Standard Room each 240m2 bed area

- each 24 tonnes compost

- 3 ROOM FARM CHILLED

WATER
COOLING
HEATER
BATTERY
BATTERY OR
ELEMENT
FAN

HUMIDIFIER

AIR FILTER
(with pre-filter)

INSIDE AIR OUTSIDE AIR

RECIRCULATED AIR

AIR
DAMPERS

Cooling
The diagram above shows the air handling unit for 1 room. The central Chilled water supply
for 3 rooms is passed through each chiller battery as shown below.

HOUSE 1 HOUSE 2 HOUSE 3

VALVE
CONTROLLED BY
COMPUTER

45 Day Cycle

CENTRAL CHILLER
 ROOM 1

ROOM 2 ROOM 3
60KW

Max
cooling

If we look at the graph above, we can see that the maximum cooling load for 1 room only
occurs in the middle of its own 45 day cycle (ROOM 2 above). Therefore, we only need
maximum chilling for that room at that point. If we have 3 rooms, all supplied from the
same chilled water supply, then we can see that the maximum cooling required for all rooms
at the same time (red line) will be very approximately 85KW. Note that this is a far more
efficient method than having a separate cooling system for each room at 60KW each!

So, allowing for 5KW losses in the pipework, I would suggest a total chilling capacity for 3
rooms of 24 tonnes compost at 90KW.

Remember, the reason we need such a large amount of cooling is that the compost and
mushrooms produce heat and we also have to remove cold air from the house to be
able to remove high levels of CO2 during the growing phase. This is not necessary
during the first few weeks before the mushrooms start to grow and this is why the
cooling demand is much lower as shown in the graph.

In the diagram showing the three rooms, we can see that the chilled water is pumped from the
central chiller and the computer controller in each room adjusts its valve to control the
temperature in that room. There will also be a bypass valve (not shown in diagram) which will
allow the unused chilled water to return to the cold tank. This is the most efficient and
economic way to cool a three room mushroom farm.
Although the cold water chiller costs more than a DX chiller, it cannot be used on a 1 room
farm because it would be too expensive for just 1 room.