Modeling and Simulation of Temperature and Relative Humidity Inside a Growth Chamber

Abstract

Modeling and simulation of internal variables such as temperature and relative humidity are relevant for designing future climate control systems. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to predict the internal variables temperature and relative humidity (RH) of a growth chamber (GCH). Both variables are incorporated in a set of first-order differential equations, considering an energy-mass balance. The results of the model are compared and assessed in terms of the coefficients of determination (R2) and the root mean squared error (RMSE). The R2 and RMSE computed were R2 = 0.96, R2 = 0.94, RMSE = 0.98 °C, and RMSE = 1.08 °C, respectively, for the temperature during two consecutive weeks; and R2 = 0.83, R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 5.45%RH, and RMSE = 5.48%RH, respectively, for the relative humidity during the same period. Thanks to the passive systems used to control internal conditions, the growth chamber gives average differences between inside and outside of +0.34 °C for temperature, and +15.7%RH for humidity without any climate control system. Operating, the GCH proposed in this paper produces 3.5 kg of wet hydroponic green forage (HGF) for each kilogram of seed (corn or barley) harvested on average.