Energy [Link]. 32, No. 3, pp. 223-234, 1991 0196-8904/91 $3.00+ 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain. All fights reserved Copyright © 1991 Pergamon Press pie

PARAMETRIC STUDY OF A BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

B. A. JUBRAN l and M. A. ALSAAD2t

~Faculty of Engineering and Technology and 2Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

(Received 12 October 1989; receivedfor publication 30 August 1990)

Abstract--This paper presents the theoretical analysis and performance investigation of a single, as well
as double, glazed box-type solar cooker with or without reflectors. The mathematical model is developed
using the heat balance analysis of the various components of the cooker. In the present analysis, the
properties of cooking materials and the value of the overall heat loss coefficient are allowed to vary as
a function of the absorber plate and food temperatures. The obtained thermal equations are solved on
the computer using a stepwise solution which enabled the temperatures of the various elements of the
cooker to be predicted. An optimization parametric study has been performed using several important
parameters of the cooker. The effect of those parameters on the cooker performance was studied.
The results o f the theoretical investigation are compared with the experimental results available.
The experimental results conform reasonably with the predicted values.

Cooker Parametric Optimization Performance

NOMENCLATURE

A b = Bottom surface area of cooker (m 2)

A, = Edge surface area of cooker (m 2)
Apot = Area of pot (m 2)
A R = Area of reflectors (m 2)
A T = Area of absorber plate (m 2)
ca = Specific heat of air (J/kg °C)
cf = Specific heat of food (J/kg °C)
% = Specific heat o f absorber plate (J/kg °C)
F m = Absorber plate efficiency factor
FR_~ = View factor o f radiation reflected from reflectors received by top glass cover of cooker
Gr = Grashof number
H b = Beam component o f solar radiation 0V/m 2)
H R = Solar radiation reflected from reflectors (W/m 2)
H T = Total solar radiation available to cooker (W/m 2)
hw = Wind heat transfer coefficient (W/m 2 °C)
k i = Thermal conductivity of insulation (W/m °C)
k w = Thermal conductivity of water (W/m °C)
koa = Thermal conductivity of oil (W/m °C)
L = Length of absorber plate (In)
L i = Thickness of insulation (m)
M a = Mass o f inside air (kg)
Mf = Mass o f food (kg)
Mp = Mass o f absorber plate (kg)
N = Number of glass covers
Pr = Prandtl number
Pro~ = Prandtl number of oil
Pr~ = Prandfl number o f water
Ta ffi Inside air temperature (K)
Tf = Food temperature (K)
TT~ffiAbsorber plate temperature (K)
= Ambient air temperature (K)
ATf = Temperature difference of food between end and beginning of test (K)
t ffi Time (s)
At = Time to increase food temperature by ATf (min)
tc = Characteristic boiling time for reference solar insolation of 900 W/m 2 (min/kg/m 2)
ts --Specific boiling time (min/kg/m 2)
Ub = Bottom loss coefficient (W/m 2 °C)
U, = Edge loss coefficient (W/m 2 °C)
Ut = Top loss coefficient (W/m 2 °C)

t T o whom all correspondence should be addressed.

223
224 JUBRAN and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

Uw= Absorber plate-water conductance (W/m 2 °C)

Uo= Overall loss coefficient(W/m 2 °C)
Qu= Useful energy available to collector (W)
= Absorptance of absorber plate
~ta= Absorptance of glass cover
*tw= Volume expansion of water
p = Cooker tilt angle
~/= Overall efficiencyof cooker
~s= Emittance of glass cover
% = Emittance of absorber plate
p = Reflectanceof reflector
po, = Density of oil (kg/m3)
p~ = Density of water (kg/m3)
a = Stefan-Boltzman constant = 5.670 x 10-s W/m2K4
T = Glass cover transmittance
/*w= Viscosity of water (Ns/m2)
#oil= Viscosity of oil (Ns/m2)
~k= Reflectortilt angle (deg)

