Cooking System Research Articles

A Study of Automatic Judgment of Food Color and Cooking Conditions with Artificial Intelligence Technology

In this study, the machine vision and artificial intelligence algorithms were used to rapidly check the degree of cooking of foods and avoid the over-cooking of foods. Using a smart induction cooker for heating, the image processing program automatically recognizes the color of the food before and after cooking. The new cooking parameters were used to identify the cooking conditions of the food when it is undercooked, cooked, and overcooked. In the research, the camera was used in combination with the software for development, and the real-time image processing technology was used to obtain the information of the color of the food, and through calculation parameters, the cooking status of the food was monitored. In the second year, using the color space conversion, a novel algorithm, and artificial intelligence, the foreground segmentation was used to separate the vegetables from the background, and the cooking ripeness, cooking unevenness, oil glossiness, and sauce absorption were calculated. The image color difference and the distribution were used to judge the cooking conditions of the food, so that the cooking system can identify whether or not to adopt partial tumbling, or to end a cooking operation. A novel artificial intelligence algorithm is used in the relative field, and the error rate can be reduced to 3%. This work will significantly help researchers working in the advanced cooking devices.

Diagnostic of the Cooking and Storage Systems of a Cassava-Derived Food Locally Called “fufu” in the City of Yaoundé, Cameroon

Fufu is among the most consumed traditional dishes derived from cassava in Cameroon. However, the processing of cassava into flour used in the preparation of fufu, the home storage of that flour and the cooking practices might lead to microbial contamination and hence constitute a potential health risk for consumers. The aim of this study was to diagnose the cooking systems of fufu in the city of Yaoundé taking into consideration the processing of granules, its storage systems and the cooking practices. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Yaoundé. A total of 74 participants were submitted to a survey by the means of a structured questionnaire. Information on the socio-demographic characteristics of the population, the nature and quality of raw material used to cook fufu, the cooking processes, the storage of cooked fufu and complaints associated with the consumption of fufu were collected and statistically analyzed. Results showed that the majority of participants were women (82.4%) with university education level (73%). Most of the participants preferred granules of fermented cassava as raw material. The odor was the main purchasing criteria of raw materials which were generally stored at room temperature (25±2°C) in the household for 1 to 2 weeks. 76.05% of participants were aware of the impact of microorganisms on the color and odor of the raw material. Two cooking processes of fufu were identified, the heating duration being the main difference. The majority of participants used a heating duration of less than 15 min as it leads to slightly rigid, less elastic and not sticky fufu highly appreciated in the Centre and Sud regions of Cameroon. Leftovers fufu eaten by participants without any heating process and leftovers fufu reheated for a short duration before being consumed might be the causes of digestive troubles associated with its consumption. Prospective studies should be conducted to optimize the cooking process of fufu taking into consideration its microbiological (sporulated microflora) and sensorial quality.

Building and Performance Evaluation of Novel Solar Cooking System in Gujarat, India

Wood is generally used as a source of energy for cooking in rural and semi-urban areas of India. Approximately 216 million tons per year of wood is consumed in the cooking of which 9.731 million tons per year is used in Gujarat. The use of wood causes deforestation and increases indoor pollution. To reduce this, solar energy can be used as an alternate source of energy for cooking. The current research aims to present the findings of two weeks of experiments in the Indian (Gujarat) climate with the novel solar cooker. The cooker was build using a parabolic dish collector (85 % reflectivity) with a supporting structure and adjustable mechanism, a receiver (heat exchanger) and a cooking burner with a pot. The experimental result shows that the maximum temperature available at the receiver is 110°C with 560.7 W/m2 of average solar irradiation, justifying solar cooking as a viable alternative source of energy for cooking in Gujarat and India.

