Two-Dimensional Numerical Study of the Microclimate Generated in Three Screenhouses for the Climatic Conditions of the Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

Insect proof screenhouse is increasingly used in tropical countries with a warm climate, as this type of structure is more economical than greenhouses and gives farmers the opportunity to optimize their production systems. In this work we used an experimentally validated two-dimensional numerical model, the objective was to study the air flow patterns and the thermal and hygrometric behavior of three screenhouses differentiated in their geometric configuration of the roof area and under four (4) outside wind speeds. The results obtained allowed us to find that the airflow speed inside the screenhouse can be maximized with respect to the most critical scenario by 29% for a wind speed of 0.5 ms-1 and up to 292% for a wind speed of 3.0 ms-1, which generates reductions in the average temperature inside the structure of -0.2℃ (0.5 ms-1) and up to -2.2℃ (3 ms-1). While the relative humidity presented values of 1.6% and 6.3% higher for these same speeds.