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org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

Geometrical Parameters Of Solar Cooker: A

Review- Part II
1
Aman Shrivas, 2Dr. R.E. Thombre, 3D. Subroto,
1
P.G. Student, Energy management system, Chandrapur, India.
2
Associate professor, Department of mechanical engineering, R.C.E.R.T., Chandrapur
3
Associate professor, Department of electrical engineering, R.C.E.R.T, chandrapur

Abstract- Elements used in the solar cookers plays an important role in enhancing its performance. Booster mirrors, glazing,
cooking pot and lid, insulation etc. proved effective in enhancing the performance of SBC. While, in concentrating type cookers
reflective material plays an important role in enhancing its performance. In this paper, a review is made on the different elements
used in a solar cooker, along with the, work of the authors, who played an important role in enhancing their cooker’s performance
by using or either modifying, those elements used in it.

Keywords- Components, Booster mirrors, Insulation, Greenhouse effect, Cooking vessel and lid, Geometrical shape of cooking
chamber.

I. INTRODUCTION thermal energy in the box and reducing cooking time.

When humans first began cooking, we entered in an
exciting culinary and health-related time: cooking
renders many foods edible that would be otherwise
dangerous, while also rendering nutrients within our
food more easily digestible [1]. People all over the
world cook their meals using a variety of heat sources,
including electricity, gas, coal, and wood. With
decreasing access to the natural resources required as
fuel sources, many people are now turning to an
alternative solutions that utilize easily accessible,
renewable energy resources, such as solar energy. As a
result, solar ovens are becoming more prevalent in
many parts of the world as a relatively inexpensive and
renewable option [2].
In preceding paper, a design of a first solar oven made
by Horace-Benedict de Saussure was discussed. It was
based on the principles of heat conversion from solar
energy to thermal energy as well as the principles
behind conduction of heat through materials. It has
been the most basic design, which have an open
window on top to let light in. A transparent material
used to cover the window which lets the solar energy
in, but prevents the thermal energy from leaving. The
pot was kept inside & the inside surface of the box
painted black. Light hits the inside surface of the box,
absorbs by the pot and cooks the food [3]. Once the
solar energy is transformed to thermal energy, it needs
to be kept in the box and prevented from leaving so
that the temperature inside the box can reach high
enough for cooking. In order to keep this thermal
energy inside the box & maximize the amount of solar
energy entering the box, many authors started using
different components like insulation, lid on a cooking
vessel, glazing, absorber tray, booster mirror etc. &
worked on improving its design. A number of studies,
available in the literature highlighted that the
components like, material from which the box walls
are made, volume of cooking chamber, used of a
participating medium and the thickness of the walls of
the box are equally important for keeping as much
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So, the design of the solar oven requires components
that maximize the amount of solar energy entering the
box, maximize the conversion of solar to thermal
radiation at the inside surface of the box, and prevents
as much heat as possible from leaving through the
walls of the box.
2. REVIEW ON ELEMENTS OF THE SOLAR
COOKER
Elements used in the solar cooker plays an important
role in enhancing its performance. Booster mirrors,
glazing, cooking pot and lid, insulation etc. proved
effective in enhancing the performance of SBC. While,
in concentrating type cookers reflective material plays
an important role in enhancing its performance. In this
section, work of the authors are described in detail,
who played an important role in enhancing their
cooker’s performance by using or either modifying
the different components used in it.
2.1. Booster mirrors
Booster mirror reflects the extra solar radiation coming
from sun on an aperture area of the cooker which
permit higher working temperature and thus, enhances
the output of the solar cooker. In this section, work of
some authors are described below in detail, who tested
their solar cooker by employing booster mirrors on it.
