Thermal modeling and analysis of novel twin-chamber community solar cooker as a replacement of biomass-based cooking

A novel design of twin-chamber community solar (TCCS) cooker is presented as a replacement of biomass-based cooking. The novelty of separating a single rectangular cooking chamber into separate twin chambers (of 1-m² aperture area each) improves the cooking performance as opening of one chamber for unloading of food cooked in lesser time (rice) does not disturb the stagnation temperature of the other chamber (pulses and meat) needing more time to cook besides resulting in reduction in side heat loss coefficient due to common wall. Aperture area and cooking volume of TCCS cooker are 9.54 and 35.33 times more as compared to single-chamber domestic solar (SCDS) cooker which makes it a community-scale large-capacity solar cooker. The developed solar radiation capture model and overall heat loss coefficient (U_l) computed for TCCS cooker have been used in a thermal model developed between various interactive components. First (F₁) and second figures of merit (F₂) values are 0.13 and 0.42, respectively, for TCCS cooker at par with ‘A’ grade category SCDS cooker. Techno-economic analysis shows that the net present value of TCCS cooker is Rs. 83,253 with break-even point occurring after cooking 43,461 meals with payback period of only 25, 50, and 72 months if used as a replacement for LPG, cow dung cakes, and wood-based cooking, respectively. Environmental impact analysis shows that the use of the proposed cooker can mitigate 2, 5.9, and 4.1 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year by not burning LPG, cow dung cakes, and wood respectively.