recovered from SAHLSC, heating excess
inside IGLHS and heating requirements on 27th February, 2013.
Fig. 9 presented the daily heating requirements, the
daily heating excess inside IGLHS and nighttime heating
recovered from SAHLSC, during 23th - 27th of February 2013.
978-1-4799-7947-9/15$31.00©2015 IEEE
2015 6th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)
The diurnal and nocturnal greenhouse temperatures varied
according to ambient conditions.
The stored energy in the solar air heater with thermal storage is
13.7 MJ on 23th of February, 2013. This value is equivalent to
56% of the total daytime excess heat. For the SAHLSC system,
the contribution of stored energy to the nighttime heating
requirements are 31%, 27% and 26%, respectively on 23th,
26th and 27th of February 2013 under best ambient conditions.
On 24th and 25th of February 2013, the recovered stored heats
are 6% and 11% with requirements heat exceeds 65 MJ.
Fig. 9. Nighttime heating recovered from SAHLSC, daytime heating excess
inside IGLHS and heating requirements as a function of days (23th - 27th
February, 2013).
V. CONCLUSION
An experimental study was conducted to evaluate nighttime
recovered heat of the SAHLSC in the greenhouse. This
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collector stored solar energy during the daytime and supplied it
for heating at night. As a result of this system, on 23th of
February 2013, the amount of the nighttime recovered heat of
this system attaints 30% of the total heating requirements. The
stored heat is equivalent to 56% of the daytime total excess
heat inside the greenhouse.
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