Abstract:
An autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system includes a fuel cell module, an environment detection and control module, and environment set-up devices. The fuel cell module includes input terminals and output terminals. After fuel and air are received through the input terminals, the output terminals supply, respectively, various environmental products, including electrical power, thermal energy, carbon dioxide, and water, which are fed to the environment detection and control module that controls the output of these environmental products and includes detection units and control units to detect and effect feedback control of illumination, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and water level. Each environment set-up device is arranged inside a greenhouse and is connected to the environment detection and control module to receive the environmental to set up the environment of growth in respect of illumination, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and water supply of irrigation for the plants cultivated in the greenhouse.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system, and in particular to a control and cultivation system that is applied to an enclosed or semi-enclosed greenhouse to use fuel cells to create, in a green-energy manner, various growth environments and conditions for greenhouse plants. 
         [0003]    2. The Related Arts 
         [0004]    In the traditional agricultures, plants are exposed to the natural environments and are thus affected by insect damage and surrounding pollutions so that the growth environments of the plants cannot be effectively controlled and are totally rely upon the natural weather. This is quite a challenge to the agricultural people. In addition, in the traditional agricultures, the growth environments of plants are not readily controllable so that plants are easily subjected to chilling injury or diseases caused by hotness. Further, a large amount of chemical fertilizer and pesticides of stronger toxicity must be commonly used in order to improve the growth speed and suppress the occurrences of diseases and pest damages, so that the plants so cultivated, after being eaten, may cause severer threatens to human health. Thus, greenhouse cultivating is now the new trend of green agriculture for it can overcome the issues of chemical fertilizers and pesticide pollutions of the traditional agriculture. 
         [0005]    However, in the conventional greenhouse cultivation, photosynthesis of the plants carried out inside a clean greenhouse must be taken into serious consideration and mimicking of environmental factors, such as illumination, temperature, humidity, watering and irrigation, and natural change of weather, must be carefully exercised for plants in order to allow the plants to grow normally inside the greenhouse in the same as they will outdoors. For example, the photosynthesis of plant can be expressed in chemical formula as follows: 12H 2 O+6CO 2 -&gt;C 6 H 12 O 6 +6O 2 +6H 2 O. In other words, plants need proper amounts of water and carbon dioxide to be converted into organic carbohydrate (C 6 H 12 O 6 ), oxygen, and water through the photosynthetic reactions carried out by chlorophyll of the plants and illumination. This means the plants, even being cultivated in a greenhouse, still needs a proper amount of water supply and carbon dioxide of suitable concentration in order to allow the plants to carry out photosynthetic reactions in exactly the same way as if they were growing in the nature and thus ensuring normal growth of the plants. Further, the harvest of the plants can be increased, if the illumination time, the switching sequence, the light spectrum used (such as blue light and the likes), concentration of carbon dioxide, time period of application, and temperature control are properly adjusted. Some plants may provide an increase of at least 30% of the harvest. This is not achievable by the conventional greenhouse cultivation. 
         [0006]    Thus, conventional greenhouse cultivation needs electricity supply from for example an electrical main or solar cells that are claimed to be “green energy” to serve as a power source for generating illumination that resembles the natural environment and to create environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and watering and irrigation by consuming a large amount of power from such an electricity supply to generate heat or supply and spray water or mist. This consumes a great amount of electrical power and such a consumption of electrical power is generally a heavy economic burden of operation cost for greenhouse cultivation that is operated with emphasis on green energy. Further, the conventional greenhouse must supply organic fertilizer for the growth of plants and allows the microorganism of the natural environments to naturally decompose the organic substance to generate carbon dioxide or employs a direct supply of carbon dioxide from a gas canister in order to maintain the sufficient concentration of carbon dioxide for the greenhouse plant to carry out photosynthesis. Consequently, besides supply of electrical power and illumination, the conventional greenhouse cultivation facility also needs to additionally prepare and supply environmental resources required for plant growth and photosynthesis in respect of the above described factors of temperature, humidity, water supply and irrigation, and carbon dioxide. It is thus difficult to integrate and use collectively the supply of environmental resources of illumination, temperature, humidity, water supply and irrigation, and carbon dioxide and individual investment must be done separately for the facility expense and unnecessary consumption of a large amount of electrical power. This leads to a complicated structure of the conventional greenhouse based plant cultivation facility of which the installation and cultivation costs are both high. The price of the agricultural product of greenhouse cultivation is thus excessively high, making it limited to a small group of high-price consumers and impossible to be popular for general consumers. This is a serious issue to be addressed for the greenhouse cultivation. 
