World's First Development of 'Triple Combined Heat and Power System for Greenhouses'... Applied to Smart Farms

[Financial News] An integrated energy platform has been developed and successfully demonstrated that can achieve energy self-sufficiency and carbon reduction in the agricultural sector by utilizing renewable energy composite heat sources. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than half compared to existing greenhouse systems and reduces operating costs by more than one-third.
The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials' Future Agricultural Life Science Research Group, led by Director Lee Sang-min, and the Carbon-Free Power Research Laboratory's Chief Researcher Kim Young-sang and Senior Researcher Park Jin-young, announced on the 16th that they have developed a 'Triple Combined Heat and Power System for Greenhouses' integrating fuel cells, solar heat, heat pumps, and adsorption chillers, and applied it to a 200-pyeong smart greenhouse.
The greenhouse triple combined heat and power system developed by the research team produces electricity by linking hydrogen polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), heat pumps utilizing air heat sources, solar collectors, and adsorption chillers, and utilizes the heat generated for cooling and heating. During the day, solar heat is used, and at night or when solar radiation is insufficient, the system operates by combining fuel cells and heat pumps, efficiently producing and flexibly supplying power and heating/cooling energy according to seasons and time.
The research team uses a method that integrally links fuel cells, heat pumps, and solar heat to supply the heat energy generated from the fuel cell array and solar collectors in the form of hot water to the greenhouse, creating a growth environment for crops in winter. In summer, the produced hot water is used as a heat source for the adsorption chiller to produce cold water and supply it to the smart greenhouse. Additionally, to respond to extreme cold and heat, the system's core structure is to use air source heat pumps to assist the cooling and heating of the smart greenhouse.
The research team designed a complementary structure and integrated control technology among multiple heat sources to maximize energy response stability while reducing interdependence among heat sources. Additionally, an adsorption chiller capable of producing cold water with a low-temperature heat source (65~70℃), about 20℃ lower than existing absorption chillers, was applied to the system.
The developed system reduced operating costs by 36.5% and carbon dioxide emissions by 58.1% compared to existing greenhouse heat pump systems. Currently, in the 200-pyeong demonstration greenhouse at the Rural Development Administration's National Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, where the developed system is applied, tomatoes are being stably cultivated for more than six months.
Lee Sang-min, Director of the Future Agricultural Life Science Research Group at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, stated, "The greenhouse triple combined heat and power system can generate power without being affected by external weather conditions and has low dependence on specific heat sources, making it suitable for Korea's environment, where heating and cooling demand fluctuates greatly due to seasonal changes. It is expected to significantly contribute to energy self-sufficiency in greenhouse agriculture based on renewable energy as the first case of applying hydrogen fuel cells to smart farms." 
jiany@fnnews.com Reporter Yeon Ji-an