Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817

www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Thermal performance evaluation of a latent heat storage

unit for late evening cooking in a solar
cooker having three reflectors
a,*
D. Buddhi , S.D. Sharma b, Atul Sharma a

a
Thermal Energy Storage Laboratory, School of Energy and Environmental Studies, Khandwa Road Campus,
Devi Ahilya University, Indore 452 017, India
b
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Architecture, Mie University, Kamihama Cho, Tsu, Japan
Received 11 December 2001; accepted 23 April 2002

Abstract
In this paper, a phase change material (PCM) storage unit for a solar cooker was designed and developed
to store energy during sunshine hours. The stored energy was utilised to cook food in the late evening.
Commercial grade acetanilide (melting point 118.9 °C, latent heat of fusion 222 kJ/kg) was used as a latent
heat storage material. Evening cooking experiments were conducted with different loads and loading times
during the winter season. The experimental results showed that late evening cooking is possible in a solar
cooker having three reflectors to enhance the incident solar radiation with the PCM storage unit.
Ó 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Keywords: Solar energy; Solar cooker; Phase change material; Latent heat storage; Evening cooking

1. Introduction

Concentrator and box type solar cookers are commonly used for cooking food at noon. Among
these, box type solar cookers are more popular due to their simplicity of handling and operation.
The detailed design, test procedures, theory and utility of box type solar cookers are well de-
veloped [1–4]. The use of a box type solar cooker is limited because cooking of food is not possible
due to frequent clouds in the day and in the evening.
Buddhi and Sahoo [5] designed and tested a solar cooker with latent heat storage for cooking
food in the late evening. In their design, the phase change material (PCM) was filled below the

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-731-460309; fax: +91-731-470372.
E-mail addresses: dbuddhi@hotmail.com, dbuddhi@sancharnet.in (D. Buddhi).

0196-8904/02/$ - see front matter Ó 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

PII: S 0 1 9 6 - 8 9 0 4 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 0 6 - 1
810 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817

Nomenclature

F1 first figure of merit (m2 °C/W)

F2 second figure of merit
Gaa average global solar radiation during charging process (W/m2 )
Mf mass of food (rice þ water) (kg)
Taa average ambient temperature (°C)
ti time at which food is loaded (h)
to time at which food is taken out (h)
Tp absorbing plate temperature (°C)
Tpi absorbing plate temperature when food is loaded (°C)
Tpo absorbing plate temperature when food is taken out (°C)
Tpmax maximum plate temperature during charging process (°C)
Tfi food temperature when food is loaded (°C)
Tfo food temperature when food is taken out (°C)
Tfmax maximum food temperature during cooking process (°C)
Tpcmi PCM temperature when food is loaded (°C)
Tpcmo PCM temperature when food is taken out (°C)
Tpcm max maximum PCM temperature during charging process (°C)

absorbing plate. In such type of design, the rate of heat transfer from the PCM to the cooking pot
during the discharging mode of the PCM was slow and more time was required for cooking food
in the evening.
Buddhi and Sharma [6] and Sharma et al. [7] designed and developed a cylindrical PCM storage
unit for a box type solar cooker to cook the food in the late evening. They reported that by using
2.0 kg of acetamide (melting point 82 °C) as latent heat storage material, the second batch of food
can be cooked if it is loaded up to 15.30 h during the winter season. From the experimental results,
it was found that the storage of solar energy did not affect the performance of the solar cooker for
noon cooking, and they also recommended that for evening cooking, the melting temperature of a
PCM should be between 105 and 110 °C. Therefore, there was a need to identify a storage ma-
terial with appropriate melting point and quantity which can cook the food in the late evening. To
store a larger quantity of heat through a PCM, more input solar radiation would be required.
Hence, in this paper, a box type solar cooker with three reflectors was used with a latent heat
storage unit. Experiments were conducted during the winter season (December and February) for
different loads and second batch loading timings. Acetanilide (melting point 118.9 °C, latent heat
of fusion 222 kJ/kg) was used as a latent heat storage material.