Narasimha rao et al. in 1988, Analysed the effects of
providing a single adjustable booster mirror, hinged on
one side and pointed towards the south on a box type
solar cooker. They made the calculations for total
energy falling on the cooker aperture for a latitude of
18°N (Warangal City) and for five different
declinations of the sun. They also analysed the effects
of mirror adjustment under three categories i.e.
intermittent adjustment, continuous adjustment or
fixed orientation to determine the energy boost and
found that, by intermittent adjustment and continuous
adjustment of the booster mirror, the total energy
collection was improved at all hours of the day [4]. Just
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after an year, they started investigating the effect of
elongation (i.e. ratio of length/width of aperture), of
rectangular apertures, provided with one single booster
mirror which was hinged on the northern edge of the
aperture, on the energy collection pattern. They
manifested that the elongation has a significant bearing
on the total energy collection i.e. the efficiency of day
long energy collection increases with elongation and
found that rectangular apertures with mirror boosters
had higher specific energy collection and efficient
when compared with similarly boosted square
apertures. While, the efficiency was almost remain a
constant for values of elongation [5]. They made an
analyzation on the energy accretion pattern of a box
type solar cooker with a plane mirror hinged on the
northern edge along with the investigation on, the
effect of latitude on the energy contribution by the
mirror onto the cooker aperture and discussed that with
an increase in latitude, the energy contribution from
the mirror becomes significant in relation to the energy
intercepted by the aperture directly and the mirror is
much more effective during winter solstice (6 = -23.45
°) at higher latitudes in 1991 [6]. Then after two years,
they discussed an algorithm to assess the contribution
of solar energy on a horizontal receiver by a plane
booster mirrors. They prepared a FORTRAN computer
code on the base of algorithm which was used to
evaluate the contribution from the booster mirrors in
different orientations or tracking modes & found that
south facing mirror was best compared for energy
boosting especially at low solar altitudes [7].
Ibrahim et al. designed and evaluated the performance
of a box type solar cooker with a plane booster mirror
reflector, as shown in figure 1, in the Egyptian climate
for over two years under different working conditions
in 1995. They adjusted the cooker's position for
maximum solar radiation and the tilt angle of the
booster reflector for maximum concentration and
observed that a good meal for a family of four was
cooked in 3-4 hours. They also manifested that using a
transparent tight plastic cover for the cooking pot
resulted in much better food temperatures and cooking
times than using an ordinary aluminium cover [8].
Fig. 1: (a) Schematic & (b) Photograph, of a solar cooker
equipped with a booster mirror by Ibrahim et al. [8]
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In 2001, Algifri et al. Drafted a method for finding a
reflector performance factor and an orientation factor
which depend upon the elevation angle of the sun, the
solar surface azimuth angle & the reflector tilt angle.
They applied the analysis to a SBC placed at Aden
(Yemen) & discussed if the cooker satisfied the
relationship between the reflector tilt angle and
elevation angle i.e. 3R – 2 α’= 180º then cooker had
given its best performance. They found their cooker
more efficient during winter season [9].
Further reviews are covered in our following paper
entitled ‘A review on booster mirrors & its
performance parameters: Part- III’.
2.2. Cooking vessels and lids
The major design factors of the cooking vessel are the
shape, size and the material it is made from. All these
affects how quickly it heats up and how well it retains
the heat. If the cooking vessel does not have a lid, then
all of the concentrated heat and all of the absorbed heat
would quickly dissipate into the air and lost to the
surrounding environment. In this section, work of the
authors are described below in detail, who developed
or modified the lid and cooking utensil of a solar
cooker.
In 1986, Khalifa et al. conducted experiments with
Arafa cookers that featured insulated receivers
containing transparent tempered glass Pyrex pots and
provided with a single glazed insolation window at the
bottom. During investigations they found that heating
of many food items by the directly reflected solar
radiation resulted in reasonable cooking times & much
of the energy absorbed by the Pyrex pot itself was also
transferred to the food. Alternatively, a Teflon coated
black aluminium plate placed inside the Pyrex pot was
utilized for absorbing the incoming radiation, and then
conveying the collected energy to the food [10]. Gaur et
al. developed a modified concave shaped lid in 1999 &
revealed that the cooking time of a solar cooker was
reduced by 10-13% and temperature of solar cooker
increased by 2-7%, if a utensil with a concave shape
lid was utilised instead of plain lid [11].
