Delta View Farms
The Delta View Farms Operation (a tomato growing greenhouse) located in Delta, B.C., is one of the major producers of greenhouse crops in Canada. Greenhouses commonly supply their energy and CO2 demands from separate sources; heat is produced through boilers, CO2 is either purchased or generated by locally burning natural gas, and the power is purchased through a power utility. This scheme often leads to significant wasting of energy and escalating operating costs. Gas-fired co-generation can be a green and sustainable multi-generation option for greenhouse growers, in which the waste of the technology (i.e. heat and CO2) is a valuable product.
For this project, we conducted a macro energy analysis (energy audit), along with a comprehensive feasibility study and detailed engineering design of a multi-generation of heat, power and agricultural carbon dioxide. We also designed a dynamic energy model for the facility to act as an “expert system” in helping the management to optimize its energy, CO2 consumption and possible trade. The energy model is based on a dynamically updatable database, which is built in a worksheet format with output optimization capabilities based on artificial intelligence techniques (i.e. neural network).