Design and Assessment of a Geothermal Greenhouse in Northern Manitoba

• Main Authors: Chartrand, Jason, Harbottle, Vince, Ramos, Shawn, Swaine, Levi
• Other Authors: O'Brien, Sean, Labossiere, Paul
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Mechanical Engineering; Canada; Shamattawa; First Nations; Shamattawa First Nation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/37689

This report outlines a feasibility study for a geothermal greenhouse for northern Manitoba communities. Currently, there is a lack of access to low-cost high-quality food in northern Manitoba communities thus leading to health issues for residents of these communities. The goal of this project was to provide a sustainable solution to this lack of healthy food by designing a greenhouse using a geothermal system as its primary heating source. A cost analysis, bill of materials, installation schedule and heating simulations using COM SOL will be provided in this report. Shamattawa First nations was determined to be a strong candidate for a geothermal greenhouse. Due to its location, the food cost in Shamattawa First nation are nearly 4 times higher on average when compared to Winnipeg. There is also no access to grid and all the main source of electricity in Shamattawa First Nations comes from a local diesel generating station with cost of $0.60 per kw/h. This combined with an issue with obesity and diabetes in the community made Shamattawa First Nation a prime candidate for the geothermal greenhouse. The greenhouse will be 500 m2 and will be 10x50m. The greenhouse will have 40% of the area allocated to a community area and the 60% allocated for growing. This was determined through an analysis of the required area for growing as well as determining efficient dimensions to reduce the heat loss to the surrounding areas. The greenhouse will have a full glass south facing wall at an angle of 70° and a retractable thermal blanket to maximize the solar heat gain and reduce heat loss at night. A steel frame with an OC of 6250mm combined with insulated metals panels for the siding and roof. The combination of these dimension and materials result in a well-insulated structure resulted in a net positive heat gain for all months of the year except December and January. The total energy requirement for the greenhouse was estimated to be 529 kWh per day. To achieve this necessary energy load, a 102 Hanwha Solar Canada ...