Climatisation of greenhouses in hot climate conditions: Sanliurfa case study

Air conditioning of greenhouses in hot periods is important in order to provide a comfortable environment that plants need. Since greenhouses are very expensive plant production structures, the main goal is to achieve the highest efficiency in terms of the profitability of the investment. Achieving high efficiency in greenhouses is possible by providing optimum growing conditions that plants require. In the areas where greenhouses are established, if the average daily temperature rises above 22oC or hourly temperature rises above 27oC, it is necessary to take cooling measures in greenhouses. ventilation is the cheapest air conditioning measure for cooling greenhouses during hot periods. However, if the temperature rises above 27oC, ventilation and shading together are not sufficient for the continuation of production in the greenhouse. In these conditions, it is necessary to apply evaporative cooling in greenhouses. In this study, based on the long annual hourly climate values (temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation) of Şanlıurfa province, which has the highest cooling-degree-day values in Turkey, it is aimed to calculate the temperature values that can be reached by ventilation, ventilation + shading and evaporative cooling by using psychrometric equations and to determine the required working time for feasibility studies. Keyword:Greenhouse, Ventilation rate, Air Exchange number, Cooling