INTRODUCTION

The high cost of fuel and the diminishing supplies of wood for cooking in many areas of the
developing world have led to exploratory work on the use of solar energy for cooking. Solar
cookers are generally of two types. One type is the concentrating type solar cooker which is based
on concentrating solar energy by a reflector onto the cooking pot. This type has the advantage of
faster speed of cooking and higher cooking temperatures but, at the same time, is very sensitive
to wind speed. The other type is the box type oven which depends on the greenhouse effect
combined with some concentration. For this type, the incident radiation enters the solar oven
directly through the transport top cover where it is trapped within a small space in which the food
to be cooked is placed. Box type solar cookers are widely used in many countries for the last few
years due to their simplicity and low cost. Temperatures in excess of 100°C can be readily attained
in such solar cookers.
For more than two decades, a large number of researchers have been engaged in designing and
experimenting with both types of solar cooker [1-7]. The first box type solar cooker was designed
by Telkes [1]. Garg et al. [2] and Khalifa et al. [6] built and tested several concentrating and
non-concentrating types of cookers. Different types of solar cookers were analysed mathematically,
and numerical experiments were conducted using computer simulations [8-11] to predict their
thermal performance under different operating conditions. Garg et al. [8] have attempted to predict
the transient behaviour of a single glazed solar cooker for the case when there is no food to cook
inside the cooker. Shrestha [9] simulated in the computer a slightly modified version of the box type
solar cooker in order to evaluate the stagnant temperature of the cooker. Olwi and Khalifa [10]
theoretically investigated a portable solar cooker oven using a vapour-tight pot. Their mathemati-
cal model uses the lumped analysis approach. Khalifa et al. [11] conducted simulation studies for
predicting the thermal behaviour of a concentrating type solar cooker using a spiral concentrator.
In the present work, mathematical analysis and simulation studies are conducted to determine
the thermal behaviour of the solar cooker and to predict the unsteady state performance of single
and double glazing box type solar cookers with or without plane reflecting mirrors. The main
features of the solar cookers considered in the present work are shown schematically in Fig. 1. The
cooker is composed of a cooking pot that is welded to a fiat-plate absorbing surface. Both the pot
and the absorber surface are made of black steel sheets and are painted with dull black paint. The
pot and the absorber plate are placed in a wooden box that is fitted with a top glass cover made
of an ordinary glass.

T H E R M A L ANALYSIS

Solar radiation reaches the glass cover of the cooker both directly and by reflection from the
reflectors. The solar radiation that is transmitted through the glass cover is the only energy entering
the solar cooker. Part of this energy is utilized in cooking the food or heating the liquid in the
cooking pot. The rest is lost to the surrounding atmosphere in the form of convection and radiation.
 J U B R A N and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR C O O K E R 225

Gl j./
covueeFB ~
Reflector
/

Pot
Cooking

Absorber
Plate

Fig. 1. Schematic of the solar cooker components.

In the transient stage, some energy is consumed in warming the water itself. The complete thermal
analysis of the solar cooker is complex due to the transient three-dimensional heat transfer
involved. For the purpose of the present thermal analysis, the elements of the solar cooker which
have been considered when writing the energy balance equation are the absorber plate and the top
cover of the cooking pot, the cooking pot which consists of the lateral walls and the pot bottom,
the food to be cooked or the liquid (water or oil) to be heated in the pot and inside air between
the absorber plate and the glass cover.
Under unsteady state conditions, the thermal equations which govern the behaviour of the
cooker is obtained by applying the energy balance to the various components of the cooker. These
equations may be expressed as follows:
dTr M c dTp dT.
nfcf--d- i- + p p--~- + Maca-~'- = ATFm[HTO~Z N - V o ( T f - T~)] (1)

dTf M c dTp dT~

HTaTS(AT--Ao°t)=Mfcp-~ -+ P P"-~- ' + e a c a d---7-

+ [Ut(AT - Apot)+ UbAb + UoA.](Tp - T~) (2)

