• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.599-606
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• 1998

This study was carried out to develop the control system with PLC and its operating software and to investigate its control ability of greenhouse environments. Two experimental greenhouses were controlled by PLC and ON/OFF controller, respectively. In greenhouse controlled by PLC, target values of air temperature, relative humidity and $CO_2$ concentration were automatically changed. In warm-water heating, the variation of air temperature was reduced to $\pm$ $0.6^{\circ}C$ by the method of proportional-integration(PI) control with an inverter. In ventilation, the variation of air temperature was reduced, since windows open and close with multistage by mutual relation formula among the target, indoor, and outdoor temperature. Relative humidity at daytime was maintained with range of 35% to 55% by PLC controlled fogger. $CO_2$ concentration was automatically controlled from 300 to 800 $\mu$molㆍ$mol^{-1}$ according to amount of solar radiation. The suppling amount and frequency of nutrient solution were controlled by total integrated solar radiation. Difference in the yield of cucumber in the greenhouse controlled by PLC and by ON/OFF controller was not significant at the 5% level.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.224-235
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• 2019

The increase in the amount of energy used in the agricultural sector due to the expansion of agricultural machinery and greenhouse horticulture has caused a range of problems, such as an increase in the cost of input, such as heating costs and greenhouse gas emission. To overcome these problems, this study examined the current status of energy use in greenhouse horticulture as well as the change patterns of non-taxable oil and agricultural electricity, and reviewed the current status of the supply of renewable energy and energy saving facilities for agriculture. This study investigated the area of advanced and renewable energy and energy saving facilities implemented, applied the energy saving ratio of advanced and renewable energy and energy saving facilities, and determined the effects of renewable energy in the agricultural sector, such as increase in production, decrease in heating cost, reduction in Government financial expenditure, reduction in greenhouse gas emission, and oil substitution effect.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2012

The objective of the present study is to provide data needed to find double covering method to be able to improve environment of temperature, humidity and PPF in tomato greenhouse. The distribution charts of temperature, humidity and PPF which were measured in environment control conditions such as thermal insulation, air heating, roof ventilation and air fog cooling in conventional and air inflated double layers greenhouses were drawn and analysed. The thermal insulation effect of the air inflated greenhouse was the same as that of conventional greenhouse because the temperature between insulation curtain and roof covering material was equal in heating season. The ventilation effect of the air inflated greenhouse was superior to the conventional greenhouse. The temperature distribution in the fog cooled greenhouse was uniform and the cooling effect was about $3.5^{\circ}C$. The condensation on the roof covering surface could be controlled by removing the moisture between insulation curtain and roof covering by using humidifier. The PPF of conventional greenhouse was more decreased than the air inflated greenhouse as time went by because the transmittance of conventional greenhouse declined by dust collected on the inside plastic film owing to rolling up and down operation for ventilation.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.335-341
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• 2019

In order to provide basic data for uniformization of temperature distribution in heating greenhouses, heating experiments were performed in two greenhouses with a hot water heating system. By analyzing heat transfer characteristics and improving pipes layout, measures to reduce the variation of pipe surface temperature and to improve the uniformity were derived. As a result of analyzing the temperature distributions of two different greenhouses and examining the maximum deviation and uniformity, it was found that the temperature deviation of greenhouses with a large amount of hot water flow and a short heating pipe was small and the uniformity was high. And it was confirmed that the temperature deviation was reduced and the uniformity was improved when the circulating fan was operated. The correlation between the surface temperature of the heating pipe and the indoor air temperature was a positive correlation and statistically significant(p<0.01) in both greenhouses. It was confirmed that the indoor temperature distribution in a hot water heating greenhouse was influenced by the surface temperature distribution of heating pipe, and the uniformity of indoor temperature distribution could be improved by arranging the heating pipe to minimize the temperature deviation. Analysis of the heat transfer characteristics of heating pipe showed that the temperature deviation increased as the pipe length became longer and the temperature deviation became smaller as the flow rate in pipe increased. Therefore, it was considered that the temperature distribution and the uniformity of environment in a greenhouse could be improved by arranging the heating pipe to shorten the length and controlling the flow velocity in pipe. In order to control the temperature deviation of one branch pipe within $3^{\circ}C$ in the tube rail type hot water heating system most used in domestic greenhouses, when the flow velocity in the pipe is 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, $1.0m{\cdot}s^{-1}$, the length of a heating pipe should be limited to 40, 80, 120, 160, 200m, respectively.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2006

