Design and working parameter optimization of cleaning device for greenhouse film roofs

The most important factor affecting plant growth is solar radiation. One primary source of loss of solar radiation transmission of greenhouses is accumulation of dust and dirt on the exterior surface of cladding materials. In order to clean greenhouse film roofs, a fly-over disc brush cleaning device which mainly consists of driving mechanism, cambered support mechanism and cleaning mechanism is designed in this paper, and the structure parameters of the cleaning device were optimized. In order to explore the optimum working parameter, the effects of water flow rate, device cleaning speed and disc brush rotation speed were tested and analyzed by orthogonal test and variance analysis. The results show all the 3 aforementioned factors have particularly significant impacts on cleaning effectiveness (CE), and the interaction term of device cleaning speed and disc brush rotation speed are significant. With 360 mL/s water flow rate, cleaning speed of 35 mm/s and disc brush rotation speed of 100 r/min, the value of light transmittance of testing greenhouse films increases from 45% to 84.37%. The results prove that the cleaning device, which has the advantages of good CE, high efficiency, prominent water-saving, high safety and light in weight, is practicable to clean greenhouse film roofs. This research can provide reference for the design and development of cleaning device for greenhouse soft roofs.