GREENHOUSE COOLING IN HOT COUNTRIES

A commercial greenhouse (GH) is equipped with an evaporative cooling pad for use during the summer period in arid countries. The temperature inside the greenhouse may be calcualted for different outside ambient conditions. The volume flow rate through the evaporative pad is determined by the number of air changes per hour (AC/h) in the GH, which determines the amount of cooling required. Twenty AC/h were found to be sufficient to reach tolerable conditions for the GH under dry weather conditions. The water required for evaporative cooling was also determined.