Thermal Energy Storage in the Ground of a Greenhouse by the Polypropylene Capillary Heat Exchanger

Abstract

The problem of temperature inversion is one of solar origin principal problems about which the cultures under shelters complain. Indeed, for the winter period, the temperature under greenhouse is very low at night and it is rather high during the day in summer. Consequently, the heating of the greenhouses is essential. In this work, we studied the advisability of using two exchangers coupled between them to manage thermal energy in a greenhouse. The first system is a battery of plaits with capillary tubes buried under ground with a depth of 70 cm. The second is an air exchanger based on plastic tubes black known as agrotherms suspended with two meters and half height. The hot water, which circulates in the exchangers, is provided by the hot-water tank of the electrosolar power station of the Center of Energy Researches and Technologies (CRTEn) from Tunisia.