Root zone heating is an effective option for greenhouses that provides heat directly to the growing media rather than heating the air of the greenhouse. This approach provides a triple benefit for greenhouse growers: faster production, higher quality crops and energy savings. If the root zone temperature is maintained at the optimum, air temperature in the greenhouse can be lowered 5 to 10 degrees F., reducing heat loss to the outside and therefore, reducing energy consumption. This is possible because …
Ventilation and Cooling Systems for Animal Housing
Introduction
Livestock production is significantly influenced by animal health and comfort. Ventilation of animal housing to remove moisture and odors and replacing them with fresh air is necessary for livestock productivity. Ventilation also provides air movement that promotes cooling and improves air quality for confined animals. While good ventilation contributes to profitability, if not properly designed, the energy used by a cooling and ventilation system can …
Selecting and Maintaining Greenhouse Thermostats
How would you like to reduce your annual energy costs $100 to $200 for a simple 15-minute maintenance procedure in your greenhouse? This is the potential fuel savings from properly heating a greenhouse by improving the accuracy of a heating thermostat. There are few minimum labor tasks that will give this large a return.
The above savings is based on a 30-foot-by-100-foot double covered greenhouse where the average winter temperature is 25 degrees F. and the fuel costs are $15…
Can I use the exhausted heat from a high-efficiency furnace vent to heat a greenhouse?
No. There are several reasons not to attempt heating a greenhouse with a high-efficiency furnace vent:
1) Carbon monoxide could be lethal to anyone entering a greenhouse heated by furnace exhaust.
2) Carbon monoxide interferes with photosynthesis in plants.
3) It would not be worth the investment.
You have already been environmentally responsible by investing in a high-efficiency furnace. You could run the exhaust pipe through a greenhouse, but there should be very little heat in the exhausted air from …
What are the differences between biofuels, biopower, and bioproducts?
These terms refer to three generally different end uses of biomass based products. “Biofuel” is short for “biomass fuel,” a term used for liquid fuels produced from biomass (generally transportation fuels), such as ethanol, bio-oil, and biodiesel. “Biopower” refers to biomass-fueled power systems that generate electricity or industrial process heat and steam, such as combined heat and power (CHP) systems. “Bioproduct” is short for “biomass products” and can be used to describe a chemical, material, or other (non-energy) product such …
Why is there such an emphasis on power production from biomass?
Woody biomass is an abundant and readily available resource that historically has not been used much except by forest products manufacturers as an internal energy source at their facilities, although many such manufacturers have also been able to produce excess electric power for sale to the grid. Whereas commercial-scale production of transportation fuels is still in early stages of development, technologies are already well-developed for producing heat and electricity from biomass in firing or co-firing in boilers and in gasification …
What is the energy potential from manure produced by livestock?
Most references on bomb calorimeter studies of manure indicate about 7,500 BTU/lb of manure dry matter. This value is similar to the energy in raw feedstuffs. One finishing pig will consume about 600 lb of feed. The energy content of the feed is about 5 million BTU. The pig will excrete about 150 lb of manure dry matter. Energy content of the manure is about 1 million BTU.
The water in manure must be vaporized before the manure will burn. …
What are some of the most common crops used for biofuel production?
While the most common crops used for ethanol throughout the world are certainly corn and sugarcane, there are an increasing number of crops being investigated and used in the industry. Amongst sugar/starch crops, sugarbeet and sweet sorghum have been the focus of much attention; cellulosic crops such as switchgrass, miscanthus, corn stover, poplar, and grass are the subject of increasing interest.
Currently, rapeseed (canola) is the dominant feedstock for biodiesel in Europe, and soybeans are the dominant feedstock for biodiesel …
Introduction to Energy Efficiency and Conservation for Livestock Production
Many energy conservation and efficiency strategies can be applied to dairy, livestock and poultry production to save money and reduce fuel consumption. These include energy-efficient building design, and better management of ventilation and cooling of buildings.
Use of efficient systems for vacuum pumps, cooling milk and heating water can save money on dairy farms. Most farms can find savings by replacing incandescent lighting with high efficiency fluorescent lighting, and may also save by upgrading livestock water fountains to energy-free …
Energy Conversion Values
http://www.onlineconversion.com/energy.htm – Nifty conversion tool
USEFUL HVAC CONVERSION MEASURES:
- 1 HP= 0.746 KW = 746 Watts = 2,545 BTU/h = 1.0 kVA
- 1 KW= 1,000 Watts = 3,413 BTU/h = 1.341 HP
- 1 Watt = 3.413 BTU/h
- 1 Ton Ac = 12,000 BTU/h Cooling = 15,000 BTU/h Heat Rejection
- 1 BTU/h = 1 BTU per hour
- 1 BHP = 34,500 BTU/h (33,472 BTU/h) = 34.5 Lb. Steam per hour = 34.5 Lb. H2O/Hr. = 0.069 GPM = 4.14
- GPH