International Journal of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER) www.ijmer.com Vol.3, Issue.3, May-June. 2013 pp-1290-1294 ISSN: 2249-6645 www.ijmer.com 1290 | Page Ismail Isa Rikoto, 1 Dr. Isa Garba 12 Department of Mechanical Engineering Bayero University, Kano Abstract: A comparative investigation was conducted using a box type solar cooker with two different cooking pots at the testing area of so KO to Energy Research Centre, UsmanuDanfodiyo University. The two potsare identical in shape and volume with one of the pots external surface provided with fins. The result of two tests (water heating and boiling test) revealed that 75cl of water was raised to 95 o Cin 112 and 126 minutes for finned and unfinned cooking pot respectively. These figures represent 11% reduction in heating time. Similarly 0.3kg of rice was cooked in 120 and 150 minutes for the finned and unfinned cooking pots respectively. This clearly demonstrates that fins improved the heat transfer from the internal hot air of the cooker toward the interior of the pot where the water and rice to be heated and cooked were kept. Keywords: solar heating, thermal insulation, concentrating solar cooker and thermal performance Significance of the Research The solar cookers if available can offer a partial solution to multitude of cooking problems face by people of low income. A properly designed and improved cooker if introduce in to the market in mass scale can supplement the cooking energy requirement of several millions of people and reduce deforestation and environmental problems associated with the use of fossil fuels Solar cooker which is safe and simple to operate can satisfactorily be used for cooking in the presence of sunshine. I. Introduction Solar energy is the energy from the sun. The sun generates energy ina process called nuclear fusion. During this process four hydrogen nuclei combine to become helium atom with the release of energy. This energy is emitted to the space as solar radiation. A small fraction of this energy reaches the earth. Today solar energy is used in various applications such solar heating, distillation, drying, cooking etc. To cook food for nourishment is fundamental to any society and these require the use of energy in some form. The use of solar energy to cook food presents a viable alternative to the use of fuel wood, kerosene, and other fuels traditionally used in developing countries for the purpose of preparing food. Increased in the awareness of the global need for alternative energy source has led to proliferation of research and development in solar cooking. Solar cooking can be used as an effective mitigation tool with regards to global climate change, deforestation, and economic debasement of the world’s poorest people. Solar Energy has tremendous advantages in tropical country like Nigeria because of it abundance and sustainable source of energy. The use of solar cookers will have a great potential of reducing the suffering of many people from the shortage and high cost of fossil and other sources fuels. It will also reduce the tedious task faces by rural women in search of fire wood for cooking. Several factors including access to materials, availability of traditional cooking fuels, climate, food preferences, and technical capabilities: affect people’s perception of solar cooking. It is in the light of this that the author decided to investigate the effect of solar cooking using box type solar cooker with finned cooking pot. The purpose of the fins is to improve heat transfer from the cooker surface to the surrounding. Fins can be thought as an extension of the surface by adding additional surface area which enables additional heat flow to and from the medium it is in contact. 1.1.1 Description of Box type solar cooker and the cooking Pot The solar cooker used in this investigation is the box type solar cooker developed at Sokoto Energy Research Centre, Usmanu Danfodiyo University. The cooker has a dimension of 0.5m by 0.5m by 18m, the sides and bottom of the tray are encased in wooden box. The clearance between the galvanized iron sheet and encasement is filled with 5cm foam to provide thermal insulation, the tray consist of movable doubled glass cover hinged to one side of the incasing at the top. The plate and the experimental set up of the cooker is shown in fig 1. The cooker was exposed to solar radiation. The absorber consist of a galvanized iron sheet painted black with thickness of 4mm. the photograph of the box solar cooker is shown in fig 1.For the purpose of this investigation, two cooking pots were used. They are made up aluminum painted black, are cylindrical in shape and have plat base. Both the cooking pots have identical lid, with a diameter of 14cm and height of 7cm.the lateral external surface of one of the cooking pot was provided with fins made of galvanize iron painted black. The fins used are rectangular in shape with a cross reaction. (5.5cm by .05cm) and have a length of 2.2cm, spaced at 1.5cm. (Arezki Harmin, 2008). The photograph of the finned and un finned pots were shown in figure 2. Arriving global solar radiation was focused on the solar cooker. For the purpose of this investigation boiling test and cooking test were conducted. Dasin et al 2011. In Nigeria and many other developing countries commercial fuels like coal, kerosene, cooking gas and electricity are very expensive beyond the reach of common man. Majority of the people depend on fuel wood for cooking purposes. Cutting down of trees for fuel wood has led to fast and rapid depletion of our forest therefore increase fuel wood price which imposes Comparative Analysis on Solar Cooking Using Box Type Solar Cooker with Finned Cooking Pot