THERMAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF INCORPORATING A BIOMASS COMBUSTION CHAMBER AS A BACKUP SYSTEM IN BOX-TYPE SOLAR COOKERS

Solar cookers are devices that allow cooking by using free solar energy. However, they cant operate during cloudy periods or at night. Theincorporating of biomass combustion chamber (hybrid cooker solar-biomass) is an alternative that uses an endogenous and renewable energy source for ecological and economical cooking. In this work, the performances of a hybrid cooker (solar-biomass) are evaluated. The experimental results obtained indicate that the absorber plate reached a maximum temperature of 120,62 °C 1,5°C. Moreover, the maximum power of the cooker was 83.04 W with an efficiency of 30,34 % in solar mode, 28,4 % in biomass mode and 12.27% ±0.002% in hybrid mode. During cloudy periods or in the absence of solar radiation, the use of 0.25 kg of charcoal allows maintaining the absorber temperature around 150°C for more than 2 hours, ensuring continuity of cooking. The first and second figure of merit parameters performed are 0.1043 and 0.2732 respectively. The results obtained are conclusive in both solar and biomass mode.