Parabolic Dish Concentrating Collector for Indirect Solar Cooking
Thermal performance of a point focus solar concentrating collector comprising a 2000 mm diameter, and a 665 mm focal length symmetric parabolic dish concentrator covered with reflective aluminum tiles of 0.9 reflectivity and SiC honeycomb volumetric absorber, which use atmospheric air as heat transfer fluid is experimentally investigated. The absorber was tested for two different mass flow rates. The test was intended to assess the potential of this collector as a component of solar cooker with heat storage, a prototype that has a potential to enable indirect and off-sun cooking. The prototype of a solar cooker under investigation is intended to be used in rural areas (in Mozambique) to meet multiple domestic needs in thermal energy as part of a global effort to mitigate the consequences of one of the severe problems the world faces today (desertification and deforestation), some of which are attributed to climate change. Thermal efficiency of the collector was estimated for the two mass flow rates. Preliminary results have shown that at the target temperature range the collector efficiency remained above 70 % and that the higher the mass flow rate, the lower the temperature of the air coming out of the collector.
