Performance evaluation of solar box cooker assisted with latent heat energy storage system for cooking application

Solar cooking is one of the most promising techniques to meet the cooking needs in remote areas where electricity and fuel supplies are meager. Solar box cooker is an efficient device used in solar cooking as it is simple to fabricate, easy to operate and hazard-free. In this context, the performance evaluation of a solar box cooker with varied number of reflectors has been undertaken. It was found that the time consumed for cooking in a box type solar cooker with four reflectors is lesser compared to that of a single reflector and its overall utilization efficiency increases with increase in the cooking mass. Further, a latent heat energy storage system was designed and fabricated to cook the food at off-peak hours of solar radiation. This latent heat energy storage system was combined with the solar box cooker. Oxalic acid dihydrate was used as the phase change material due to its high specific enthalpy and its melting point lying close to the cooking temperature. It was found that the solar box cooker with phase change material could be effectively utilized to cook food during off-peak hours of solar radiation.