2. System description

To conduct the cooking experiments with the PCM storage unit, a double glazed (glass covers)
box type solar cooker having 50 cm
50 cm aperture area and 19 cm deep was used. In this solar
 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817 811

Fig. 1. A schematic sketch of the ball and socket mechanism of right and left side reflectors.

cooker, three reflectors were provided, i.e. the middle reflector was mounted with a hinge and had
rotation only about the horizontal axis. The other two reflectors were fixed by a ball and socket
mechanism in the left and right sides of the reflector. This pair of reflectors has three degrees of
freedom, i.e. they can have movement about the horizontal axis and vertical axis and can rotate
about both the axes. By these mechanisms, efforts were made to keep the reflected solar radiation
on the absorber surface to enhance the incident solar radiation on the glass cover during the
course of the sun exposure experiments. A schematic sketch of the ball and socket mechanism of
the right and left side reflectors is shown in Fig. 1.
Following Buddhi and Sharma [6] and Sharma et al. [7], a cooking vessel with latent heat
storage was designed and fabricated to cook the food up to 20.00 h. The unit has two hollow
concentric aluminum cylinders of diameter 20 and 30 cm and 12.5 cm deep of 2 mm thickness. The
space between the cylinders was first filled with 2.25 kg acetanilide used as the PCM to conduct
the cooking experiments with a single existing reflector and was later filled with 4.0 kg of PCM to
conduct the cooking experiments with all three reflectors. The dimensions of the vessel used for
cooking were 19 and 15 cm in diameter and height, respectively, and it can be inserted inside the

Fig. 2. A schematic diagram of the latent heat storage unit.

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Table 1
Thermophysical properties of commercial grade acetanilide
Melting temperature of acetanilide (commercial grade) 118.9 °Ca
Latent heat of fusion of acetanilide (commercial grade) 222 kJ/kga
Specific heat of the acetanilide 2 kJ/kg °C
a
Measured using DSC.

Fig. 3. Solidification behavior of acetanilide used as a PCM.

PCM storage unit for cooking purposes. To enhance the rate of heat transfer between the PCM
and the inner wall of the PCM container, 8 fins (1 cm
3 cm) were welded at the inner wall of the
PCM container. A schematic diagram of the latent heat storage unit is shown in Fig. 2. The
thermophysical properties of acetanilide are given in Table 1, and its solidification behavior is also
shown in Fig. 3.

3. Thermal performance test

The thermal performance of the box type solar cooker without storage unit was determined by
conducting the stagnation temperature test (first figure of merit: F1 ) and by sensibly heating a
known amount of water (second figure of merit: F2 ) [2]. The value of F1 for the solar cookers was
found to be 0.126. To determine the second figure of merit, the cooker was loaded with 2 kg of
water, and the value of F2 was found to be 0.50. To study the thermal effects of three reflectors and
a single reflector, the absorbing plate temperature without any load was recorded for both cases
and are plotted in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the maximum temperature difference between the two
conditions was 40.0 °C at 12.00 h, and the maximum absorbing plate temperatures achieved were
204.7 and 163.8 °C, respectively.
 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817 813

Fig. 4. Comparison of absorbing plate temperatures of solar cooker with single reflector and three reflectors and in-
cident solar radiation on horizontal surface with time.

4. Experimental set-up and measurements

Three T type thermocouples were used to measure the temperature of the absorbing plate,
PCM temperature and food temperature inside the food container of the solar cooker. These
measurements were taken every 30 min using the HP 3852 data acquisition system. Solar radiation
and ambient temperature were also recorded during the course of the experiments. The experi-
ments were conducted at Indore (latitude, 22.7°N), India, and the orientation and direction of the
solar cooker and reflectors were adjusted towards the sun every 30 min.