M c dT~ = U t A T ( T p - T~). (3)

aad/
The empirical equation for the top loss coefficient, Ut, developed by Duffle and Beckman [12], is
used in the calculation. This is given by:

Ut= t C F.(Tp-~_
N T~o)-], + ~__.~}-i + a(Tp + Tcc)(T~ + T~) (4)
I Tp / (N + f ) ] (ep + 0.00591Nhw) -~ + 2N + f - 1 + 0.133% _ N
£g
where
f = (I + 0.089hw - 0.1166hw%)(1 + 0.07866N)
C = 520(1 - 0.000051fl2 ) for 0 ° < fl < 70 °
and
e = 0.43(1 - 100/Tp).
Equations (5)-(21) are taken from Taha et al. [13]. The cooker overall heat loss coefficient Uo
is found from:
to=V,+~ 1+~ (5)
226 JUBRAN and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

where the edge loss coefficient, U,, is given by:

( UA )o
Ue--~ (6)
AT
and the bottom loss coefficient Ub is expressed as:

ub= ki. (7)

The efficiency factor Fm is:

Uw
Fm= Uw (8)
The absorber plate--water (or oil) conduction coefficient Uw is given by:

Uw= 0 . 1 5 2 ( ~ ) ( G r ) °2sl. (9)

The food properties are evaluated at a temperature To, and it is given by:

Te = Tp - 0.25(Tp - Tf). (I0)

In the present analysis, the properties of the water and oil are allowed to vary over the cooker
as a function of the local food temperature. The properties of the water are evaluated from the
following equations:
Pw = I001.4 - 0.0844Te - 0.00367T 2 (I I)

aw = 13,660 + 622TL (12)

#w = 1463.126 -- 27.068Te + 0.1716T~ (13)

Prw = 10.45 - 0.20727Te + 0.00367T 2 (14)

Kw = 0.56829 + 0.001907T~ - 8.16 x 10 -6 T~2. (15)

In equation (12), TL is the temperature at which the volume coefficient is evaluated. It is expressed
as:

TL = Tf+ O.25(Tp- Tr). (16)

Similarly, the properties of oil are determined from the following equations:
Po, = 895.3 - 0.0844T~ - 0.00367T~ (17)

aoil = 8780 + 622Tt (18)

#o, = 2146.26 - 27.068T, + 0.1716T 2 (19)

Pro, = 18.85 - 0.20727T, + 0.00136T~ (20)

Koil = 0.144 + 0.001907T~ - 8.18 × 10 -6 T~. (El)
The overall efficiency of the solar cooker is given by:

Qo (22)
tl = H T A T

where the useful energy, Qu, is expressed as:

~Yf
Q~ = Mrcf - ~ . (23)
 J U B R A N and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR C O O K E R 227

The thermal analysis and the energy balance equations for the solar cooker with reflectors are the
same as that without reflectors except that the total solar radiation entering the cooker, HT,
includes the solar radiation reflected from the reflectors, HR, which can be expressed as [12]:

H R - - p - ~ F R _¢ COS Or H b (24)
.,'IT
where
c+R-s
2R
and
s = (c: + R 2 - 2cR cos ~O)2