Performance analysis of Scheffler dish type solar thermal cooking system cooking 6000 meals per day

The escalation of energy demand in both developed and developing countries has prompted people to search and utilize clean and sustainable energy resources. Omshanti Retreat Centre (ORC) situated in Gurugram, Haryana, India utilizes solar energy to meet most of its energy demand. It has installed Scheffler dish type solar thermal cooking system having a capacity to cook 6000 meals per day in the year 2001 and is being utilized to cook food three times a day for approximately 200 days per year. The present research was conducted to study the performance of the solar thermal cooking system both experimentally and analytically; identify areas from where heat losses are occurring in the system and suggest steps that should be taken for improvement of overall system performance.Experiments were performed for seven consecutive days at ORC during summer. The system consists of twenty eight collectors arranged in such a way that a pair of Scheffler reflectors of 10 m2 aperture area concentrates solar radiation on one absorber. Thermal efficiency of 70–80% was obtained for the collectors experimentally for an average direct normal irradiance of 800 W/m2. The overall system efficiency was estimated to be 25% which suggests significant losses in the overall process. The research identified the areas which act as sources for heat losses from the system.

Laboratory estimation of elemental and organic carbon emissions from advanced biomass stoves in Senegal

In this study, we tested a natural draft gasifier, currently implemented in Senegal and the traditional three stones fire (TSF) in the laboratory, using the protocol of water boiling test (WBT). Pollutants emissions from three types of biomass full were investigated in this work. Our results show that, burning the same wood (Cordyla Pinnata, dimb), the gasifier had a fuel consumption 37% lower than the traditional three stones, and decrease emissions factors of fine particulate matter (PM) by 74%, organic carbon (OC) by 59 % and elemental carbon (EC) by 55%. The gasifier has also shown to reduce fuel used and emissions compared with the three stones using Casuarina Equisetifolia (Filao) though to a minor extent: 24 % in fuel consumption and emissions reduction of 53% of PM, 55% of OC and 18% EC. The micro-gasifier using typha pellets is the cooking system the most efficient with a reduction 70% of fuel and more than 85% of emissions comparing to the 3-stones-dimb combination. Our results agree with other studies and confirm that gasifier have a very low fuel consumption and low emissions of climate forcing particles. Further field studies are needed to evaluate the adoption of these new stoves and fuels and to analyze fuel consumption and emissions under real-world cooking practice

Dissemination of Sustainable Cooking: A Detailed Review on Solar Cooking System

Cooking sector is considered as one of the major energy consuming sector in developing and underdeveloped countries. From the primitive age, humankind largely rely on biomass for their cooking energy need, even though there has been a tremendous upgradation in cooking methods. Due to hazardous effects and energy inefficiencies of conventional biomass cooking system, unconventional cooking energy (method) is becoming popular day by day. Dependency on ever depleting fossil fuel has forced us to switchover to renewable energy options and amongst all; solar energy seems best option due to its inherent reasons. In this study, efforts have been made to review the entire solar cooking systems incorporating with and without thermal energy storage available hitherto. The study reveals the different thermal performance parameters of solar cooking system and attempts to highlight the adaption factors of solar cooking system in the designated market.

Inefficient cooking systems a challenge for sustainable development: a case of rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa

The use of low efficient cookstoves has several severe negative impacts. Burning solid fuels kills about 4 million people every year, a number which is higher than the combined impact of HIV-AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Moreover, most of the people affected are located in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries, where over 80% of the population still relies on biomass as their primary source of energy, being the electricity access only 43%. Low-efficiency cooking systems are also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions since solid fuel cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 1.2 and 6% of global CO2 and black carbon emissions, respectively. Furthermore, widespread biomass collection by an increasing population in Sub-Saharan Africa is unsustainable, contributing to deforestation. Therefore, the impact of using traditional cooking systems is a challenge for the achievement of sustainable development targets in Sub-Saharan Africa and as a whole globally. There are several cooking technologies used in those rural locations, but there are no clear frameworks or polices to support sustainable cooking options, as well as a guide for users. This paper assesses several cooking technologies with its associated fuels and evaluated each technology in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emissions, health impacts and costs. It was concluded that compared with traditional wood fuel cookstoves, electric cookstoves can reduce the energy consumption by 95.7%, CO2 emissions by 100% (assuming renewable carbon-free electricity) and the life cycle cost by 94%, also avoiding over 180 mg/m3 PM2.5 concentrations per/household per year. Also, this paper indicates that a strong and collective effort is necessary from key stakeholders to switch from traditional and unsustainable cooking technologies and fuels to cleaner and sustainable cooking systems.