5. Results and discussions

Cooking experiments were conducted in the months of December 2000 and February 2001. To
store the solar energy in the storage unit, the solar cooker with single reflector or three reflectors
was exposed to solar radiation at 10.00 h and closed at 17.30 h, except December 7, 2000. For
evening cooking, the storage unit of the solar cooker was loaded with different food quantities at
different timings.
To find the advantages of three reflectors over the single reflector, experiments were conducted
for both cases. On December 7, 2000, the solar cooker with a single reflector was exposed to the
sun between 10.00 and 17.00 h and was loaded with 0.50 kg food (0.15 kg rice and 0.35 kg water)
814 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817

at 17.00 h for evening cooking. The quantity of PCM used for storing the solar energy was 2.25
kg. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food temperatures at 17.00 h were
121.0, 120.0, and 35.2 °C. The food was removed at 20.00 h and was found well cooked. The
recorded temperature profiles of the absorber plate, PCM, food and ambient and solar radiation
on a horizontal surface with time are plotted in Fig. 5. Again, on December 8, 2000, the solar
cooker with a single reflector was exposed to the sun between 10.00 and 17.30 h and was loaded
with the same quantity of food at 17.30 h (half an hour later) for evening cooking. Before loading
the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food temperatures at 17.30 h were 104.0, 111.3, and
31.9 °C. The food was found to be well cooked at 19.30 h. A similar experiment was repeated on
December 9, 2000. On this day, the solar cooker was loaded at 18.00 h and the food was not
cooked. To cook the food in the late evening, an additional 1.75 kg of PCM was filled in the PCM
storage unit. As it was not possible to melt this quantity (4.0 kg) of PCM with the single reflector,
all three reflectors were used to enhance the incident solar radiation on the glass cover. These
experiments were conducted on December 22, 23, 26 and 27, 2000 and February 15, 16, 17, 19 and
20, 2001.
On December 22, 2000, the solar cooker was loaded with 0.50 kg of food (0.15 kg rice and 0.35
kg water) at 18.00 h for evening cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing
plate and food temperatures at 18.00 h were 106.5, 99.0 and 45.0 °C. The food was removed at
20.00 h and found to be well cooked. The recorded temperature profiles of the absorber plate,
PCM, food and ambient and the solar radiation on a horizontal surface with time are plotted in

Fig. 5. Variation of temperatures of PCM, food and absorbing plate of solar cooker with single reflector and ambient
temperature and solar radiation on horizontal surface with time on December 7, 2000.
 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817 815

Fig. 6. Variation of temperatures of PCM, food and absorbing plate of solar cooker with three reflectors and ambient
temperature and solar radiation on horizontal surface with time on December 22, 2000.

Fig. 6. Again, on December 23, 2000, the same quantity of food was loaded at 18.00 h for evening
cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food temperatures at 18.00 h
were 106.9, 100.4 and the 45.3 °C, and food was well cooked at 20.00 h. Again, on December 25,
2000, the same quantity of food was loaded at 19.00 h for evening cooking. Before loading the
cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food temperatures at 19.00 h were 102.0, 86.0 and 36.4 °C,
and the food was found to be well cooked at 20.30 h.
To study the performance with a larger quantity of food, on December 26, 2000, the solar
cooker was loaded with 0.75 kg of food (0.25 kg rice and 0.50 kg water) at 18.30 h for evening
cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food temperatures at 18.30 h
were 106.0, 94.4 and 24.5°C. The food was removed at 20.00 h and found to be well cooked.
On February 15, 2001, the solar cooker was loaded with 0.85 kg of food (0.25 kg rice and 0.60
kg water) at 19.30 h for evening cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate
and food temperatures at 19.30 h were 105.9, 90.4 and 24.3 °C. The food was found to be well
cooked at 21.30 h. The recorded temperature profiles of the absorber plate, PCM, food and
ambient and the solar radiation on a horizontal surface with time are plotted in Fig. 7. Again, on
February 16, 2001, the same quantity of food was loaded at 20.00 h for evening cooking. Before
loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food temperatures at 20.00 h were 105.2, 94.1
and 25.7 °C, and the food was well cooked at 22.00 h.
On February 17, 2001, the solar cooker was loaded with 1.0 kg of food (0.25 kg rice and 0.75 kg
water) at 19.00 h for evening cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and
food temperatures at 19.00 h were 106.7, 95.1 and 29.4 °C. The food was removed at 21.00 h and
found to be well cooked. Again, on February 19, 2001, the same quantity of food was loaded at
816 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817