METHOD OF SOLUTION

A computer simulation package has been developed based on the solution of the heat balance
equations of the solar cooker derived in the previous section. A stepwise solution of 1 h driving
period was adopted. The starting food temperature was set equal to the internal ambient
temperature. It was assumed that the temperatures of the food, absorber plate and the inside air
have constant values with the cooker for each time interval. The climatic data of beam and diffuse
solar radiation incident on a horizontal surface and the ambient temperature were used as an input
data and were obtained from data files.
Performance analysis of the solar cooker was obtained at hourly time intervals (from 8:00 to
17:00h) which includes the determination of the overall loss coefficient, food temperature,
absorbing plate temperature, inside air temperature and the efficiency of the solar cooking. The
parameters used for comparative evaluations of solar cookers are time to boil a fixed amount of
water, highest temperature reached by a measured amount of a cooking oil and amount of food
accepted by the cooker.
In the present work, computer simulation is based on the following parameters unless otherwise
stated. Cooker dimensions are 0.7 x 0.7 m 2 with 250 mm depth, cooking pot diameter is 250 mm,
insulation material is fibreglass of 50 mm thickness, number of reflectors are two with ~, = 120°
for summer months and ~k = 60° for winter months, plate absorptance is 0.95, glass cover
transmittance is 0.87, emittance of glass is 0.91, emittance of cover is 0.88, specific heat of plate
is 500 J/kg °C, specific heat of inside air is 1012 J/kg °C and mass of the plate is 3.5 kg.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The developed heat balance equations (1)-(3) were solved. The results of the predicted
temperature-time curves for various versions of the box-type solar cooker are plotted in Figs 3-11.

1000

900

,• 800 N

700

60O 30 6
w
SO0 - -

,00

300 --

20O I I I I I I
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
TIME (hour')
Fig. 2. Variation of global solar radiation and ambient temperature for 1 July 1986.
 228 JUBRAN and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

(a)
2S0 /
2301"-- Singl'e 910z1~9
....... S l ~ l l e glozing 2-Re¢l,e©tor;z
210~"--.Oouble glozin 9
190l-'----Ooubl~ g l o z i n 9 Z"ne¢lector4
1701-'~---~:l~e4ntrotor type
I ISO
130
110
9O
7O
5O - ..~<~.~..~../
3O
10 I I I 1
10 12 14 16
T'J~E[ hour)

(b)
250 l
230
I--
210
1901"-"
I 150
130
-- / ~.~" .. . . . . "'"~'~.~.~..
110
90 - . . . . . _Sing,. glozing
70 - -

50 ~ . / " - - - D o u b l e g l o z i n g 2-Fl~+le©toro
3O ---/ - - - - - Concentrator type
108 I
10
I
12 14
l
16
I
TIM[(hour)

(,-.)
2SO
230 Singll glozin 9

I~+..!
Singl~ 9lozLn9 2~#l,o©tors
210
Double glozLng
190 Double glozing 2--Re~lQ©tor,8
170
/
1SO
130 ,~--'~'~'~'~.~.~.~.~.~.
110
so i
7O
SO
3O
10 I I I I
8 10 12 14 IE

Fig. 3. (a) Variation of water temperature when different versions of solar cookers are used for boiling
I kg of water. (b) Same as in (a) but for absorber plate temperature. (c) Same as in (a) but for inside air
temperature.

The results reported in the present work are based on the actual climatic data of a typical summer
day in Amman (1 July) in 1986, using 1 kg water and 1 kg oil, respectively as cooking materials.
Water is considered a good working medium for cooking operations where a large amount of heat
can be transferred from the heating surface to the food. Oil, on the other hand, is characterized
by a fast rate of heating as compared to water due to its low value of specific heat. The hourly
 JUBRAN and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPESOLAR COOKER 229

