Construction and evaluation of thermal performance of a solar box-type cooker equipped with phase-change materials and clay bricks

The purpose of this paper is to construct a solar box -type cooker that uses the phase-change materials and clay bricks to store the thermal energy of sunlight per day. When the solar radiation is reduced, the energy stored in it can be used for cooking. In this paper, four solar box cookers were made and these cookers were tested at two different days. The four solar ovens considered were (1) simple oven, (2) oven containing clay bricks, (3) oven containing paraffin, and (4) oven containing paraffin and clay bricks. Paraffin as a phase-change material combined with six clay bricks with black coating are used as the heat storage medium.The results of the thermometers used in the experiment showed that the box cooker containing paraffin and clay bricks (type 4) had higher water temperature than the other cookers after reducing the sunlight.

Keywords:

solar box-type cooker , Phase change material , Clay bricks , Thermal performance , Solar energy