         [0007]    Prior art patent documents in this field are known, such as Taiwan Utility Model No. M442023, which discloses a plant cultivation system, Taiwan Patent No. 1365711, which discloses a solar energy based greenhouse, Taiwan Utility Model No. M423999, which relates to an automatic flower caring device, Taiwan Patent Publication No. 201309190, which discloses a green-energy water-saving planting greenhouse system, and Taiwan Patent Publication No. 201038190, which discloses a greenhouse or agricultural shed containing thin-film solar cells. These documents disclose facility that uses solar cells or storage batteries to provide primary power supply for supplying of electrical power to illumination of the greenhouse and also supply electrical power for the operation of equipment that converts electrical power to provide temperature, humidity, and water supply and irrigation. However, in the process of conversion, there is still a great amount of unnecessary electrical power is lost, so that the operation efficiency of the solar cells is undesirably reduced. In case that the supply of electrical power from these sources is insufficient, an additional supply of electrical power from for example the electrical main is required. This makes it not possible for the greenhouse cultivation to achieve the economic benefit of true greenhouse based high-quality agriculture. 
         [0008]    Similarly, in the known techniques of the prior art patent documents and the above described conventional greenhouse cultivation system, besides the illumination equipment can be directly operated with the supply of electrical power from for example electrical main or solar cells, there is generally no way to directly handle the issue of supply of environmental resources in respect of for example temperature, humidity, water supply and irrigation, and carbon dioxide. Additional equipment and resources must be separately installed and provided for the supply of temperature, humidity, water and irrigation, and carbon dioxide. This leads to the same problems and shortcomings of complicated facility, high cultivation cost, and great loss caused by conversion of electrical power as those found in the conventional greenhouse cultivation systems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    A primary object of the present invention is to provide an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system that eliminates the problems and shortcomings of the conventional greenhouse cultivation system that an electrical generation device only supplies electrical power for the operation of illumination and additional facility and resources must be separately invested and provided for supplying temperature, humidity, water and irrigation, and carbon dioxide so as to result in high costs of facility and cultivation for greenhouse cultivation. 
         [0010]    Thus, the present invention provides an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system, which comprises at least one fuel cell module, an environment detection and control module, and a plurality of environment set-up devices, wherein the fuel cell module, which is particularly a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), comprises a plurality of input terminals and output terminals. After fuel and air are received through the input terminals, the output terminals supply, respectively, various environmental products, including electrical power, thermal energy, carbon dioxide, and water. The environmental products are fed to the environment detection and control module. The environment detection and control module functions to control the output of these environmental products and comprises a plurality of detection units and control units to detect and effect feedback control of various environmental factors of illumination, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and water level and output of products. Each of the environment set-up devices is arranged inside at least one greenhouse and is connected to the environment detection and control module to receive environmental products output from the environment control module to set up the environments of growth and conditions in respect of illumination, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and water supply of irrigation for the plants cultivated in the greenhouse so as to constitute a system featuring fuel cell green energy and simulation of natural environment in the greenhouse. 