Development of a solar cooking system suitable for indoor cooking and its exergy and enviroeconomic analyses

In the present work, a solar cooking system that makes the controlled cooking possible inside the kitchen has been developed. This cook-friendly device introduces a new solar heat transfer concept for indoor cooking by providing a heater plate installed inside the kitchen to which solar heat is transferred from a parabolic collector by means of a heat transfer fluid. An LDR-based electronic solar tracker is integrated with the parabolic collector to automatically adjust its position so that it always remains directed towards the sun to collect maximum solar radiations. A solar P-V panel continuously charges a 12 V battery through charge controller. The battery supplies electricity to the solar tracker and to a DC motor-pump set which circulates heat transfer fluid through the heating coil of the heater plate. The pump is thermostatically operated to maintain correct temperature of the heater plate for effective cooking and for maintaining the nutritional value of food. The system is equipped with an electronic circuit, a digital thermometer, a pressure gauge and a relief by-pass valve in the heat transfer fluid line to ensure its safe and smooth operation. Exergy and enviroeconomic analyses of this device are also carried out to evaluate its efficiency and CO2 mitigation potential.

Cooking Energy Conservation by Using Improved Stove: a Case Study on Thaipara Village of Magura Bangladesh

The study was conducted to investigate the energy efficiency of traditional and improved cooking stove, potential energy conservation using improved stove and overall environmental impacts of those stoves at Thaipara of Magura district in Bangladesh. In the study area, almost 100% of the households use biomass as their cooking fuel in traditional stoves. Questionnaire Survey (QS) was conducted to fulfill the research objectives. The result of the study showed that total biomass energy consumption is 14897 GJ per year, whereas, the per capita cooking energy consumption is about 4.82 GJ per year. The results also revealed that biomass: fuel wood, dung and crop residues are the 100% sources of the total energy used in the cooking sectors. The combination of high demand aggravated by low use efficiency has contributed to deforestation, rural poverty and the energy shortage in the study village. Results of the study stated that by introducing improved stove with higher level of efficiency, well ventilation and using good quality of fuel can reduce the harmful impacts of cooking energy utilization and cooking systems on environment significantly. In this regard, formulation and implementation of a nationwide high efficiency cooking stove dissemination program would be very promising for cooking energy conservation at rural sectors.
 Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 12(1&2): 21-27, 2019

Reviewing the Exergy Analysis of Solar Thermal Systems Integrated with Phase Change Materials

The application of thermal storage materials in solar systems involves materials that utilize sensible heat energy, thermo-chemical reactions or phase change materials, such as hydrated salts, fatty acids paraffin and non-paraffin like glycerol. This article reviews the various exergy approaches that were applied for several solar systems including hybrid solar water heating, solar still, solar space heating, solar dryers/heaters and solar cooking systems. In fact, exergy balance was applied for the different components of the studied system with a particular attention given to the determination of the exergy efficiency and the calculation of the exergy during charging and discharging periods. The influence of the system configuration and heat transfer fluid was also emphasized. This review shows that not always the second law of thermodynamics was applied appropriately during modeling, such as how to consider heat charging and discharging periods of the tested phase change material. Accordingly, the possibility of providing with inappropriate or not complete results, was pointed.

