An Investigation into the Effects of Box Geometries on the Thermal Performance of Solar Cookers

Abstract

The effect of box geometry, such as cylindrical and rectangular, on the performance of solar cookers has not been investigated. In this study, two different model box type solar cookers, which are in rectangular and cylindrical geometries, were constructed using the same material and were tested to investigate the effects of box geometries on the cooker performance. The experimental studies were conducted under the same operating conditions. The obtained results from the experiments were used to calculate the thermal efficiency and specific and characteristic boiling times. These parameters of the cookers were determined for 0.5, 1, and 1.5 kg of fresh water. It is observed that the cylindrical model has higher temperatures than the rectangular model under the same operating conditions. The thermal efficiency increased from 12.7 to 36.98% for cylindrical and 9.85 to 28.25% for rectangular model, when the quantity of water was increased from 0.5 to 1.5 kg; similarly, the characteristic boiling time was decreased from 39.56 to 14.35 for the cylindrical and 43.74 to 15.77 (min m⁻² kg⁻¹) for the rectangular model, respectively. The cylindrical model provided high thermal performance, which is indicated by high thermal efficiency and low characteristic boiling time, in comparison with the rectangular model.

Keywords:

• Box type solar cooker
• Thermal performance
• Rectangular and cylindrical geometries