The Effect of Internal Obstructions in Naturally Ventilated Greenhouse Applications

In this paper the effect of internal partitions on airflow and temperature patterns in a glass greenhouse is presented. The inner climate at plant level of the greenhouse is numerically analysed using computational fluid dynamics. Firstly, the results obtained for an open greenhouse were validated against results found in the literature. Next a full length partition was inserted in the middle of the two west-spans of the greenhouse. The second case investigated the influence of a partition half the height of the full partition. Results showed that the presence of a full partition has a significant influence on both velocity and temperature distribution at plant level. Reducing the height of the partition results in a less pronounced influence on the temperature and velocity distribution compared to the full partition.