Then in 2003, A.V. Narasimha Rao et al. Carried out
test by keeping a vessel on the mild steel lugs (as
shown in figure 2) for solar cooking and revealed that
when the vessel was kept on lugs the circulation of hot
air between the bottom of the vessel and the floor of
the cooker improves the convective heat transfer to the
contents in the vessel. They found that 3-5℃ more
temperature achieved when vessel was kept on lugs [12].
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Fig. 2: Schematic diagram of a box type solar cooker with a
cooking vessel on lugs & another identical vessel on the
floor of a cooker by Narasimha Rao et al [12].

Just after an year, they experimentally investigated the

performance of a cooking vessel having central annual
cavity kept on lugs and observed that when the vessel
with central annual cavity was placed on lugs in the
cooker interior, the hot air circulation through the gap
between the bottom of the cooking vessel and the floor
of the cooker or through the central annular cavity
improves the heat transfer to the water in the vessel.
Thus resulted in the reduction of cooking time and
temperature of more than 20℃ obtained when
compared with the conventional cooking vessel kept
on the floor [13]. In 2007, Avala Raji Reddy et al.
developed a cooking vessel with central cylindrical
cavity and compared its performance with a
conventional type cooking vessel. They found 5.9 % &
2.4% more average improvement of the performance
of the central cylindrical cavity vessel than that of
conventional cylindrical vessel on the floor and on
lugs [14]. After an year, Harmim et al. Fabricated and
tested a double exposure box type cooker carrying a
specially designed cooking pot with fins on the outer
joint of lid at Adrar, Algeria. Their vessel was made of
aluminium and painted black. They experimentally
demonstrated that cooking time could be reduced by
using a finned cooking vessel and this reduction found
consistent with the increase of the heat transfer surface
area by fins attached to the external surface of the
cooking vessel. They found average difference of 7.49
W in power [15]. In 2010, Abhishek saxena et al.
Modified and tested a trapezoidal shape cooking vessel
and compared its performance with simple cylindrical
cooking vessel in a simple box cooker. The speciality
of this cooking vessel was that it was thinly coated
with black paint & a lid holder openable knob was
attached to the top of the vessel to measure the
temperature of cooking fluid stored in a vessel during
the testing. The lid also had a locking system in place.
They found that the trapezoidal cooking vessel able to
attain maximum temperature & power of 99℃ and
79.8 W which was quite more compared to maximum
temperature and power of cylindrical cooking vessel
remain at 93℃ and 70.6 W [16]. Rikoto et al. conducted
a comparative investigation using a box type solar
cooker with two different cooking pots at the testing
area of Sokoto Energy Research Centre, Usmanu
Danfodiyo University in 2013. The two pots are
identical in shape and volume with one of the pots
external surface provided with fins, as shown in figure
3. The result of two tests (water heating and boiling
test) revealed that 75cl of water was raised to 95℃ in
112 and 126 minutes for finned and unfinned cooking
pot respectively. These figures represent 11%
reduction in heating time. Similarly 0.3 kg of rice was
cooked in 120 and 150 minutes for the finned and
unfinned cooking pots respectively. This clearly
demonstrates that fins improved the heat transfer from
the internal hot air of the cooker toward the interior of
the pot where the water and rice to be heated and
cooked were kept [17].
Fig. 3: Finned and unfinned cooking pots developed by
Rikoto et al [17].
After an year, V.P. Sethi et al. designed and fabricated
a parallelepiped shaped vessel, by cutting the
aluminium sheet of 0.8 mm thickness in desired
dimensions and by giving the required inclined shape
thereby keeping the volume of both the vessels same.
