Considerations, design calculations, construction, test and evaluation of a cavity walled solar oven
This report investigates the feasibility of designing a dual (i.e. cavity) wall and doubled glazed solar oven, with the aim to raise the operating temperature to as near to 100oC as possible. The present design has aimed to comply with the living conditions in - and to use cheap materials and tools typically available in- refugee camps. Simple technology and low cost have also been priorities.
Series: Practical Answers
Published: 2025
Pages: 53
eBook: 9781835768891
| 1. Abstract. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. The background. | |||
| 3. Ladakhi solar-ovens. | |||
| 4. Svante Arrhenius’ law. | |||
| 5. A description of the first proto type. | |||
| 5.1. The flammability of wood. | |||
| 6. Required operating temperatures for solar ovens - related to cooking and health issues. | |||
| 7. The solar irradiation. | |||
| 7.1 Tilting the oven to face the sun. | |||
| 7.2 The horizontal alignment of the tray. | |||
| 8. Thermal properties. | |||
| 8.1 The thermal capacitance. | |||
| 8.2 The transient temperature response and the thermal time constant. | |||
| 8.3 The thermal resistance. | |||
| 8.3.1 The thermal conduction. | |||
| 8.3.2 The convection. | |||
| 8.3.3 The radiation. | |||
| 8.4 Configuration and calculations for a thermal equivalent of a solar oven. | |||
| 8.4.1 Power accounts and Kirchhoff’s law. | |||
| 8.4.2 The diagram of the thermal model of the solar oven. | |||
| 8.4.3 The power (i.e. heat) irradiated into the oven. | |||
| 8.5. Calculating the thermal resistances using the temperatures and the heat flow contributions. | |||
| 8.5.1 Check and balance in the account of: heat flows, thermal resistances and temperatures. | |||
| 9. Issues of measuring the thermal properties of a solar oven. | |||
| 9.1 On the properties of solar ovens. - By Torkil Heiede and Gunnar Bomann. | |||
| 9.2. My own – unsuccessful – attempt to deduce a general analytic expression for P x Rth and τ. | |||
| 9.3. The un-linearity of the thermal resistances as a function of the temperature. | |||
| 10. Design considerations. | |||
| 10.1. The thermal trade-offs of the size and shape of the solar oven. | |||
| 10.2. Insulation of the air gap in the solar oven. | |||
| 10.3. Insulation materials. | |||
| 11. Dressing up the solar oven in coat and skirt. | |||
| 11.1. The impact of a coat on the temperature of the oven. | |||
| 12. Pots and pans used in the East African kitchen. | |||
| 13. Using the solar oven as a hay box | |||
| 14. Notes, mistakes made, lessons learned, recommendations, tasks and rectifications. | |||
| 15. Other cooking technologies. | |||
| 16. Thanks given. | |||
| 17. Conclusion. | |||
| 18. Appendix; comprising test results and plots of temperature measurements. |
Steen Carlsen
Steen Carlsen is an electronics engineer, and founder of Carlsen Power Electronics.
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