         [0011]    The efficacy of the autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system of the present invention is that various environmental products of electrical power, thermal energy, carbon dioxide, and water supplied from output terminals of the fuel cell module are directly fed to the environment set-up devices of the environment detection and control module without requiring conversion that causes a great loss of electrical power so as to provides environments and conditions of growth in respect of illumination, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and water supply of irrigation required for cultivation of enclosed or semi-enclosed greenhouse thereby significantly reducing the installation cost and cultivation cost for greenhouse cultivation. Further, the various environmental products of           electrical power, thermal energy, carbon dioxide, and water supplied from the output terminals of the fuel cell module are direct products of the fuel cell module and are not ones that are obtained through conversion of a large amount of electrical power so that no useful resources are wasted. Unnecessary loss of electrical power of the fuel cell module can be minimized and the operation performance can be significantly increased to provide the best economic benefit of green energy based high-quality agricultural cultivation to greenhouse cultivation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a system block diagram of an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an environment detection and control module of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view illustrating the arrangement of various sensor units of the environment detection and control module of the present invention in a greenhouse; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view illustrating a preferred application of the autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view illustrating an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a schematic view illustrating an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view illustrating an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    With reference to the drawings and in particular to  FIG. 1 , an autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system  100  according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The greenhouse cultivation system  100  comprises at least one fuel cell module  10 . The fuel cell module  10  is not limited to any specific type and a BlueGen® solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) module, which is available from Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (CFCL), Australia, is taken as an example in the description of the present invention. The fuel cell module  10  comprises a first input terminal  11 , a second input terminal  12  and a first output terminal  13 , a second output terminal  14 , a third output terminal  15 , a fourth output terminal  16 , and a pair of fifth output terminals  17 ,  18 . The first input terminal  11  and the second input terminal  12  respectively receive input of fuel  200  and air  300 . The fuel  200  can be composed of gases having high contents of carbon and hydrogen, such as natural gas containing methane, petroleum gas, coal gas, and marsh gas. The first output terminal  13 , the second output terminal  14 , the third output terminal  15 , and the fourth output terminal  16  respectively supply outputs of various environmental products of electrical power  400 , carbon dioxide  500 , hot air  600 , and water  700 . The fifth output terminals  17 ,  18  supply outputs for heat exchange with water or air. The electrical power  400  can be electricity of 110V, 60 Hz alternate current with a power generation efficiency of 60%. The fifth output terminals  17 ,  18  are capable of heat exchange of hot water at a rate of  200  liter/day. For example, the fifth output terminals  17 ,  18  are respectively connected to a liquid outlet  191  and a liquid inlet  192  of a high temperature liquid tank  19  and the liquid inlet  192  is connected to the fourth output terminal  16  to receive a supply of liquid, such as water  700 , for heat exchange with water  700  contained in the high temperature liquid tank  19  to achieve heating and thus generate a high temperature liquid, such as hot water. The high temperature liquid is not necessarily hot water and may be any other liquid that is useful in agriculture and thus heat exchange is applied in this way to such a liquid. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , at least one environment detection and control module  20 , which is not limited to any specific type, comprises, among other things, at least one microcomputer  21 , for example an illumination detection unit  221 , a carbon dioxide detection unit  222 , a temperature detection unit  223 , a humidity detection unit  224 , a water level detection unit  225 , an electrical power control unit  231 , a carbon dioxide control unit  232 , a temperature control unit  233 , a humidity control unit  234 , and a water supply and irrigation control unit  235 . The microcomputer  21  provides functions of detection and feedback control of illumination, carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity, water level and can be loaded in advance with data of environmental control parameters of greenhouse cultivation, such as illumination, carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity, and water supply and irrigation. 
         [0022]    The illumination detection unit  221  is arranged in a greenhouse  800  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) to detect the brightness of illumination inside the greenhouse  800 , meaning detecting brightness of illumination of daytime and nighttime of the greenhouse  800  and sending an illumination detection signal  221   a  back to the microcomputer  21  to serve as a basis by which the microcomputer  21  controls the internal brightness of illumination of the greenhouse  800 . The carbon dioxide detection unit  222  is arranged in the greenhouse  800  to detect the concentration of carbon dioxide  500  inside the greenhouse  800  and send a carbon dioxide detection signal  222   a  back to the microcomputer  21  to provide a basis by which the microcomputer  21  controls the internal concentration of carbon dioxide  500  of the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0023]    The temperature detection unit  223  is arranged in the greenhouse  800  to detect the internal temperature of the greenhouse  800  and send a temperature detection signal  223   a  back to the microcomputer  21  to provide a basis by which the microcomputer  21  controls the internal temperature of the greenhouse  800 . The humidity detection unit  224  is arranged in the greenhouse  800  to detect the internal humidity of the greenhouse  800  and send a humidity detection signal  224   a  back to the microcomputer  21  to provide a basis by which the microcomputer  21  controls the internal humidity of the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0024]    The water level detection unit  225  is arranged in a cultivation container  810  set in the greenhouse  800  to detect the irrigation water level inside the cultivation container  810  and sends a water level detection signal  225   a  back to the microcomputer  21  to provide a basis by which the microcomputer  21  controls the irrigation water level of the cultivation container  810  set inside the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0025]    The electrical power control unit  231  is connected to the microcomputer  21  and the first output terminal  13  of the fuel cell module  10  to connect with and receive the output of electrical power  400  from the first output terminal  13  of the fuel cell module  10  and to allow the microcomputer  21  to control the condition of output of electrical power  400  from the electrical power control unit  231  according to the illumination detection signal  221   a  of the illumination detection unit  221 . The electrical power control unit  231  may comprise a digital/analog electrical switch and controls supply or cut-off of the electrical power  400  and the electrical current and power supplied therefrom. 