The speciality was that they placed its longer inclined
south wall along east–west axis, which increases the
exposed wall area of the vessel towards south direction
& captures maximum solar radiation during the day
while transfers it directly to the food material. They
noticed that time taken to boil the water and cooking
power was 37% less and 40% more respectively in
parallelepiped shaped cooking vessel of inclined
cooker as compared to conventional cylindrical vessel
of horizontally placed cooker [18].
In 2017, Geeteshwar sharan Varshney et al. designed
two kind of lids as shown in figure 4. in order to
utilise effectively the energy intercepted by lid in
cooking food. In first design, they provided a circular
ring of aluminium strip which was welded to the lids
inner side such that the ring was penetrating into the
pot contents. While in second design they used a
frustum of cone shaped lid in which the surface of lid
was in direct contact with the pot contents. Their
results indicated that the temperature of water in pot 1
in which lid with circular ring was fitted leads by 8-
9℃ which proved high value of thermal contact
resistance due to uncertain contact between lid and
cooking vessel, while, pot 2 in which cone shaped lid
was attached leads by 3-4℃ when reached to 90℃ [19].
Fig. 4: Different designs of lid used in a study by Varshney
et al. [19], (a) A circular ring of aluminium strip welded to
the inner side of lid of aluminium pot, (b) Frustum of cone
shaped lid.

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After an year, Dileep varshney et al. tested cooker
performance for two different pot materials aluminium
& steel in Allahabad climatic conditions. found that
energy and exergy efficiency of solar cooker with
aluminium vessels is higher than that of the solar
cooker with steel vessels. They found that the exergy
efficiency of aluminium pot was 17.59% more than the
steel pot, while, energy efficiency of solar cooker with
aluminium pot was found 0.59% higher than steel pot
[20].
2.3. Insulation
To gain high temperatures for cooking, inside the
SBC, it is important that there must be low conduction
of heat from the inner box structure materials to outer
box structural materials. For that, an insulation is
establish on the walls and the bottom of the box [21].
Insulating materials include: aluminium foil (radiant
reflector), feathers (down feathers are best), spun
fiberglass, rock wool, cellulose, rice hulls, wool, straw,
and crumpled newspaper. In this section, work of the
authors are described below in detail, who insulated
their solar cookers with different insulation materials
for the purpose of performance evaluation.
In 1984, RS Mishra et al. summarized very briefly the
thermal performance of solar cooker comprised of flat
plate arrangement with a booster, employed with four
different insulations wheat chaff, ground nut peelings,
wood shavings and rice husk which are readily
available in rural areas. They made comparison of
each one of these with the performance of glass wool.
This experiment was performed by them to minimize
the cost of the cooker with a view to enhance its
widespread application in the rural Indian
environment. From heating curves, they manifested
that wheat chaff is the best insulator [22]. Pejack
manifested in 2003, that in order to reduce heat loss
from a SBC, the walls must be constructed with high
thermal resistance material & then insulated with
materials having low thermal conductivities. They
described different materials which may act as good
insulating materials for the walls of a SBC, these were,
air, foam, fiberglass, corkboard, wood felt, cotton,
sawdust, paper, wood, sand, plaster, glass, dry soil and
concrete along with their thermal conductivities which
ranged from 0.03 W/m℃ to 1.04 W/m℃ [23]. In 2010,
Vandana Kaushik devised and constructed a very low
cost fireless cooker for Indian women, who are
burdened with household work, agricultural work and
care of animals in addition to all time financial crises.
Their cooker was insulated with the strawboard and
was tested by them in terms of cooking efficiency.
Their results indicated that the fireless cooker of
strawboard could both cook as well as keep the food
hot within safe temperatures well above 6 hours [24].
