Effect of cooktop cone angle on the performance of thermosyphon heat transport device for indoor solar cooking – A numerical study

Abstract

Solar cookers are less attractive as their outdoor operation is laborious. A recent innovation encouraged the thermosyphon heat transport device (THTD) based indoor solar cooking. However, the cooktop THTD design is still in the conceptual stage. Hence, in the present study, the cooktop THTD cone angle is optimized through the steady-state and transient analysis using an analytically validated CFD model. Six cooktop cone angles (0° to 75° in steps of 15°) were evaluated and found a drop in heat transfer fluid flow rate with an increase in the cooktop cone angle, due to the existence of recirculating loops, which is confirmed by velocity vector plots. Under concentrated solar flux boundary conditions, the transient analysis showcased the advantage of 15° model over 0° and 45° variants. The efficacy of cooktop THTD is proved as all three lower cone angle designs took a mere 180 s to boil 1 L of water. © 2023