variation of global solar radiation and average ambient temperature for the day of I July 1986 are
shown in Fig. 2. Comparison between the different versions of the solar cooker is made by changing
some important parameters of the cooker, such as the number of glass covers, number of reflectors
and its tilting angle, size and dimensions of the cooker and the cooking pot and the thickness of
insulating material. Figures 3(a)-(c) represents the time variation of the temperatures of food,
absorber plate and inside air, respectively, when 1 kg of water is sensibly heated using different
versions of the solar oven. When a single glazing cooker is used, the temperatures of water and
absorber plate reached a maximum of 73 and 11 I°C, respectively. The low value of water
temperature is due to high losses to the ambient. When the single glazing cooker is equipped with
two plane reflecting mirrors, the corresponding temperatures are 92 and 134°C, respectively, which
represent a performance improvement of 26 and 21%, respectively. Figure 3(a) also indicates that
the boiling time of 1 kg of water was reduced from 6 to 4 h when the double glazing cooker was
equipped with two reflectors.
The above versions of solar cookers were compared with that of the concentrating type. The
mathematical model of Khalifa et al. [11] for simulating the thermal behaviour of a concentrating
type solar cooker was followed for comparison purposes. This mathematical model was
implemented into the computer simulation package. The results obtained for the concentrating
solar cooker type are presented in Figs 3 and 4 using 1 kg of water and 1 kg of oil, respectively.
Figure 3(a) indicates that boiling of water is attained after 3 h when a concentrating type cooker
is used.
Figures 4(a)-(c) show the results of simulation when 1 kg of oil is used. Similar trends to that
obtained when water is used are observed except that the oil temperature reached a value of 83°C
when a single glazing cooker was used. The oil temperature reached 163 and 198°C after 6 and
5 h of cooking when double glazing and concentrating type cookers are used, respectively.
It can be observed from Figs 3(a) and 4(a) that the rate at which oil is heated is faster than
that of water. This is due to the lower specific heat of oil. It is also observed that the variation
of water temperature with time is nearly linear until the boiling point is obtained, where the
temperature remains constant until the late hours of the afternoon. Similar behaviour is noticed
for the oil up to about 100°C. Above this value, the slope of the oil temperature--time curve starts
to decrease. This behaviour is due to the increasing rate of radiation and convection losses at high
temperatures.
Optimization studies were performed to determine the optimum values of some important
parameters of the box-type cooker, such as the number of reflectors and its tilt angle, cooker and
cooking pot dimensions and thickness of insulating material. The number of reflectors, using
different ratios of the height of the reflector to its length, were investigated. Figure 5 shows that
the boiling of water occurred after 4 h of cooking when two reflectors were used as compared to
5 h when a single reflector is used. Increasing the number of reflectors to 3 or 4 has little or negligible
effect on the boiling time because of the increase in the shading effects. The performance curves
shown in Fig. 5 are presented when the ratio of the reflector height to its length equals 1.
A wide range of reflector tilting angles (60-120 °) was investigated for the purpose of determining
the optimum tilt angle that produces a higher cooking temperature in the shortest time for summer
and winter operation. The present simulation studies indicate that a reflector tilt angle of 120° for
summer operation and 60 ° for winter operation gives the best performance among all other possible
angles as shown in Figs 6 and 7. Results of optimization studies related to the cooker and cooking
pot dimensions are presented in Figs 8-10. Figure 8 indicates that the time required for boiling
a unit of water was reduced from 6 to about 5 h as the cooker size is increased from 0.4 x 0.4 m 2
(size 1) to 0.7 x 0.7 m 2 (size 3). A negligible performance improvement can be observed when the
dimensions are increased to 0.9 × 0.9 m 2 (size 4). The effect of changing the pot diameter, D, and
depth is shown in Figs 9 and 10. Variation of the depth of the cooking pot has little effect on the
temperature response of the water, as shown in Fig. 9, while the results presented in Fig. 10 suggest
the use of large cooking pot diameters in order to obtain faster rates of water heating and shorter
boiling times.
The optimum thickness of insulating material of the cooker (fibreglass) was also investigated,
and the result is shown in Fig. 11 where insulation thickness ranging from 40 to 150 mm has been
used. Figure 11 indicates that there is a noticeable performance improvement of the cooker as the
E C M 32/3--C
230 JUBRAN and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

ZS0
230 __ ~;Lh| 1o_ | lo# Ln|
....... SLn|I~ IIIozLn| 2-Re~leetor,~
210
------- Double glozLhg .~ ................
190 - C~,ubl,e | l o z l n g 2 - R e 4 1 ~ o r l
17o - - - - - C'+onoentrotor tVpe / " -- -- ---.

i 150
130
110 - ,~. .,.. ~ .~, .-::..'::..'::,.',: ......................... - .
90 - - / / , ~ / ° . , . ~.~ . , ~ r ~ - ,,~r.
- ,.~',•''~' . . . . .
701
/ t . f /
SO
30
10 i i I I
8 10 12 14 16
TZI~( hour )

