WO2018111100A1

WO2018111100A1 - Greenhouse for growing crop

Info

Publication number: WO2018111100A1
Application number: PCT/NL2017/050832
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian Simon POTMA
Original assignee: Flowmotiondesign B.V.
Priority date: 2016-12-14
Filing date: 2017-12-12
Publication date: 2018-06-21
Also published as: NL2018000B1

Abstract

Greenhouse for growing of crop (5), such as tomatoes, comprising a growing section, a climate control system arranged to control the environment within said growing section by flowing conditioned air into said growing section with said climate control system comprising a plurality of tubes (6) in the growing section to distribute said conditioned air to a greenhouse crop (5) within said growing section with each of the tubes (6) having an infeed for the conditioned air and the tubes (6) have outlet openings (7) for the conditioned air into the growing section and away from the tubes (6), wherein at least one of the plurality of tubes (6) is provided with a diminishing dimension transversely to the tubes longitudinal direction (A) when seen in the tubes longitudinal direction away from the infeed (8), and at least one of the plurality of tubes (6) is embodied as a flexible gas tight fabric or cloth (10) that is regularly supported by battens (9) and arranged to enable a lateral and horizontal stream of said conditioned air into the growing section.

Description

GREENHOUSE FOR GROWING CROP

The invention relates to a greenhouse for growing of crop, such as tomatoes, comprising: a growing section; a cli- mate control system arranged to control the environment within said growing section by flowing conditioned air into said growing section, wherein said climate control system comprises a plurality of tubes arranged at the bottom of said growing section to distribute said conditioned air to a green-house crop within said growing section; wherein each of the tubes has an infeed for the conditioned air.

Such a greenhouse is known from EP-A-2 698 057.

In (tomato) greenhouses humidity around the crop plays a significant role in the growth of the crop. In order to maintain a required humidity level proper ventilation of the greenhouse growing section is very important. Various methods have been applied in the past to maintain and/or control the humidity and temperatures near the crop.

One known way of ventilating a greenhouse is through the application of long hoses/tubes which are placed under the crop and which contain a large number of ventilation holes. This way of ventilation creates a very uniform distribution of air and humidity in a horizontal plane. However, temperature and humidity vary in height due to humidity production of the plant. This causes that under certain conditions, existing ventilation systems fail to properly control the humidity levels under all circumstances.

Another disadvantage of existing ventilation systems is the high energy consumption of these systems. Existing ven- tilation systems absorb an enormous amount of energy.

WO2008/140312 discloses a system according to the preamble of the main claim for treating and distributing air in a greenhouse, comprising at least one outflow opening connected to an air treatment apparatus for locally introducing treated air into the greenhouse and a distributing unit corresponding with the outflow opening substantially in vertical direction for locally distributing in the greenhouse the air introduced into the greenhouse via the outflow openings.

It is an object of the invention to provide a green- house with an improved ventilation system which can be applied using less energy.

The greenhouse of the invention has the features of one or more of the appended claims.

In a first aspect of the invention the greenhouse is provided with tubes having outlet openings for the conditioned air wherein at least one of the plurality of tubes is embodied as a flexible gas tight fabric or cloth that is regularly sup^¬ ported by battens and arranged to enable a lateral and hori- zontal stream of said conditioned air into the growing section. With this construction it is not required to use energy for blowing up the gas tight fabric or cloth to its eventual shape. It is also possible that the gas tight fabric or cloth is suspended in the growing section, below the area where the crops are grown.

According to the invention a uniform outflow of conditioned air into the growing section can be guaranteed whilst maintaining a uniform pressure throughout the length of the fabric or cloth. Accordingly the greenhouse according to the invention consumes less energy and is more energy efficient than the known greenhouse. On the average 75% energy reduction can be obtained with a 125m long fabric or cloth with a flow rate of 15.000 m3/h. With a proper selection of the fan that supplies the conditioned air, it is also possible to blow more air into the greenhouse and lower the humidity concentration around the plant. All this with a much lower energy consumption .

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to the drawing of an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention that is not limiting as to the appended claims.

In the drawing:

-figure 1 schematically shows a greenhouse according to the prior art; and

-figure 2 shows an example of a tube to be applied in a greenhouse according to the invention.

Whenever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

Making reference first to figure 1 with reference to the greenhouse of the prior art it schematically shows that the greenhouse comprises a floor 1, a glass roof 2, windows 3 in the roof 2, insect netting 4, a crop 5 being grown in the greenhouse, and a plurality of tubes 6 provided below the crop 5. Evidently the crop 5 is in the growing section of the greenhouse, as are the tubes 6. Also present but not shown is that the greenhouse has sidewalls, but this is self-evident for the skilled person. The tubes 6 are part of a climate control system that is arranged to control the environment within said growing section where the crops 5 are grown, by flowing conditioned air out of said tubes 6 into said growing section. Evidently therefore each of the tubes 6 has an infeed for the conditioned air.

Figure 2 shows schematically one tube 6 designed in accordance with the invention. The tube 6 is embodied as a cloth or fabric 10 and has outlet openings 7 in the form of a grating which enables a lateral and horizontal stream of conditioned air flowing from within the tube 6 into the growing section and away from the tube 6. The outlet openings 7 are preferably in an upper region of the tube 6, particularly when the tube is suspended in the growing section below the crop 5 that is grown therein.

According to the invention the cloth or fabric 10 of the tube 6 is provided with a diminishing dimension trans- versely to the tubes longitudinal direction when seen in the tubes longitudinal direction away from the infeed 8 for the conditioned air, as symbolized with arrow A. It shows that the dimension transversely to the tubes longitudinal direction A is smaller near arrow B which is at the beginning of the tube 6 than near arrow C which is at the end of the tube 6. This brings about the effect that a uniform outflow of conditioned air out of the tube 6 through the outlet openings 7 and into the growing section can be guaranteed whilst maintaining a uniform pressure throughout the length of the tube 6.

As already mentioned according to the invention the tube 6 is embodied as a flexible gas tight fabric or cloth 10 that is regularly supported by battens 9. The tube 6 may then be standing but is preferably suspended since this avoids the need to spend energy on blowing the flexible gas tight fabric or cloth 10 into a desired shape.

Although the invention has been discussed in the foregoing with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the greenhouse tube of the invention, the invention is not restricted to this particular embodiment which can be varied in many ways without departing from the invention. The discussed exemplary embodiment shall therefore not be used to construe the appended claims strictly in accordance therewith. On the contrary the embodiment is merely intended to explain the wording of the appended claims without intent to limit the claims to this exemplary embodiment. The scope of protection of the invention shall therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims only, wherein a possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be resolved using this exemplary embodiment.

Claims

1. Greenhouse for growing of crop (5), such as tomatoes, comprising:

a growing section;

a climate control system arranged to control the environment within said growing section by flowing conditioned air into said growing section, wherein said climate control system com^¬ prises a plurality of tubes (6) in the growing section to distribute said conditioned air to a greenhouse crop (5) within said growing section;

each of the tubes (6) having an infeed for the conditioned air;

the tubes (6) have outlet openings (7) for the conditioned air into the growing section and away from the tubes (6); and at least one of the plurality of tubes (6) is provided with a di- minishing dimension transversely to the tubes longitudinal direction (A) when seen in the tubes longitudinal direction away from the infeed (8), characterized in that at least one of the plurality of tubes (6) is embodied as a flexible gas tight fabric or cloth (10) that is regularly supported by battens (9) and arranged to enable a lateral and horizontal stream of said conditioned air into the growing section.

2. Greenhouse according to claim 1, characterized in that the gas tight fabric or cloth (10) is suspended in the growing section.