Thermal performance assessment of solar box cookers with propolis based latent heat storage and low-cost booster reflectors

Solar box cookers are at the centre of interest worldwide as a promising renewable energy application for cooking purposes. Compared to other types available in literature, solar box cookers draw much more attention owing to their simple and low-cost design, emerging thermodynamic performance figures, high durability and reliable cooking processes without any risk of burning food. On the other hand, cooking power and overall thermal performance of solar box cookers are still somewhat challenging for the technology to compete with the conventional cooking systems in areas with low solar radiation potential like the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Within the scope of this research, a novel solar box cooker is devised, fabricated using natural and recycled materials and tested to overcome the said shortcomings of traditional solar box cookers. A double glazed structure having 16mm of air between two 6mm thick thermally resistive clear glass is considered for the aperture glazing with an area of 0.16 m2. The oven area has a depth of 350mm, and it is entirely painted matte black for maximum solar absorption. The oven body made of stainless steel sheets is encountered by a latent heat storage medium filled by natural bee product, waste of propolis. Propolis is a resinous mixture that is used for the protection of bee-hives from either climatic changes or diseases. Polyphenols is rich in balsamic and part of the structure is extracted by alcohol than used for many apitherapic purposes. The remaining pulp or waste is not considered. In this study, it is used as green chemistry agents.