Modeling, testing, and parametric analysis of a parabolic solar cooking system with heat storage for indoor cooking

Abstract Background In an ever-changing world where needs increase daily due to economic growth and demographic progression, where prices are unstable, where reserves are running out, where climate change is topical, the energy issues are increasingly marked by the question of sustainability. In many developing countries, wood and subsidized butane are the main sources of energy used for cooking in households. The use of solar energy in domestic cooking becomes unavoidable. Several models of solar cookers have been proposed, but most of them dealt with box and oven types of solar cookers without storage. Methods This paper presents a dynamic thermodynamic model of a parabolic solar cooking system (PSCS) with heat storage, along with a comparison of the model solution with experimental measurements. The model uses various thermal resistances to take into account heat transfer between the different parts of the system. Results The first experimental setup consists of a parabolic concentrator (0.80-m diameter and 0.08-m depth) and a 1.57-l cylindrical receiver. The second experimental setup is composed of a parabolic concentrator (1.40-m diameter and 0.16-m depth), the same receiver, and a 6.64-l heat storage. Tests were carried out in Rabat, Morocco, between April 24 and July 10, 2014, and between May 15 and June 18, 2015. Synthetic oil is used as a transfer fluid and a sensible heat storage. Conclusions Comparison between predicted and measured temperatures shows a good agreement with a relative error of ± 4.4%. The effects of important system design and operating parameters were also analyzed. The results show that a 50 W m−2 increase of the daily maximum solar radiation increases the storage temperature by 4 °C and a 5% increase of the receiver reflectance or absorptance improves the maximum storage temperature by 3.6 and 3.9 °C, respectively. Optimizing the aspect ratio of the receiver to 2 gives a maximum storage temperature of 85 °C. Increasing the thermal fluid mass flow rate from 0 to 18 kg h−1, or the receiver thermal insulation from 0.01 to 0.08 m, increases the maximum storage temperature by 65 and 17 °C, respectively