         [0026]    The carbon dioxide control unit  232  is connected to the microcomputer  21  and the second output terminal  14  of the fuel cell module  10  to connect with and receive the output of carbon dioxide  500  from the second output terminal  14  of the fuel cell module  10  and to allow the microcomputer  21  to control the carbon dioxide  500  to supply or not from the carbon dioxide control unit  232  according to the carbon dioxide detection signal  222   a  of the carbon dioxide detection unit  222 . The carbon dioxide control unit  232  comprises an electromagnetic valve and a fan to control supply or cut-off the carbon dioxide  500 . 
         [0027]    The temperature control unit  233  is connected to the microcomputer  21  and the third output terminal  15  of the fuel cell module  10  to connect with and receive the output of hot air  600  from the third output terminal  15  of the fuel cell module  10  and to allow the microcomputer  21  to control the hot air stream  600  to supply or not from the temperature control unit  233  according to the temperature detection signal  223   a  of the temperature detection unit  223 . The temperature control unit  233  comprises an electromagnetic valve to control supply or cut-off of the hot air stream  600 . 
         [0028]    The humidity control unit  234  is connected to the microcomputer  21  and the high temperature liquid tank  19  connected to the fourth output terminal  14  and the fifth output terminals  17 ,  18  of the fuel cell module  10  to connect with and receive the output of water  700  from the fourth output terminal  16  of the fuel cell module  10  and the output of hot water or high temperature liquid from the high temperature liquid tank  19  connected to the fifth output terminals  17 ,  18  and to allow the microcomputer  21  to control steam  234   b  to supply or not from the temperature control unit  234  according to the humidity detection signal  224   a  of the humidity detection unit  224 . The humidity control unit  234  comprises a steam generator to control supply or cut-off of the steam  234   b.    
         [0029]    The water supply and irrigation control unit  235  is connected to the microcomputer  21  and the fourth output terminal  14  of the fuel cell module  10  to connect with and receive the output of water  700  from the fourth output terminal  16  of the fuel cell module  10  and to allow the microcomputer  21  to control the water  700  to supply or not from the water supply and irrigation control unit  235  according to the water level detection signal  225   a  of the water level detection unit  225 . The water supply and irrigation control unit  235  comprises an electromagnetic valve to control supply or cut-off of the water  700  is connected to. 
         [0030]    A plurality of environment set-up devices  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  is separately arranged in the greenhouse  800 . The environment set-up device  30  is arranged above the cultivation container  810  in the greenhouse  800 . The environment set-up device  30  comprises a lighting assembly, which comprises a plurality of lighting devices  31 . The environment set-up device  30  is connected to the electrical power control unit  231  to receive the output of electrical power  400  from the electrical power control unit  231  so that the environment set-up device  30  may provide an environment of lighting illumination inside the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0031]    The environment set-up device  40  is arranged above the cultivation container  810  in the greenhouse  800 . The environment set-up device  40  is connected to the carbon dioxide control unit  232 , the temperature control unit  233 , and the humidity control unit  234  to receive carbon dioxide  500 , hot air stream  600 , and steam  234   b.  The environment set-up device  40  comprises a hollow tube and comprises a plurality of spraying nozzles  41  to eject carbon dioxide  500 , hot air stream  600 , or steam  234   b  through the spraying nozzles  41  so that the environment set-up device  40  provides an environment of carbon dioxide  500 , temperature, and humidity inside the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0032]    The environment set-up device  50  is connected to the water supply and irrigation control unit  235  to receive water  700 . The environment set-up device  50  comprises a water sprinkler module, which comprises a plurality of water sprinklers  51  to sprinkle water  700  through the water sprinklers  51  so that the environment set-up device  50  provides an environment of water supply of irrigation and humidity inside the cultivation container  810  of the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0033]    The environment set-up device  60  is arranged in the cultivation container  810  of the greenhouse  800 . The environment set-up device  60  is connected to the water supply and irrigation control unit  235  to receive water  700 . The environment set-up device  60  comprises an irrigation water pipe to provide an environment of supply water of irrigation and water level control inside, the cultivation container  810 . 