A Review of Cooking Systems and Energy Efficiencies

Accessing affordable and reliable energy services for cooking is important in most developing countries. Improving access to affordable energy reduces effects on human health and environmental influences caused by burning of various biomasses. This review examines the energy resources available in the world and their use in cooking. It also looks at challenges and the ways these energy resources are used as well as possible solutions to such challenges. The major challenges facing the use of available fuels are low efficiencies, high cost, un-sustainability and indoor house pollution that affect many people. The paper has identified that the use of combustion-less cooking, the use of solar for cooking, hydrogen and electrical systems that improve cooking activities and therefore overcome indoor and environmental pollution. Research findings indicate that the pressure-cooking concept improves energy efficiencies in boiling operations. Other energy efficiency improvement techniques in cooking are insulation, containment of escaping steam while cooking and automating the cooking vessel with micro-controllers. The overall efficiencies for electrical induction heating, natural gas, traditional cooking stoves, fuel wood stoves and electrical resistive heating was found to be 90%, 45-60%, 10%, 23-40% and 75% respectively. Induction cooking is both faster and more efficient than gas cooking, while electrical energy systems as a whole were found to be the cleanest, offering ease of control and versatility. The combination of a micro-controller automated insulated pressure cooker and induction cooker can highly improve the cooking efficiency. This is done by cutting a power supply using a relay controlling an induction cooker and therefore preventing the exit of steam. It is therefore identified that zero emission release during cooking will reduce both indoor and environmental pollution significantly.

Low-cost novel designed receiver heat exchanger for household solarized cooking system: development and operationalization

Solar energy is widely regarded as the most promising renewable energy source available, and it is used for a variety of purposes. Out of various applications of solar energy, it has predominantly been suggested for cooking in the last three to four decades. High cost and non-customer focus design of the solar cooker is predominantly suggested as it acts as a barrier to actualization of solar cooking as a usual cooking practice. To keep in mind, this paper presents a proposed part design of a customized solar cooking system, namely a low-cost novel designed Receiver Heat Exchanger (RHX) that enables a comprehensive cooking solution for a single rural household in western India. The Receiver Heat Exchanger receives its prime heat from the Solar Concentrator. The Scheffler Solar Dish based cooking system is being identified as having a unique feature of a stationary receiver. The Developed Receiver Heat Exchanger (RHX) has a cavity like receiving face to trap more possible reflected direct solar radiation with minimum possible cost, which is made of Mild Steel 1.62 mm thick (SWG 16). To capture maximum possible concentrated solar radiation, the receiving face of the Receiver Heat Exchanger was black painted and artificially roughened. The Receiver Heat Exchanger side and back wall were insulated with ceramic wool (50 mm thick, RT1260℃, density 64 kg/m3). The Receiver Heat Exchanger's housing is made of 10.9-liter thermic fluid (Shell Thermia 'S2′) that acts as a heat transfer fluid and transfers heat to the end source, which is a cooking stove. The experimental design of the Receiver Heat Exchanger was developed and tested successfully by the concentrated solar radiation of the Scheffler dish. An experimental demonstration of effective heat transfer between RHX’s receiving face to thermic fluid was observed by applying different types of experimental setup and reported by water and thermic fluid heating tests.

Study on some aspects of adoption of Solar Cooking System: A review

In developing and under-developed nations, the cooking industry is one of the most energy-intensive industries. Although cooking methods have been vastly improved, society has depended heavily on biomass for its kitchen needs since the dawn of civilization. Innovative cooking technology (methods) is now becoming progressively commonbecause ofthe negative effects and energy wastages in traditional biomass cooking systems. Because of our reliance on rapidly depleting fossil fuels, we have been pressured to turn to alternative energy sources, and solar energy is often the best solution due to its intrinsic advantages, as it is the prime most of all renewable energy sources.In this report, we have examined both types of systems, those that have heat-energy storage as well as those that don't. To this end, the findings proved that all different types of solar cookers have distinct thermal inefficiency levels. According to the study, the supply of solar cookers may be limited for a variety of reasons. The most prominent issues are social and territorial conflicts, smaller scale preferences, and budget-related problems.

