Twin vessel solar cook stove for the simultaneous cooking of two different cooking articles

Abstract

A novel twin vessel solar cook stove (TWSCS) is developed and experimentally explored for the cooking of two cooking items simultaneously. Two cooking articles are cooked simultaneously by different cooking methods using two different vessels for the lunch and dinner. An evacuated tube collector and a heat transfer fluid (HTF) are utilized for the heat collection and transfer needs respectively. The simultaneous cooking is fulfilled by the use of two different cooking vessels connected in series. Cooking vessel1 is a vapour tight vessel and is used for the cooking of rice whereas cooking vessel2 is used for the preparation of kadhi (mixture of butter milk and gram flour) and khoa (condensed form of milk). Khoa is prepared without the continuous stirring of milk as in conventional method used for its preparation. Instantaneous energy of HTF utilized for the cooking and also average temperature of HTF flowing beneath the vessels for both vessels are calculated individually. The maximum value of instantaneous energy and average temperature of HTF are observed as 386.93 kJ and 130.35 °C respectively. The developed solar cook stove has the potential to counter the negative effects caused by the use of fossil fuels for cooking needs. Moreover, the payback period for TWSCS is also estimated as 3.89 years.