Ademola Aremu et al. Evaluated the energy and exergy
efficiencies of five box type solar cookers insulated
with maize cob, air (control), maize husk, Coconut
coir and polyurethane foam over a period of five years
in 2015. They performed experiments at Department
of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering, Ibadan,
Nigeria and manifested that the energy-exergy
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efficiency found highest in cooker with coconut coir
(37.35 & 3.90%) in the first year but was lowest for air
(11 & 1.07%) in the third year [25].
2.4. Absorber tray
It is a black coated tray which absorbs sunlight and
conduct heat into the pot. Many modifications have
been done by the authors on an absorber tray for
performance enhancement of a solar cooker & their
work are described below in detail.
In 1990, NM Nahar tested his improved box type solar
cooker with tilted absorbing surface and compared its
performance with a solar oven and a hot box solar
cooker. The design of improved solar cooker with
tilted absorbing surface is shown in figure 5. The
uniqueness of his device was that due to tilted
absorbing surface it could be able to obtained more
radiation during winter and the tilt could be varied
with the help of kamani. Their results indicated that
the solar cooker having tilted absorbing surface
performed better compared to other two solar cookers
and could be able to attained the efficiency of 24.6%
[26].
Fig 5: Design developed by Nahar et al. [26] of improved
hot box solar cooker with tilted absorbing surface
Thulasi et al. Examined and explained the various heat
transfer rates in the SBC’s, like thickness of the plates,
number of pots used, black paint on the pots and
reflectors in 1994. They manifested that plate
thickness less than 1mm proved significant in reducing
the radiative and convective heat transfer [27, 28]. In
2003, Amer E.H. Introduced and tested a novel design
of solar cooker in which the absorber was exposed to
solar radiation from the top and the bottom sides under
the Egyptian climatic conditions. They used set of
plane diffuse reflectors to direct the radiation onto the
lower side of the absorber plate. Their results indicated
that the cooker was able to reached the stagnation
temperature of 165℃ and the cooking time was
reduced by 30-60 min with respect to conventional
type SBC [29].
Just after an year, Subodh kumar carried out simple
thermal analysis for evaluation of the natural
convective heat transfer coefficient, hc12 for a
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trapezoidal absorber plate-inner glass cover enclosure
of a double-glazed box-type solar cooker and
compared the results of hc12 with those of rectangular
enclosure for the same absorber-inner glass cover
temperatures and gap spacing. Their studies revealed
that the values of convective heat transfer coefficient
and top heat loss coefficient for rectangular enclosure
were lower by 31–35% and 7% respectively and the
major advantage of using a trapezoidal shaped tray in a
box-type solar cooker is the absorption of a higher
fraction of incident solar radiation falling on the
aperture at larger incidence angles, due to a more
exposed surface area [30]. In 2005, Kalogirou et al.
tested various colours like red brown, green, blue,
black and others for selective coating on the absorber
trays to absorb maximum heat energy. the collector
tray absorbs as much of the irradiation as possible
through the glazing, while losing as little heat as
possible upward to the atmosphere & downward
through the back of the casing. They manifested that
the absorptance of the collector surface for shortwave
solar radiation depends on the nature, colour of the
coating & on the incident angle & found that the
coloured collector present low efficiency than the
black collector due to low collector absorptance [31].