Emissions and Chemical Components of PM2.5 from Simulated Cooking Conditions Using Traditional Cookstoves and Fuels under a Dilution Tunnel System

Despite the considerable cost associated with estimating household emissions from solid fuel, which are frequently undetected by air quality monitoring systems, compiling such an inventory is critical to identifying the link between indoor pollution and health effects. Therefore, this study used the UP Diliman dilution tunnel system (UPDDTS) to characterize the composition of particulate matter in the smoke and quantify the PM2.5 emitted by traditional Philippine cooking systems, viz., a charcoal-burning cement stove (CCP), a sawdust-burning tin-can stove (KKP), a fuelwood-burning metal-grill stove (MFP), a kerosene-burning metal stove (MKP), and a charcoal-burning metal-grill stove (MCC). Forty-three sampling tests revealed that water-soluble K+ (23.0 ± 1.9 µg m–3), Cl– (12.3 ± 1.0 µg m–3), and Na+ (43 ± 22 µg m–3) contributed to the majority of the ionic mass concentrations generated by the CCP and MKP, respectively, whereas levoglucosan—a signature of biomass burning—dominated the PM2.5-bound monosugars emitted by the KKP (78.72 ± 6.96 µg m–3), MFP (0.76 ± 0.34 µg m–3), and MCC (10.21 ± 2.64 µg m–3). The abundance of the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in all of the samples, except those from the MKP, depended on the surface area—and thus the facet—of the fuel. Additionally, the elemental compositions of the PM2.5 from the CCP, KKP, and MCC mainly consisted of Pb (1.96 ± 1.04 to 76.02 ± 151.42 ng min–1), but those for the MFP and KKP primarily contained Cu (2.23 ± 1.18 ng min–1) and As (5.51 ± 1.08 ng min–1), respectively. The PM2.5 emission rates exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO)’s emission rate target guideline for ventilated conditions (0.8 mg min–1) by 1.9 × 106 to 23 × 106 mg min–1, and the highest PM2.5 emission factor, 0.032 ± 0.016 kg-PM2.5 kg-fuel–1 y–1, which was exhibited by the MKP, surpassed values in the literature by three orders of magnitude.

A new methodology to find out cooking energy needs for a rural household

In the era of global warming and ever rising energy demand, climate justice has become the need of the hour. Sustainable solution has become the key to the success for environment. The cooking sector is considered as one of the major energy consuming sectors in developing and underdeveloped countries. Inherently, associated hazardous effects and energy inefficiencies of conventional biomass cooking system forces unconventional cooking energy to become popular day by day. In this study, a new census based approach is being presented to find out cooking energy requirement of a single rural household of India. Mathematical modelling is being done while scrutinising coke, firewood and chips, coal, and LPG as cooking fuel and by eliminating charcoal, petrol, diesel and kerosene. Exact heat energy required per household per meal has been achieved 4,212.02 kJ. Out of which vaporisation of water, heating food to boiling temperature and convection losses from vessels shares 1,474.21 kJ, 842.40 kJ and 1,895.41 kJ respectively. The outcome of this study can serve a baseline for inventors, researchers and policymakers of micro-scale unconventional/solar cooker.

Assessment of Solar Energy-Based Cooking Systems Perception in Gaza Strip

Assessment of Solar Energy-Based Cooking Systems Perception in Gaza Strip

A Glance on Indoor Air Pollutants, their Impacts and Simple Solutions to Avoid Health Related Issues

Every coin has two sides. Likewise, as we are progressing towards the era of technology and industrialization; a lot of worst effects are arising as well. Along with the ecosystem, human health is suffering from some adverse issues because of pollution. We have heard about outdoor air pollution but indoor air pollution is even more harmful to human health. It is being observed that Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is getting worse day by day leading to many lung diseases, breathing issues, low birth rate, eye-related diseases, perinatal conditions, etc. Hence these issues have to be considered before getting too late. Indoor air quality varies from regions i.e. in the case of developed countries; cooling-heating appliances, electric devices, petroleum products, etc. are the major contributors to deplete IAQ. While in case of developing countries which have a huge number of rural areas; biomass open fires, traditional cooking systems with direct fire expose or indoor stove, etc. are the major factors behind damaged indoor air quality. Generally, children and aged persons spend most of their time inside the house. These people have low immunity hence they get easily affected by depleted IAQ and face many health-related issues. There is a long list of harmful pollutants like NOX, COX, SOX, organic matter, etc. that play a significant role in damaging air quality. A ventilation system is essential in offices, theatres, malls, homes, etc. but the occupant devices lower the air quality index. Likewise, green-house effects increase the percentage of COX which damages nature and human health as well. All these factors, parameters, adverse effects and solutions are studied in this paper.

