Airflow and Thermal Management in NutraPonics Growing System for Quality Food Crop Production

用于优质食品作物生产的 NutraPonics 种植系统中的气流和热管理

• 批准号: 513737-2017
• 负责人: Wang, Liangzhu
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Concordia University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Engage Grants Program
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=639507
• 关键词: Airflow; Thermal; Management; NutraPonics; Growing

NutraPonics Canada Corp., a Alberta-based company, develops an innovative Indoor Vertical AquaponicsFarming technology: the NutraPonics Growing System (NGS), a commercial plant and fish production systemwith proprietary growing methods based on the aquaponics for quality food crop production. However, due tolarge dimension and internal airflow resistance from the beds and plants, the NGS suffers from unbalanceddistribution of airflow: 20 m/s at the 1st row of beds whereas reduced to zero m/s at the 2nd row, consequentlyaffecting the desirable levels of temperature and humidity near the plants. Lack of airflow and/or high humidityare found to limit plant transpiration and lead to poor calcium intake for the plants, causing leaf tip burns andnecrosis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to optimize their NGS's airflow and thermal conditions for creatingbest growing conditions for the plants.This project proposes solving the problem by numerical simulations using computational fluid dynamics(CFD) techniques. However, in the case the NGS, the problem becomes complicated by the CFD simulationmodels based on the porous media models suitable for modeling different plants and for different growthstages. To keep a balance of simulation accuracy and time, therefore, this project takes a novel approachthrough "model verification and simulations" undertaken by four steps of combining "detailed but scaledsimulations" and "simplified full-scale simulations". This project involves many time-consuming CFDsimulations and associated analysis so two research assistants are assigned to undertake the taskssimultaneously including one postdoctoral fellow and one PhD student. Two site visits at NutraPonics are alsoplanned: one for 1st month of the project to collect in-situ modeling information and one for the finalpresentation and future collaborations. This project will contribute significantly to the NGS innovations bytackling the urgent airflow and thermal management issues to ensure healthy and nutrient-rich growingenvironment for achieving high-quality plant crop production, right here home-grown and branded in Canada.

NutraPonics Canada Corp.，一家位于阿尔伯塔省的公司，开发了一种创新的室内垂直水培农业技术：NutraPonics生长系统（NGS），这是一种商业化的植物和鱼类生产系统，采用基于水培的专有生长方法，用于优质粮食作物生产。然而，由于大尺寸和来自床和植物的内部气流阻力，NGS遭受不平衡的气流分布：在第一排床处为20 m/s，而在第二排床处降低到0 m/s，从而影响植物附近的理想温度和湿度水平。研究发现，缺乏气流和/或高湿度会限制植物的蒸腾作用，导致植物钙摄入量不足，从而导致叶尖烧伤和坏死。因此，迫切需要优化NGS的气流和热条件，为植物创造最佳的生长条件。本项目提出通过使用计算流体动力学（CFD）技术的数值模拟来解决这个问题。然而，在NGS的情况下，问题变得复杂的CFD simulationmodels的基础上的多孔介质模型适合于模拟不同的植物和不同的生长阶段。因此，为了在模拟精度和时间上取得平衡，本项目采取了一种新的方法，通过“模型验证和模拟”进行，分为“详细但缩放的模拟”和“简化的全尺寸模拟”相结合的四个步骤。该项目涉及许多耗时的CFD模拟和相关分析，因此分配了两名研究助理同时承担任务，包括一名博士后研究员和一名博士生。NutraPonics还计划进行两次实地考察：一次是在项目的第一个月收集现场建模信息，另一次是为了最终演示和未来的合作。该项目将通过解决紧迫的气流和热管理问题，为NGS创新做出重大贡献，以确保健康和营养丰富的生长环境，实现高质量的植物作物生产，就在这里，加拿大本土种植和品牌。