2011(1)-N16
2011(1)-N16
2011(1)-N16
1. INTRODUCTION
The present research project aims to investigate the feasibility of using solar cookers
for food cooking in remote areas in KSA and to provide the industrial community with
a database for important parameters and the thermal performance of such type of
cookers. The first phase of the project is concerned with reviewing the different types
and designs of solar cookers and then selecting the suitable design with climate and
geographic conditions of KSA. To meet the objectives of the project, study of the
thermal characteristics of the selected design will be addressed in the second phase of
the project.
Many methods have been developed to utilize the available solar energy for
different end uses. Solar energy is free, environmentally clean, and therefore is
recognized as one of the most promising alternative energy resources options.
Moreover, solar cooking has proved to be one of the simplest and attractive options for
solar energy utilization. Solar cooking has been introduced in 69 countries worldwide
1033
1034 Kassem, Talal K. and Youssef, M. S.
[1]. The highest numbers of cookers are in India and China, approximately 34,000 in
India, and 140,000 in China [1]. In both countries, the solar cooking programs have
been promoted by the government. Countries like Pakistan, Kenya, South-Africa, the
United States of America (USA) and Switzerland have less than 20,000 solar cookers
in each of them [1,2]. In some countries the government support solar cooking, for
example, the Indian government has offered a subsidy of 33 % on the price of solar
cookers for potential buyers. This has resulted in India being the largest marketer of
solar cookers in the world [1]. Solar cooking has many advantages such as [3]:
1- no running cost;
2- high nutritional value of the cooked food;
3- high durability.
Cooking energy in urban areas is supplied by fuels such as kerosene, liquid
petroleum gas (LPG), Natural Gas, and electrical energy [3]. While, cooking purposes
in rural/remote areas mostly use fuels like firewood, agricultural waste, and animal
dung. Particularly, in developing countries, there is a critical need for the development
of cooking methods based on solar energy. Basically there are different types and
designs of solar cookers. For each design of them different performance parameters
has been used. Therefore, the following paragraphs will be focused on some types of
solar cookers. Before reviewing the various types of solar cookers, the heat transfer
mechanism of cooking will be explained first.
Guar et al. [7] designed and fabricated the pot lid in concave shape and carried
out water heating test and stagnation test with conventional pot lid and concave shaped
lid. They observed that heating time is 15-20 min less in the cooker having pot with
concave shaped lid. Also, the stagnation temperature of the cooker with the concave
1036 Kassem, Talal K. and Youssef, M. S.
shaped lid was greater than the stagnation temperature with the conventional lid by 3 –
7 oC.
A comparative experimental study of a box type solar cooker with two
different cooking vessels has been carried out by Harmim et al. [8]. The first cooking
vessel was conventional and the second one was identical to the first in shape and
volume but its external lateral surface provided with fins. The box type solar cooker
used by Harmim et al. [8] was of double glazed bottom which allows the absorber to
receive solar radiation on its lower side with the help of a parabolic reflector displaced
under the cooker. In addition, on its upper side, the absorber was exposed to solar
radiation from two glass mirrors hinged to the frame of the upper side of the cooker.
The experimental setup of the double exposure solar cooker and the cooking vessels
used by Harmim et al. [8] are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It was experimentally
concluded that cooking time can be reduced by using a finned cooking vessel. This
reduction is consistent with the increase of the heat transfer surface area by fins
attached to the external surface of the cooking vessel.
Fig. 2. A photograph of the experimental setup of the double exposure solar cooker of
Harmim et al. [8].
Fig. 5. A photograph of the new flat plate collector solar cooker used by Schwarzer et
al. [11].
change materials (PCM) are materials absorb energy during the heating process as
phase change takes place and release energy to the environment in the phase change
range during a reverse cooling process. There are three methods for storing thermal
energy, namely; latent, sensible, and thermo-chemical heat or cold storage [3]. More
details about latent and sensible heat storage materials will be discussed separately in
the following paragraphs.
Fig. 7. Outline of the prototype solar cooker based on an evacuated tube solar collector
with PCM storage unit used by Sharma et al. [14].
Buddhi et al. [15] tested acetanilide as a PCM with a melting point of 118.9 oC
for night cooking in a box type cooker with three reflectors. Acetanilide was filled in
the cylindrical storage unit and it was reported that by using 4.0 kg of acetanilide, food
could be cooked up to 8:00 PM.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Box-type solar cooker has been adopted for the present research due to its simplicity of
handling and operation. This solar system is coupled with vacuum-tube collector and
integrated with thermal storage material (copper) to overcome the problems associated
with the conventional box-type solar cookers. Feasibility of using such type of cooker
under climate and geographic location of Taif City, Saudi Arabia will be investigated
in the second phase of this research project.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study is conducted as a part of the research project entitled “Application of Solar
Cookers for Food Cooking in Remote Areas in KSA”, initiated by Taif University,
Saudi Arabia under a contract NO. 1-432-1261. The University is highly
acknowledged for the financial support.
5. REFERENCES
1. G. A. Alozie, I. M. Mejaha, O. A. Ogungbenro, G. I. Nwandikom, and C. Akujor
"Design and construction of a solar box cooker as an alternative in Nigerian
kitchens" ISESCO Science and Technology Vision, Vol. 6, Number 9, pp. 57-62,
May 2010.
2. Solar Cookers International U. S. A. Newsletter online, The Solar Cooking
archives, www.solarcooking.org and www.solarcookers.org, 2004.
3. A. Sharma, C. R. Chen, V. V. S. Murty, and A. Shukla "Solar cooker with latent
heat storage systems: a review" Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol.
9, pp. 1599-1605, 2009.
4. G. O. G. Lof "Recent investigation in the use of solar energy for cooking" Solar
Energy, Vol. 7, pp. 125-133, 1963.
5. R. M. Muthusivagami, R. Verlaj, and R. Sethumadhavan "Solar cookers with and
without thermal storage: A review" Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
Vol. 14, pp. 691-701, 2010.
6. T. A. Al-Azab, M. Q. Al-Odat, and F. M. Al-Hussien " Experimental investigation
of a box-type solar cooker with finned pot thermal performance in Jordan"
GCREEDER 2009, Amman-Jordan, March 31st –April 2nd, 2009.
7. A. Gaur, O. P. Singh, S. K. Singh, and G. N. Pandey "Performance study of solar
cooker with modified utensil" Renewable Energy, Vol. 18, pp. 121-129, 1999.
8. A. Harmim, M. Boukar, and M. Amar "Experimental study of a double exposure
solar cooker with finned cooking vessel" Solar Energy, Vol. 82, pp. 287-289,
2008.
1042 Kassem, Talal K. and Youssef, M. S.