The thermal effect of the tandem kang model for rural houses in Northern China: a case study in Tangshan

ABSTRACT The kang-stove system (KSS) is a combination cooking and heating system and is the core element of the living space of many rural houses in northern China. The traditional KSS is usually single kang model (SKM) that one stove combines with one kang, which causes inconveniences including an insufficient room heating supply, a small heating range, and subsequent privacy issues for family numbers. Therefore, this paper proposes a tandem kang model (TKM). By combining two kang together and re-organizing the house layout, this model both improves the heat supply effect of the KSS and transforms the kang from a multifunctional space to a relatively mono-functional space to provide more personal space for family members, especially in the winter. To verify the thermal effect of the TKM, CFD simulations were conducted to compare the indoor thermal indexes of a chosen prototype and its modified version with a tandem kang. The results reveal that, compared with the SKM, the TKM exhibits a better thermal performance. It can improve the temperature of the main rooms by 12.7–55.6%. Whereas the form of the TKM should be properly controlled or combined with other assistant facilities to optimize the condition of the uneven surface temperature distribution.

Household induction cooking system based on a grid‐connected photovoltaic system

Induction heating is regarded as a clean cooking technology, whose prominent advantages include contactless energy transfer, controllable heating rate, and safety. In household applications, it is expected that this approach is supposed to replace conventional gas stoves aiming at a more sustainable future. The increase of energy consumption associated with this trend cannot be neglected, while distributed generation (DG) stands out as a prominent solution to mitigate the impact on the power system. In this context, this work presents an induction heating system consisting of the integration of power electronic converters and a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system. Based on existing solutions available in the literature, it is possible to supply the induction stove with two distinct energy sources: the ac grid and PV modules. A high-voltage step-up dc–dc boost converter is employed to create a dc link responsible for connecting the PV system to the grid. The dc link is also used to supply a class DE parallel resonant inverter associated with the induction stove, which requires a low component count. Besides, the PV modules are capable of providing up to 3 kW under standard test conditions. Thus, part of the generated energy is used to supply the heating system, while the remaining portion is injected into the grid. Simulation results are presented to assess the performance of the whole system in steady-state and transient conditions, demonstrating that it is capable of operating at the maximum power point and injecting nearly sinusoidal currents with high power factor.

Design, fabrication and performance assessment of a solar cooker with optimum composition of heat storage materials.

Solar energy as an inexhaustible source of energy has been the primary interest of many researchers for the last four to five decades due to its wide applications such as domestic cooking systems. The current work aims to determine the optimum cooker surface area with the aid of analytical heat loss and design equations. The top, bottom and side heat loss coefficients are calculated by an iterative procedure solved using MATLAB. Also, it seeks to obtain the performance parameters of a solar cooker having sensible heat storage materials. For an anticipated average solar irradiation of 800W/m2 and for boiling 1.5kg mass of water, the cooker surface area is found to be 0.36m2 and fabricated accordingly. Also, in this study, iron grits, sand, brick powder and charcoal powder are taken in the optimum ratio (mass) of 1:2:2:3 respectively as heat storage material. The performance indicators namely first and second figures of merit (F1 and F2), thermal and exergy efficiency are found to be 0.085, 0.319, 16.1% and 0.61% respectively. It is found that water temperature in the developed thermal energy storage incorporated solar cooker is maintained above 70°C until 6 PM in a day.