Investigation of solar cooker applicatio

The global world requirements for solutions towards nutrition and food production problems for rural and remote areas are in constant growth. The limitation of resources remain its weakest points, water, food and energy are inextricably linked. In the present work, an experimental study was conducted to deal with the problem of energy resources lack for food cooking and water boiling in remote areas by providing a technique that uses solar energy. A parabolic solar cooker was designed, constructed and tested under the Tunisian climatic conditions. Theoretical models were proposed to simulate the thermal performances of the solar cooker for both processes. The predictive models consider the heat transfers during the processes of meat grilling and water boiling and the variation of climatic conditions. The experiments carried out for grilling meat highlighted that the solar cooker can reach temperatures comparable to conventional cookers, exceeding 300°C suitable for cooking and water disinfection. Simulation results show that the achieved temperature by the solar cooker is appropriate for various cooking processes. Furthermore, the proposed solar cooker presents a solution to reduce the environmental impact of conventional fuel consumption, providing a yearly thermal energy of approximately 317.63 kWh and saving 127.05 kg of wood, which corresponds to equivalent CO2 emissions of 123.87 kg per year.