After an year, O.A. Ogunwole developed an SBC made
of a trapezoidal casing and an absorber which was a
square base pot, blackened with smoke and made of
stainless steel. They designed casing to be in two
layers, the first layers was inserted in the second layer
and the space between them was filled with local
sponge of 55 mm. Their constructed cooker could be
able exceed temperature of above 100℃ and could be
used for pasteurization and for other purposes [32]. In
2010, Harmim et al. carried out experimental studies
for performance comparison of the two SBC’s
equipped with finned and unfinned absorber plate at
Algeria, Adrar. Their results showed that the
stagnation temperature of a SBC equipped with a
finned absorber plate was about 7% more than a SBC
with an ordinary absorber tray, while, the cooking time
was also found to be reduced by about 12% with a
finned absorber tray [33]. Two years later, Abhishek
saxena et al. conducted the experimental studies to see
the effect of 1mm thin layer of sand and granular
carbon used as the heat absorbing material on the
surface of absorber plate in a solar box cooker. Their
results indicated that using these materials, improved
the cooker performance & the best performance was
obtained when the mixture of two were used [34]. Then
in 2017, Varshney carried out an experimental study to
investigate the effect of spacing between absorber
plate and glass cover i.e. height of the cooking
chamber, in a domestic box type cooking chamber. For
that, they used various schemes which are given in
Table 1. Their results indicated that cooking chamber
of height 8 cm gains 8-12℃ more temperature
compared to height of 12 cm this was due to the
reduction in spacing between absorber plate and glass
cover, due to which heat transfer to cooking food
increased and this enhancement in heat transfer was
due to enhancement in convective mode of heat
transfer mainly [35].
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Table 1: Various schemes used in experimental study
by Varshney et al. [35]
Scheme
no.
Details
Solar cooker 1 with cooking chamber height
12 cm and Solar cooker 2 with cooking
1
chamber height 12 cm. (Standardisation of
both cookers)
Solar cooker 1 with cooking chamber height
12 cm and Solar cooker 2 with cooking
2
chamber height 10 cm (modification of
absorber tray).
Solar cooker 1 with cooking chamber height
12 cm and Solar cooker 2 with cooking
3
chamber height 8 cm (modification of
absorber tray).
2.5. Glazing
The glazing traps the solar energy inside the box &
increases the cooking efficiency [36]. Plastic and glass
coverings mainly used as glazings in a solar cooker. In
this section, work of the authors are described below in
detail, who modified and tested the glazing for their
solar cookers.
In 1994, Nahar et al. Carried performance testing on a
hot box solar cooker in an indoor solar simulator with
covers consisting of 40 and 100 mm thick Transparent
Insulation Material (TIM), as shown in Figure 6. They
noticed that the stagnation temperature with the 40 mm
TIM was found to be 158°C, compared with 117°C
without the TIM & the corresponding ratios of U/ηₒ
were 7.13 and 10.3 W/m 2 K, respectively [37]. After 7
years, Nahar himself introduced TIM with a double
reflector cooker and compared its performance with
the single reflector solar cooker without TIM. He
encapsulated a 40 mm thick honeycomb made of
polycarbonate capillaries between two glazing sheets
of the cooker to minimise convective losses from the
window so that even during an extremely cold but
sunny day two meals can be prepared, which is not
possible in a hot box solar cooker without TIM. He
found that the efficiency of solar cooker with TIM was
6% more efficient than without TIM & about 1485 MJ
of fuel equivalent per year was saved by the use of
solar cooker with TIM [38].
John bell highlighted the glazing selection for various
heat transfer applications. They manifested that the
transparent cover was used to reduce the convection
losses from the absorber plate through the restraint of
the stagnant air layer between the absorber plate and
the glass. Also, they reduce radiation losses from the
collector as the glass is transparent to the short wave
radiation received by the sun but its nearly opaque to
long wave thermal radiation emitted by the absorber
plate [39].
Abhishek saxena et al. fabricated a simple box cooker
with glazing wiper mechanism called ‘SBC B’ and
compared its performance with a simple box cooker
called ‘SBC A’ in 2011. They introduced a flexi
sliding type arrangement with a roll of black foam or
black cushion on a spoke which works like a wiper on
the bottom part of internal glazing to remove the
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vapour droplets during cooking. They found that the
efficiency and cooking power of solar cooker with
glazing wiper mechanism was 7.66% and 8W more
compared to simple box type cooker [40].
Fig. 6: Schematic diagram of a solar cooker with 40 mm
TIM developed by Nahar et al [37].
2.6. Geometrical shape of a cooking chamber
This section covers how shape of the cooking chamber
plays an important role in reducing cooking time.
