Performance Evaluation of Solar Box Cooker with Phase Change Materials

Solar cooker uses solar radiation to cook the food. These are good alternative for cooking as it uses solar radiation which is free and does not cause any environmental pollution. Normally, the box type cooker can cook the food in day time only. On the other hand, the solar box cooker that utilises phase change material (PCM) is able to prepare food both during the day and in the evening. In this study, simulations of box solar cookers with three distinct PCMs have been conducted to compare the performance of the cooker with different PCMs. The 3D model of the box solar cooker has been prepared, grid independence test has been done and the simulations have been performed using ANSYS FLUENT package. In the simulation the maximum temperature achieved by the absorber plate during the charging mode and time to achieve this maximum temperature have been evaluated. Using the maximum temperature achieved the other thermal performance parameters have been calculated. Through the simulation it is found that maximum temperature of the absorber plate is achieved with PCM Erythritol. The drop in temperature of the absorber plate during the discharging mode is more with PCM Quinone. Also, during the discharging mode, the energy provided by Acetanilide and Quinone is less than the energy required for evening cooking, so Acetanilide and Quinone do not support evening cooking. However, the analysis shows that the evening cooking is possible by using Erythritol as the phase change material. All the performance parameters are high with Erythritol as compared to Acetanilide and Quinone. Thus, the performance of the cooker is better with Erythritol.