ME 340 Tyler Carr David Bilodeau
Jan 17, 2016
ME 340Tyler CarrDavid Bilodeau
Purpose Determine the best reflective surface
for use in a solar cooker. The cooker is being designed by Engineers Without Borders as a low cost cooker for use in Peru.
ME 340 - Carr & Bilodeau
The Solar Cooker
Experimental Setup
ME 340 - Carr & Bilodeau
The different materials were mounted the exact same way on a testing surface and then placed in an insulated container. They were then placed 6 inches below a heat lamp . The surface temperature was then recorded at an exact time after the lamp was turned on (10 minutes).
Assumptions
Convection is zero as a result of the walls on the bowls
The insulation is perfect using the insulated container so q’’net = 0
α = ε, so the one with the lowest Ts has the highest reflectivity
ME 340 - Carr & Bilodeau
ResultsMaterial Surface
TemperatureReflectivity
Ranking
Tape (pink writing) 30.9 3
Tape (black writing) 36.7 5
Tape (no writing) 30.3 2
Tinfoil 32 4
Mylar 30 1
ME 340 - Carr & Bilodeau
Because of the assumptions that were made, only qualitative conclusions can be achieved. The Mylar has the lowest surface temperature and therefore is the most reflective. However, since this was for a solar cooker, it was too difficult to attach the Mylar to the parabolic dishes. As a result, the tape with no writing will be used.