         [0034]    The fuel cell module  10  can be used as a single one in  FIG. 1  and may alternatively used in multiplicity by connecting the multiple fuel cell modules  10  in series or in parallel according to the size and power consumption of the greenhouse  800 , in order to upgrade the power of the greenhouse  800 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , a preferred application of the greenhouse cultivation system  100  according to the present invention is shown, wherein soil  820  is shown contained in the cultivation container  810  of the greenhouse  800 . A plurality of cultivation plants  830  is grown in the soil  820 . The cultivation plants  830  can be any edible vegetables or hydroponic plants. With the above described environment set-up devices  30 ,  40 ,  50 ,  60  to respectively provide the desired environmental factors of illumination, carbon dioxide  500 , temperature, humidity, and water supply of irrigation for the growth of the cultivation plants  830 , the cultivation plants  830  are provided with the optimum environmental conditions for smooth growth. 
         [0036]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , a greenhouse cultivation system  100  according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the microcomputer  21  of the environment detection and control module  20  is shown connected to a keyboard  211  and a display  212 . The microcomputer  21  is loaded, in advance, a plurality of environmental control factors for various cultivation plants  830 , such as environmental control factors for cultivation plants  830  of Bok Coy, Chinese cabbage, and lettuce, whereby a user may uses the keyboard  211  to perform an input operation for selecting environmental control factors corresponding to the type of the cultivation plants  830  and the display  212  may display the operation and the information of selection so that environmental control factors of illumination, carbon dioxide  500 , temperature, humidity, and water supply of irrigation can be controlled for individual cultivation plant  830 . 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a greenhouse cultivation system  100  according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein at least one power distribution panel  231   b  is connected between the first output terminal  13  of the fuel cell module  10  and the electrical power control unit  231  of the environment detection and control module  20 . The power distribution panel  231   b  functions to provide extra electrical power  400  supplied from the first output terminal  13  to a household electrical appliance  410  and an electrical power load  420 . 
         [0038]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a greenhouse cultivation system  100  according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein at least one fan  840  and a carbon dioxide recovery circulation tube  850  are respectively provided at opposite sides of the bottom of the greenhouse  800 . The carbon dioxide recovery circulation tube  850  is connected to the carbon dioxide control unit  232  and the fan  840  blows carbon dioxide  500  deposited on the bottom of the greenhouse  800  in a direction toward the carbon dioxide recovery circulation tube  850  arranged at the other side so that carbon dioxide  500  can be circulated and repeatedly used. 
         [0039]    Although  FIGS. 4-7  illustrate an application of the autonomously controlled greenhouse cultivation system  100  in a greenhouse  800 , wherein an environmental set up and control arrangement in which a single level of environment set-up devices  30 ,  40 ,  50 , and  60  are controlled by the fuel cell module  10  and the environment detection and control module  20  to perform or control illumination, carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity, and water supply and irrigation for cultivation plants  830  of a single cultivation container  810 . It is also feasible to provide an alternative application to a multi-level environmental set up and control arrangement in which multiple vertically-arranged levels of environment set-up devices  30 ,  40 ,  50 , and  60  are controlled by multiple fuel cell modules  10  and multiple environment detection and control modules  20  to perform or control illumination, carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity, and water supply and irrigation for cultivation plants  830  of multiple vertically-arranged cultivation containers  810 . 
         [0040]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.