This study was conducted to develop a system and an control algorithm for control the environment of a plant factory. The greenhouse control system for environmental control was largely composed of a computer and a PLC. The screen of control program was composed of a greenhouse figure which was included machinery and equipments for greenhouse, the graph of environmental factors of inside greenhouse and the image of greenhouse. In order to reduce temperature change, the operation time of ventilation window was changed by 3 stage according to difference between a target and present temperature. When is heating, a temperature variation was shown to be $16.7{\pm}0.8^{\circ}C$. When is cooling, a temperature variation was shown to be $23.1{\pm}0.6^{\circ}C$. When is humidifing, a humidity variation was shown to be $39.3{\pm}1.6^{\circ}C$ %RH. An environmental control system and a control algorithm were proved that it was shown a good performance in a control accuracy. So a computer control system should be adapted to a control system of a greenhouse and a plant factory.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2015

The calculation method of infiltration loss in greenhouse has different ideas in each design standard, so there is a big difference in each method according to the size of greenhouses, it is necessary to establish a more accurate method that can be applied to the domestic. In order to provide basic data for the formulation of the calculation method of greenhouse heating load, we measured the infiltration rates using the tracer gas method in plastic greenhouses equipped with various thermal curtains. And then the calculation methods of infiltration loss in greenhouses were reviewed. Infiltration rates of the multi-span and single-span greenhouses were measured in the range of $0.042{\sim}0.245h^{-1}$ and $0.056{\sim}0.336h^{-1}$ respectively, single-span greenhouses appeared to be slightly larger. Infiltration rate of the greenhouse has been shown to significantly decrease depending on the number of thermal curtain layers without separation of single-span and multi-span. As the temperature differences between indoor and outdoor increase, the infiltration rates tended to increase. In the range of low wind speed during the experiments, changes of infiltration rate according to the outdoor wind speed could not find a consistent trend. Infiltration rates for the greenhouse heating design need to present the values at the appropriate temperature difference between indoor and outdoor. The change in the infiltration rate according to the wind speed does not need to be considered because the maximum heating load is calculated at a low wind speed range. However the correction factors to increase slightly the maximum heating load including the overall heat transfer coefficient should be applied at the strong wind regions. After reviewing the calculation method of infiltration loss, a method of using the infiltration heat transfer coefficient and the greenhouse covering area was found to have a problem, a method of using the infiltration rate and the greenhouse volume was determined to be reasonable.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.276-282
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to compare and analyze air temperature and humidity distribution and energy consumptions according to using air circulation fans in single-span greenhouses. The greenhouses located in Cheongnam-myeon, Cheongyang-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. There were cherry tomatoes in the greenhouses and the size of greenhouses was as follows;ridge height : 3.2 m, wide : 6 m, length : 95 m. The heating system was composed of a hot-water boiler and 6 FCUs(Fan Coil Unit)-4 FCUs were on bottom with duct and 2 FCUs were installed at 2.0 m. A total of 18 air circulation fans(impeller's diameter : 230 mm) were bilaterally arranged in 2 rows in the experimental greenhouse. The sensors for measuring air temperature and humidity were located at a quarter and three quarters of a length. The height of sensors were 0.8 m, 1.8 m. To calculate energy consumption in greenhouses, water temperature at inlet and outlet in a water pump, volume of water were measured. Form February 3rd to March 23th, temperature, humidity and energy consumptions were measured during heating time(6pm~7am). In a greenhouse without fans, the average differences of temperature and humidity were $0.75^{\circ}C$, 2.31%, respectively. The operation of fans showed their differences to $0.42^{\circ}C$, 1.8%. The standard deviation of temperature and humidity between measuring points in the greenhouse with fans was lower than the greenhouse without fans. Total energy consumptions in a greenhouse without fans were 4,673 kWh. In the greenhouse with fans, the total energy consumptions were 4,009 kWh. The energy consumptions in a greenhouse with fans 14.2% were less than the greenhouse without fans. Therefore, air circulation makes temperature and humidity uniform and saves energy consumptions for heating.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.211-216
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• 2011

