DESIGN OF COMFORT SPACE FOR MUSHROOM FARMING

Abstract

In this research work, different methods that can be adopted to maintain a specific temperature and humidity range in a closed and thickly insulated room are experimentally defined. Solar energy-assisted heating and ground-coupled heat exchangers are experimented with for winter, and a cooling tower is experimented with for summer. As the main objective is temperature and humidity control using natural air-conditioning methods (i.e., without using any refrigerant-based A/C system), the concern about power consumption is addressed secondarily. A general COP and heat exchanger-effectiveness calculation is carried out for the ground-coupled heat exchangers. COP calculation, along with some other combined airconditioning methods, are highlighted in the cooling tower experiment. The heat gain from two solar flat plate collectors of the approximate area of 1m2 was found to be 28.28W after partial thermal energy storage in water. The air-tube ground-coupled heat exchanger provided an average COP of 1.15, and the water-tube ground-coupled heat exchanger could provide an average COP of 9.6 in an experiment to find their peak performance.