(b)
2S0, -.
230 F
210
180 /"
t_) 170
I 150
130 -- / /.~..~-~ ..... .~...~..~ ...
- / ,.,.,,,,s... ~ ~ ' - - - - - . - . ~ ........~.:
110
...~--
/ ~ "~" ~ ' ~ S L r , : : . .s. .l .o. gtozl,~s
SO / .'~---. " . . - ' S i n g l e gloxtng 2 - 4 ~ 4 1 e c t o ~
70 . ~/~'~/:/
./, *" ~. . . . . . " Do0Jb
7_,_
1re (IIl O:IE ],r~l~
SO ~P'/° ~ Doubl4t 91ozLng 2-f~O~l*ctorl
30 / - - - - - ConoQntrotor type
10 J i 1 J
10 12 14 16
T~)~( hour )

(c)
250
230 SLno i e g IozLn9
....... SLngle g l o z t n g 2-Retie©tots
210
~---Double |lazltn 9
190 " Double 91ozLng 2"l~e~loatora
170

i 150
130
_ / ,.--" . . . . . . . ~..~.
110
80
70
S0
30
10 I I I J
10 12 14 16
T]:M[ ( h o u r )

Fig. 4. (a) Variation of oil temperature when different versions of solar cookers are used to heat I kg of
corn oil. (b) Same as in (a) but for the absorber plate temperature. (c) Same an in (a) but for the inside
air temperature.

insulation thickness was increased from 40 to 60 mm. Negligible performance improvement is

observed as the thickness increased from 60 to 150 mm.
Results of the present theoretical model were compared with the experimental results available
in the literature [14]. Figure 12 is reproduced to show the experimental values of water, absorber
plate and inside air temperatures of an experimental test conducted on 29 March 1988 in Amman
 J U B R A N and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR C O O K E R 231

250
230 ~ O e ' w ~ rqet~otor
....... Tvo r~¢l~otor8
210 -- Thr~ ro¢leotor8
190 --..._ . Four ,-0#t~otor6

i 150
170 --
130 --
110 -- _-~..* "~'~"-
9o - ~ . < ~ ....
70- ~
sol-

lo I I I I
8 10 12 14 16
T~E:(hour)
Fig. 5. Effect of number of reflectors on the time needed for boiling 1 kg of water.

zso |
z3o [ - : - i ~,,soe,,eo
210 ~--" --. B-100
190 ~--~ . B,'120
170 J.--
I 150 m

130
110
q0
70
S0
30
10 I I I l
8 10 12 14 16
TIME:(hour)

Fig. 6. Effect of reflectors tilting angle on the boiling time of 1 kg water for summer operation.

zs0 ]
230 ~ . B,-60
210 ~. ...... 8-80
----- B=100
190 ['--'~ . B~120
1701-
i 150
1"a0
110
90
70 m

50
30
tO
6 t0 12 14 16
TI3E( hour]

Fig. 7. Same as in Fig. 6 but for winter operation.

to boil a unit mass of water using a double glazing solar cooker. The theoretical model predicts
lower water temperature and higher absorber plate and inside air temperatures. This behaviour is
due to the higher losses and vapour leakage associated with the experimental cooker. It should be
noted that the experimental water temperature--time curve of Fig. 12 also shows a linear behaviour
similar to that of the theoretical curve [see Fig. 3(a)]. In addition, several criteria exist for
 232 J U B R A N and A L S A A D : BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

2fi0
$1.z,e 1
230 - -
....... Size 2
210 Slz,e 3
190 - Size 4
G 170
I 160 m
130
110
90
60
3O
lO I I I I
8 10 12 14 16
TIM[( hour )
Fig. 8. Effect of cooker size on the time needed to boil 1 kg o f water.

zso[
230~. D~th 1
21o~_ ...... Depth 2
190~_._~_--i[~pth 3
Depth 4
U 1701--'-
I 160
130
110
90
70
50
30
~0 I I I I
8 10 12 14 16
T ~ ( hour )

Fig. 9. Effect of cooking pot depth on the time needed to boil l kg of water.

