Performance Evaluation of a Double-Glazed Box-Type Solar Oven with Reflector

Abstract

This research paper describes the performance evaluation of a double-glazed box-type solar oven with reflector fabricated using locally available materials, compressed sawdust with binder; size of the box is 700 mm ×  700 mm × 400 mm and 10 mm thickness. The experimental solar cooker consists of an aluminium absorber plate (1 mm) painted matt black and a double-glazed lid. The bottom and sides are lagged with fibreglass wool insulator, thickness = 50 mm,  W/m°C. The reflector consists of a wooden-framed commercially available specular plane mirror which is sized to form a cover for the box when not being in use. Its thermal performance was tested according to the ASAE International Test procedure and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for testing the thermal performance of box-type solar cooker. Thermal performance experiments were conducted in order to determine the first figure of merit (F1), the second figure of merit (F2) and standard cooking power (Ps). The obtained test results were employed to calculate the two figures of merit (F1, and F2) and the standard cooking power (P50) to be 0.11 Km2w−1, 0.31, and 23.95 W, respectively. Finally, the results illustrated that the cooker has a good reliability for cooking food and boiling water.