ISHS Acta Horticulturae 691: International Conference on Sustainable Greenhouse Systems - Greensys2004
CLEANING MACHINE FOR DUSTY GREENHOUSE SOFT ROOFS |
| Authors: | G. Manor, A. Geva, D. Jacobs, I. Secker, S. Tabak, L. Singer |
| Keywords: | Dust, soft sheet roof, solar radiation, light, polyethylene sheet, cleaning machine |
| Abstract:
Most of the commercial greenhouses in the world are enveloped by Polyethylene (PE) and Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) sheets of 120 – 150 µm in thickness instead of glass plates which are heavier and much more expensive. Plants inside these greenhouses miss about 10% of sun light which can not penetrate through the PVC or PE sheets. Dust particles lying on the roof sheets scatter the light rays and prevent up to about 30% of additional light energy from entering into the growth space of the greenhouse. Scratches can be formed by the dust particles rolling and moving on the plastic sheets. Because of this, the grower has losses of about 30% in weight, and yield quality is lower than that of the yields from greenhouses with clean roofs. PE and PVC sheet producers add, among other additives, an additive that prevents dust from sinking on the roof sheets. Trial results have not shown a significant difference in radiation blockage between sheets with anti dust additive and those without additive. Growers need to clean the greenhouse roofs every week or two to prevent the dust from creating a layer formation that will cover the roof sheets. The cleaning is done by workers who climb to the roofs and remove the dust using brushes. The development of cleaning machinery is an urgent necessity for saving hard labor and avoiding risks to workers. The design and production of a cleaning machine works were started aiming to establish a first prototype for field trials. | |
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