Effect of ventilator configuration on the distributed climate of greenhouses: A review of experimental and CFD studies

▶ Ventilation is a key factor for controlling the climate inside greenhouses. ▶ Airflow pattern and climatic parameter distribution depend on the greenhouse design. ▶ The vent combination strongly impacts the ventilation characteristics. ▶ CFD offers a powerful tool to investigate the distributed climate. Ventilation processes inside the greenhouse strongly affect air renewal and internal climatic conditions, which themselves interact with the growth and homogeneity of the crop. Natural ventilation is often chosen since it is the most economic method available. Studies of internal distributed climate induced by ventilation have been taking place for the past 25 years. Experimental studies have pointed out the impact of vent configurations on airflow pattern, particularly when the wind is the main driving force. However, the development of computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) has only recently provided the opportunity to simulate the climate inside greenhouses for known vent configurations, and to test a wide range of geometries with different vent combinations under different climatic conditions. In this article, the main factors governing air movements inside the greenhouse are first analysed. The characteristics of the laboratory scale models and field experiments are reviewed, with particular focus on the technologies implemented. The principles of CFD, the main modelling approach, together with its adaptations to greenhouse climate simulation, are then described in detail. Conclusions of studies concerning ventilation efficiency inside greenhouses are reviewed with respect to greenhouse geometry and opening arrangements. Other parameters affecting ventilation, such as wind speed and direction, the addition of insect-proof or shading screens, and interactions with the crop, are also discussed.