CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT FOR MUSHROOM PRODUCTION
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
TEAM 15092 PROJECT SUMMARY
Class ABE 498 A/B
Sponsor UA Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Sponsor Mentor/Advisor Russ Abney
Project Mentor Peter A. Livingston
Team Members Perla E. Ballesteros Brooke Christine Conrardy Qianwen Luo Elan C. Snitkin BE = Biosystems Engineering
(BE) (BE) (BE) (BE)
While satisfying nutritional needs, mushroom cultivation is financially sustainable and can supplement carbon dioxide required by plants in a crop-production system. The goal of this project is to design and build an efficient and cost-effective mushroom growth chamber as part of a larger system of crop production. The mushroom-growing system design consists of storage shelves, fruiting chambers, a laminar flow hood, and a humidity control system. The design includes a cabinet to convert the laminar flow hood to an inoculation station and a humidifier with microcontrollerbased sensor control. The layout of the fruiting chambers and walking areas meet safety requirements and were designed in cooperation with the plant production and irrigation infrastructure teams (Teams 15090 and 15091). Through controlled environment practices, the mushroom growing system will deliver a nutritionally dense product to offset food insecurity, and provide an opportunity for further research. 109