Fig. 7. Variation of temperatures of PCM, food and absorbing plate of solar cooker with three reflectors and ambient
temperature and solar radiation on horizontal surface with time on February 15, 2001.

Table 2
Temperatures of absorbing plate of solar cooker, PCM, food, average solar radiation, ambient temperature and
cooking loads on different dates with single/three reflectors in December 2000 and February 2001
07/12/ 08/12/ 22/12/ 23/12/ 25/12/ 26/12/ 15/02/ 16/02/ 17/02/ 19/02/ 20/02/
00a 00a 00 00 00 00 01 01 01 01 01
ti 17.00 17.30 18.00 18.00 19.00 18.30 19.30 20.00 19.00 20.00 19.30
to 20.00 19.00 20.00 20.00 20.30 20.00 21.30 22.00 21.00 22.00 21.30
Tpi 120.0 111.3 99.0 100.4 86.2 94.4 93.4 94.2 95.1 91.6 93.4
Tpo 82.6 82.8 91.2 88.2 82.4 85.1 78.6 80.1 81.1 77.1 75.8
Tpmax 135.0 135.0 131.9 127.5 107.0 120.7 120.2 127.1 115.5 119.1 115.7
Tpcmi 121.0 104.0 106.5 106.9 102.0 106.0 105.9 105.2 106.7 103.6 105.5
Tpcmo 81.9 81.8 101.3 98.7 93.3 96.0 87.2 88.7 90.6 85.4 85.2
Tpcm max 137.9 136.0 134.6 129.2 118.0 123.3 122.4 129.8 120.2 122.2 119.2
Tfi 35.2 31.9 45.0 45.3 36.4 24.5 24.4 25.8 29.5 27.3 28.2
Tfo 83.1 86.2 91.2 86.6 81.0 81.0 79.1 78.8 79.5 76.4 71.6
Tfmax 93.0 88.1 94.5 89.8 81.0 81.0 79.1 78.8 79.5 76.4 71.6
Taa 27.9 29.4 25.9 26.5 25.4 25.4 24.9 25.5 29.1 27.2 30.2
Gaa 575 546 551 538 486 546 652 633 622 620 600
Mf 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.75 0.85 0.85 1.0 1.0 1.6
a
These experiments were conducted with single reflector only.

20.00 h for evening cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and food
temperatures at 20.00 h were 103.5, 91.6 and 27.2 °C. The food was found to be well cooked at
22.00 h.
 D. Buddhi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 809–817 817

On February 20, 2001, the solar cooker was loaded with 1.6 kg of food (0.40 kg rice and 1.2 kg
water) at 19.30 h for evening cooking. Before loading the cooker, the PCM, absorbing plate and
food temperatures at 19.30 h were 105.4, 93.4 and 28.2 °C. The food was found to be well cooked
at 21.30 h. A comparative data tabulation of the various temperatures achieved with single/three
reflectors and the average values of ambient temperature and solar radiation are tabulated in
Table 2.

6. Conclusion and recommendations

A cylindrical latent heat storage unit for the cooking pot of a solar cooker with three reflectors
was studied to store the solar energy during sunshine hours and to cook the food during the
evening time in the winter season. From the experimental results one can conclude that the
cooking experiments were successfully conducted for the evening time cooking up to at 20.00 h
with 4.0 kg of PCM.

Acknowledgement

Dr. S.D. Sharma is very grateful to CSIR, New Delhi, for funding the research grant.

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