Furthermore, the work of the authors are described
below in detail, who modified and tested the different
shapes of the cooking chambers in their SBC’s.
In 1983, K.S.. Malhotra, fabricated 4 solar ovens for
comparative study. The basic difference between four
solar ovens were the volume of their cooking
chambers (as shown in figure 7). They observed that
there was a steep rise in temperature with reduction in
volume and had taken oven ‘C’ (Trapezoidal) as the
one having optimised volume with the efficiency of
35.5% [41].
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Fig 7: Different volumes of cooking chambers having
dimensions in cms: (1) Inner shell, (2) Outer shell, (3)
Cooking chamber, (4) Fibre glass insulation [41].
Jatin Shringi et al. Carried out the study of
optimization of thermal performance of solar radiation
for optimum geometrical shapes of the box type solar
cooker in 2016. For that, they fabricated three
geometrical shapes i.e. square, rectangle and
trapezoidal for field evaluation with same aperture
area of 40 cm. Walls of square and rectangular type
cooker was straight i.e. 0 degree and trapezoidal have
inclined walls as standard angle 45 degree. They
noticed that the trapezoidal shape performed better
than other geometrical shapes due to the inclined walls
which lessened inclination shadow effect on cooking
pot and that helps in enhancing the thermal
performance of the cooker [42].
2.7. Creating greenhouse effect inside the cooking
chamber
It was found from one local survey that cooking with
solar cooker is time consuming even after receiving
enough sunlight [43]. So, to decrease this cooking time
some authors started using CO2 gas, as a participating
medium, for creating greenhouse effect inside their
solar cooker. Their work are discussed below:
In 2013, Gauree and Agrawal, fabricated and tested
two identical box type solar cookers with and without
participating medium in Shri R.L.T. College of
Science, Akola (M.S.) India. They kept baking soda
inside the cooking chamber & reacted it with lemon
juice. The lemon juice contains citric acid which gives
out CO2 when reacted with Sodium bicarbonate i.e.
baking soda. They found that the temperature of
cooking box of solar cooker having CO2 gas was 5-
6℃ more compared to the solar cooker without CO2
gas [43].
After 4 years, i.e. in Nov. 2017, Varshney &
Chaudhary, carried out an experimental study to
investigate the effect of participating medium i.e.
carbon dioxide gas with air as shown in figure 8, in
cooking chamber of a conventional box type solar
cooker. For that, they fabricated two identical box type
solar cookers according to the standards prescribed by
BIS for solar cookers. For yielding, carbon dioxide gas
in the cooking chamber, they kept 60 grams of sodium
bicarbonate in the cooking chamber of SBC & reacted
it with the 10 ml hydrochloric acid. They noticed that
there was significant rise in temperature of water and
thus found benefit of using participating medium in a
solar cooker. They manifested that due to increased
density of medium, convective mode of heat transfer
also increased in a cooker having participating
medium in its cooking chamber [44].
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Fig 8: Schematic diagram of solar cooker having
participating medium (CO2 with air) in the cooking chamber
in experimental set up (all dimensions are in cm) [44].
3. CONCLUSION
From review, it is concluded that the elements used in
the solar cooker plays an important role in enhancing
its performance in any climatic conditions. Specific
Findings obtained in the review are given as follows:
i. Glazing should be double for a satisfactory
insulation.
ii. CO2 gas used as a participating medium is
beneficial in creating the greenhouse effect.
iii. Vessel must be kept on lugs & covered by a
lid.
iv. Absorber tray should be painted black and
augmented with extended surfaces for better
heat transfer.
v. Insulation must be provided on the bottom and
side walls.
vi. Cylindrical shape cooking vessels made from
aluminium or copper and painted black should
be preferred for high cooking efficiency.
vii. Trapezoidal shape cooking chamber must be
used for fast cooking.
4. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I am thankful to my mentors, Dr. R.E. Thombre and
Prof. D. Subroto, for their valuable guidance during
my research work.
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