Volume 10, Issue 4, March 2015, Pages 1058–1064
W.I. Okonkwo1, E. A. Echiegu2, N. J. Ogbuisi3, and J.T. Liberty4
1 Department of Agricultural & Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
2 Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
3 Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
4 Department of Agricultural & Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Materials remain the most vital input in engineering construction. Many materials exist for solar cooker fabrication. But much is not known of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) material in solar cooker fabrication more especially in Nigeria. A concentrating solar energy cooker was designed, constructed and characterized at the National Centre for Energy Research and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, lat 6.8oN and long.7.29oE Nigeria. The study involved construction of mold and a scraper for the construction of the parabolic concentrating solar cooker. The solar cooker has an aperture area of 1.56 m2 and a focal length of 0.5m with a stand support. The cooker has a manually adjustable thistle for pot positioning and tracking of the sun over the sky. The characterization of the cooker involved both temperature measurements and performance evaluation of the solar cooker using local food stuff. Performance results of the cooker was compared with three other solar cookers - a Japanese made concentrating solar cooker, an NCERD made concentrating solar cooker and a box type solar cooker simultaneously. Indication showed that the fibre reinforced plastic solar cooker was able to maintain maximum and minimum temperature range of 270 and 60oC, and 80 and 33oC under clear sky and cloudy weather while the imported Japanese, NCERD and box type solar cookers maintained temperature range of 350 and 40oC, 250 and 33oC, and 78oC respectively. The cooking test showed that the fibre reinforced plastic concentrating solar cooker performed better than the NCERD and the box type solar cookers, but performed lower when compared to the Japanese solar cooker. Observation showed that the concentrating solar cookers performed poorly under very poor weather showing that the solar concentrator cookers could only be a supplement to other cooking systems rather than being a substitute. The choice of fibre reinforced plastic was basically on the ease of molding, the non-corrosive and longer life expectancy, high strength to weight ratio and high flexural strength which makes it very attractive as a light weight material.
Author Keywords: characterization, fibre, plastic, solar, cooker.
W.I. Okonkwo1, E. A. Echiegu2, N. J. Ogbuisi3, and J.T. Liberty4
1 Department of Agricultural & Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
2 Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
3 Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
4 Department of Agricultural & Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Materials remain the most vital input in engineering construction. Many materials exist for solar cooker fabrication. But much is not known of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) material in solar cooker fabrication more especially in Nigeria. A concentrating solar energy cooker was designed, constructed and characterized at the National Centre for Energy Research and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, lat 6.8oN and long.7.29oE Nigeria. The study involved construction of mold and a scraper for the construction of the parabolic concentrating solar cooker. The solar cooker has an aperture area of 1.56 m2 and a focal length of 0.5m with a stand support. The cooker has a manually adjustable thistle for pot positioning and tracking of the sun over the sky. The characterization of the cooker involved both temperature measurements and performance evaluation of the solar cooker using local food stuff. Performance results of the cooker was compared with three other solar cookers - a Japanese made concentrating solar cooker, an NCERD made concentrating solar cooker and a box type solar cooker simultaneously. Indication showed that the fibre reinforced plastic solar cooker was able to maintain maximum and minimum temperature range of 270 and 60oC, and 80 and 33oC under clear sky and cloudy weather while the imported Japanese, NCERD and box type solar cookers maintained temperature range of 350 and 40oC, 250 and 33oC, and 78oC respectively. The cooking test showed that the fibre reinforced plastic concentrating solar cooker performed better than the NCERD and the box type solar cookers, but performed lower when compared to the Japanese solar cooker. Observation showed that the concentrating solar cookers performed poorly under very poor weather showing that the solar concentrator cookers could only be a supplement to other cooking systems rather than being a substitute. The choice of fibre reinforced plastic was basically on the ease of molding, the non-corrosive and longer life expectancy, high strength to weight ratio and high flexural strength which makes it very attractive as a light weight material.
Author Keywords: characterization, fibre, plastic, solar, cooker.
How to Cite this Article
W.I. Okonkwo, E. A. Echiegu, N. J. Ogbuisi, and J.T. Liberty, “CHARACTERIZATION OF A FIBRE REINFORCED PLASTIC CONCENTRATING SOLAR COOKER,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1058–1064, March 2015.