250
230
210
I i o.0.,6 . 1:)'0.25 m
°=0.36
190
170
1

i 150
130
110
90
70 - - / / ......
l ~" , ..""
50 - / ........
30i
10 I I I I
8 10 12 14 16
TIME( h o u r )
Fig. 10. Effect of cooking pot diameter on boiling time of 1 kg of water.

comparing the performance of solar cookers experimented under different solar radiation and test
conditions [15]. The comparison between theoretical and experimental results can be based on the
overall cooker efficiency, r/, as defined in equation (22), the specific boiling time, q(min/kg/m2), and
the characteristic boiling time t¢(min/kg/m2). Khalifa et al. [15] and [16] expressed t~ and t¢ as
follows:
ATAt
ts = - - (25)
Mr
 J U B R A N and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE S O L A R C O O K E R 233

2SO,
230 ]
-- ,- Thtokne'ss :.4 ©m
..... Tht©k~osll 16 cm
210 Thl©kness =8 ©m
190 ------- Thi©krteSs : I 0 cm
170 ~ - - - T h l © k ~ s s =12 am
.--~---Thi©knell$ : l S =m
i 150
130
110
90
70
50
30
1 I I I
10
B 10 12 14 16
TZME( hour )
Fig. 1 I. Effect of cooker insulation thickness on boiling time of 1 kg of water+

2S0
~. -~ - ' P l a t e Temp.
230
= =Woler Temp.
210 -~ = =~si~e A i r Temp
190 ; Z. : :~Im~bionl TQmp.
170

i 150
130
110
90
70
SO
30 ~ 4
!
10
9 11 14
TIMEt hour }

Fig. 12. Experimental results of boiling 1 kg of water using double glazing box-type solar cooker [14].

Table I. Performance comparison between theoretical and experimental investigations of solar cooker
Theoretical work Experimental work

Ref. Fluid Mf r/ t~ tc Ref. Fluid Mf ~ t~ tc

Present Water 1.0 18 22.9 20.0 [13] Water 1.0 14 26.5 25.2
Present Oil 1.0 13 -- -- [13] Oil 1.0 I0 -- --
[10] Water 0.52 36 16,2 16.2 [14] Water 0.45 24 26.9 22.7
[101 Oil 0.47 19 -- -- [14] Oil 0.40 12 -- --

cfA T
t~- 5.4 x 104 ~" (26)
Table 1 compares the calculated values of the above three performance parameters of the present
theoretical model of the double glazing box type solar cooker and that of the experimental results
of Refs [10], [13] and [14]. The results presented in Table 1 indicate that all theoretical models
predict higher efficiency and lower specific boiling time and characteristic boiling time. This is due
to the fact that the thermal analysis of the theoretical models did not take into consideration the
effect of the inside hot air leakage on the performance of the cooker. Leakage of the inside hot
air causes the cooker overall losses to increase and, thus, its efficiency to decrease and boiling times
to increase.
CONCLUSION

Computer simulation studies were conducted to predict the unsteady state thermal behaviour
of different versions of a box-type solar cooker using a set of important cooker parameters. The
234 JUBRAN and ALSAAD: BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKER

developed mathematical analysis is utilized to study the effect o f some parameters on the hourly
and daily performance o f the cooker. The results indicate that a considerable improvement in the
c o o k e r performance is attained when the c o o k i n g pot diameter is increased. The best performance
improvement is obtained when the ratio o f the pot diameter and the c o o k e r width is equal to unity.
On the other hand, it was f o u n d that changing the pot depth has no effect on the c o o k e r
performance. The results also show that the daily performance o f the large size cookers is better
than that o f the smaller size cookers. The present work indicates that the o p t i m u m n u m b e r o f
reflectors that produce the best performance is two when the tilt angles for summer and winter
operation are 120 and 60 °, respectively.

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