Experimental and computational design improvement assessment of a household toast grill

Abstract

Small kitchen appliances have become very popular with increasing needs. One of the most common household appliances is the toast grills. The grills are available in every home or restaurant. It is necessary to reach a high temperature for the operation of these grills. However, some contact surfaces should also be kept within a certain temperature range for safety. In this paper, development and assessment of some design changes to reduce the high temperature on the upper (contact) surface of the grill and the overall performance effect are studied. Compliance with EU small domestic appliances standard (SDA), which states conditions that could threaten user health, overheating and electrical accidents constitute the A13 standard. Compliance of the new design proposals are also reported in this paper. Laboratory tests at several locations of the grill and infrared examination are carried out to analyze the results of the proposed changes. Temperature drops of up to 20 ℃ are observed on the top cover surfaces with the application of insulation as part of the new design proposal. Savings obtained in accordance with Electrotechnical Commission (ICE) standards and heat and energy efficiency gain are reported. Computational model of the toast grill developed in this paper is found in line with experimental and infrared results. The model may be used to improve new designs for further studies.