The use of paraffin wax in a new solar cooker with inner and outer reflectors

Abstract

The potential use and effectiveness of paraffin wax in a new solar cooker was experimentally investigated during daylight and late evening hours. For these experiments, a cooker having an inner reflecting surface was designed, constructed by filling paraffin wax and metal shavings. The side- and sub-surface temperatures of the paraffin wax in the cooker were measured in the summer months of June and July. The thermal efficiency of the cooker was tested on different conditions. The results show that the optimum angle of the outer reflector is 30 degrees. Here, the peak temperature of the paraffin wax in the solar cooker was 83.4 degrees C. The average solar radiation reflected makes a contribution of 9.26% to the temperature of paraffin wax with the outer reflector. The solar cooker with the outer reflector angle of 30 degrees receives also reflected radiation from the inner reflectors. Besides, the heating time decreased to approximately one hour. The designed solar cooker can be effectively used with 30.3% daily thermal efficiency and paraffin wax due to the amount of energy stored.