Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

Abstract

Comparative Exergy Experimental Evaluation of Parabolic and Elliptical Solar Cookers

Modibo S, Donafologo S, Hassane F, Siaka T and Marí B

This article focuses on the comparative exergy experimental evaluation of parabolic and elliptical solar cookersdesigned at the solar energy laboratory of Felix Houphouöt Boigny University in Abidjan. Two specificities characterizethe two prototypes: the focal point which is wrapping up by a glass cubic box and the bottom of the receiver (pan) whichis placed at an optimized axial distance from the focal point. Exergy analysis is a useful tool to assess the relativeperformance of different geometry solar cookers. In fact, exergy measures the "useful" energy that can be extractedfrom an energy flow. The purpose of this study is to compare experimentally the output exergy of the designed cookers.Other performance indicators are also calculated such as the peak power exergetic (Ξ_{x0_max}), the exergetic temperaturedifference gap product (ΔTΞ_x0), the heat loss coefficient (U_Lx0)) and the quality factor (ρ_xo). The results of the cookingtests showed that the parabolic cooker is performed better than the elliptical cooker. A comparative study of parametersindicators of exergy performance for concentrator cookers met in the literature with the cookers studied show that theycan belong to the range of SK-14 type cookers which is considered as the best devices for fast cooking small residentialoperations.