DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SMART SOLAR BOX COOKER WITH SODOM APPLE FRUIT FIBRE/WASTE PAPER MIXTURE AS AN INSULATOR
Fiberglass, mineral wool, and foam assemblies, are prevalent but hazardous for environmental and health reasons because of the nature of their constituents. Local alternatives developed from agricultural produce such as mesocarp from Sodom apple pods would open a sustainable way of utilizing the harnessed local resources to make useful products. This work is based on the development of smart solar cookers from Sodom apple fruit fiber mixed with waste paper. The major aims of this study are to develop insulating composites, design an IoT-based smart monitoring system, and make and test a solar box cooker's performance. There were careful collections, cleaning and sorting of materials for the experiment followed by some standard tests such as SEM, EDX, density testing, moisture content analysis, absorption tests, thermal conductivity measurement, TGA and compressive stress testing. The Bureau of Indian Standards uses two figures of merit, F1 and F2, for evaluating these metrics relative to cooking power measurements done by Association for Biological Agricultural Engineering are employed for the performance evaluation of the developed smart solar box cooker. A real-life situation showed that it did work effectively, as was shown during the field tests conducted in northeastern Nigeria at the Faculty of Engineering Teaching workshop, University of Maiduguri. The results for no-load tests (F1) read 0.12 on May 22nd, 26trd and 24th 2024 respectively. Load tests (F2) May 25th, 26th, and 27th 2024, respectively. Lad as following second figure of merit: 0.72, 0.76, and 0.61, respectively. These findings agree with BIS classification for A Class Cookers. Next, Ps = 0.874 ?T + 18.72 is the regression equation for standardized cooking power, whereby R^2=0.759 indicates that with an increased temperature difference at a constant rate, cooking power will rise correspondingly. Given the promising findings of this study on Sodom apple fruit fiber, more uses for this kind of fibers must be examined to reduce heat in different fields. Moreover, it is indicated capacity of the fiber in sound absorption taking into account its properties.
Authors : Musa, H., Abdulrahim, A.T., Ngala, G.M. and Hammajam, A.A.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 10(2) Date Uploaded : 29th October 2024