EVALUATION OF EXTENDED COOKING USING SOLAR PLATE THERMAL BOX FILLED WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEAT RETAINERS AND METAL SCRAPS

Abstract

One of the biggest and most important domestic tasks is cooking. In rural areas it is usually, it is done over open flames using fuels like firewood, charcoal, dung, and agricultural waste. An alternative way to minimize fuel wood is using solar power. In this study, a solar thermal box was used to complete cooking a food that had already been partially cooked (boiled) using a fire. The solar plate utilized in the study was constructed like a thermal box, actually partitioned into six parts to facilitate the conduction of several tests at once. The word used for this device is a solar thermal box (STB). This investigation tested three cooking scenarios. The purpose of the study was to compare the temperature and cooking time differences between a normal hotbox/haybox and STB, STB assisted with heat retainers, and finally, STB with heat retainer assisted with scrap metals to enhance thermal energy transfer to the heat retainers. The food (rice) to be placed in the STB was originally boiled using a fire source. The results of the study indicate a linear increment of temperature with the use of solar plates. The inclusion of heat retainers managed to finish cooking the rice from 65 to 73 minutes faster and with more flavor than the rice in the haybox. The addition of metal scraps with heat retainers improved the cooking time by 38–49 minutes faster. Thus, overall, the solar plate with heat retainer and metal scraps has improved the cooking time by 53-54% compared to that of haybox. The results showed that solar power alone did not significantly increase food temperature, but the inclusion of heat retainers and later metal scrapes significantly improved the cooking time. Future work may focus on the use of STB-assisted heat retainers and conducting materials as a solar cooker of food without the need for initial boiling by using other heat sources.