Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of airflow ventilation system in an indoor mushroom cultivation house

Abstract

Mushrooms represent different species of fungi that can be found anywhere with suitable environmental condition for them to survive in soil. Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is the second most cultivated mushroom worldwide due to simple cultivation, low cost production technology and high biological efficiency. Ventilation system of an indoor mushroom cultivation house is significant to ensure the removal of metabolic gas such as carbon dioxide, CO2 which produced by the mushrooms. This was because high concentration of carbon dioxide grows oyster mushroom with long stems and small undeveloped caps. Therefore, the ventilation system with good airflow was investigated to ensure good quality of mushroom yielded. In this study, COMSOL Multiphysics software, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation tool was used to simulate the airflow ventilation system in a 3D indoor mushroom cultivation house geometry. The configuration of fans and the speed of fans were examined to determine the most effective ventilation system in the geometry. The results indicated that the velocity of fan with speed 3 in configuration of fans 2 gave the most efficient ventilation system in the model. This was due to the least CO2 concentration accumulated in the model by circulating the most CO2 out of the model.