The efficient nutrient solution cooling system consisting of buffer tank, three-way valve, and heat pump et al. was developed for hydroponics of leafy vegetables at high temperatures period. It was designed in such a way that the buffer tank was first cooled to enable precise temperature control of the nutrient solution with small capacity heat pump. Developed system was installed in the NFT hydroponics farm cultivating leafy vegetables and performance evaluation was carried out. For cultivation of Lalique lettuce(Lactuca sativa var.), the temperature of nutrient solution tank, buffer tank, and the root zone, the performance of cooling system, and the environment of greenhouse were analyzed. Also, by measuring the growth and yield of lettuce, the effect of cooling nutrient solution on the growth of lettuce NFT hydroponics was analyzed.

Cooling of nutrient solution is essential to improve the growth environment of crops in hydroponic culture during summer season in Korea. This study was carried out to provide fundamental data for development of the cooling system satisfying the required cooling load of nutrient solution in hydroponic greenhouse. A numerical model for prediction of the cooling load of nutrient solution in hydroponic greenhouse was developed, and the results by the model showed good agreements with those by experiments. Main factors effecting on cooling load were solar radiation and air temperature in weather data, and conductivity of planting board and area ratio of bed to floor in greenhouse parameters. Using the model developed, the design cooling load of nutrient solution in hydroponic greenhouse of 1,000m2(300pyong) was predicted to be 95,000 kJ/hr in Suwon and the vicinity.

Experimental and theoretical analyses were carried out to investigate the heat exchange characteristics of the nutrient solution cooling system utilizing ground water. The material of heat exchanger used in the experiment was polyethylene and the cross-flow type was adapted in which nutrient solution was mixed and ground water unmixed. For the exchanger surface area of 0.33m2 and flow rates of ground water of 1-6l/min, NTU(number of transfer units) and effectiveness of experimental heat exchanger were 0.1-0.45 and 10-35％, respectively. Therefore these results showed that the hydroponic greenhouse of 1,000m2(300 pyong) with the ground water of 10m2/day could cover about 55-70％ of maximum cooling load in summer.