According to the result of the first report and the second report of this study, it was expected that soil heating in a protected cultivation in winter season would affect the initial growth and development of fruit. Based on the result of previous study, we compared height, leaf number, leaf area, fruit weight, crop growth rate (CGR), features and quantity of cucumber for 3 months after planting between the soil heating group and the non-heating group. The result were summarized as follows: The height, leaf number, leaf area and fruit weight of cucumber in the soil heating group were 12.5%, 14.6%, 21.4% and 22.8% higher, respectively, compared to those of cucumber in the non-heating group. Although both the soil heating group and the non-heating group similarly showed an increasing pattern in CGR after transplanting, the soil heating group showed the increased CGR by 12.1% compared to that of the non-heating group. The quantity of cucumber in the soil heating group was about 26% higher than that of the non-heating group. It is assumed that the activation of initial growth and development of fruit in the heating group resulted in the increase of quantity.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2013

This research analyzed surplus solar energy in Venlo-type greenhouse using acquired typical meteorological year (TMY) data for designing a heat storage system for the surplus solar energy generated in the greenhouse during the day. In the case of paprika, the region-dependent heating loads for Jeju, Jinju, and Daegwanryong area were approximately 1,107.8 GJ, 1,010.0 GJ, and 3,118.5 GJ, respectively. The surplus solar energy measured in Jeju area was 1,845.4 GJ, Jinju area 1,881.8 GJ, and Daegwanryong area 2,061.8 GJ, with the Daegwanryong area showing 11.7% and 9.6% higher than the Jeju region and Jinju region respectively. In the case of chrysanthemums, regional heating loads were determined as 1,202.5 GJ for the Jeju region, 1,042.0 GJ for the Jinju region, and 3,288.6 GJ for the Daegwanryong region; the regional differences were similar to those for paprika. The recorded surplus solar energy was 1,435.2 GJ, 1,536.2 GJ, and 1,734.6 GJ for Jeju, Jinju, and Daegwanryong region, respectively. The Daegwanryong region recorded heating loads 20.9% and 12.9% higher than in the Jeju and Jinju region, respectively. From the above, it can be said that cultivating paprika, compared to cultivating chrysanthemums, requires less heating energy regardless of the region and tends to yield more surplus solar energy. Moreover, if the Daekwan Pass region is excluded, the surplus solar energy exceeds the energy required for heating. Although the required heating energy differs according to regions and crops, cucumbers were found to require the highest amount, followed by chrysanthemum and paprika. The amount of surplus solar energy was the highest in the case of paprika, followed by cucumber and chrysanthemum.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.251-257
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• 2004

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different covering materials and methods on heat insulation of a plastic greenhouse, growth and yield of tomato. Night air and soil temperatures in a double-layer greenhouse with external multifold thermal cover (MTC; eight-ounce cassimere+four-fold polyform+double-fold non-woven fabric+single-fold polypropylene covering were about $1^{\circ}C$ lower than in that with internal MTC covering, but about $3^{\circ}C$ higher than in that with an EVA film screen. Tomato yield in the external MTC covering increased by $2\%\;and\;19\%$ as compared to that in the internal MTC covering and the non-covering of MTC, respectively, due to its high light transmission and insulation effect. Night air temperatures in a double-layer greenhouse with external MTC covering and with thermal screen (polyester plus aluminium) were $2.2^{\circ}C\;and\;4.5^{\circ}C$ higher than those in a double-layer greenhouse with an external MTC covering and in a double-layer greenhouse equipped an EVA film screen, respectively. Tomato yield in the treatment with external MTC covering and a thermal screen was $18\%\;and\;37\%$ greater than that in the external MTC covering and in an EVA film screen, respectively. Results indicate that tomato could be grown without heating or with minimal heating in a double-layer greenhouse covered with MTC and a thermal screen during the winter season in sourthern regions of Korea.