IndexAbstractBackgroundObjectivesA brief history of the solar ovenAbstractThis project is about the design and construction of a concentrated solar oven. The basic purpose of the report is to provide information on the design and operating principles of a solar oven. The project used a parabolic concentrator and we designed the oven with a cylindrical shape with a steel body and copper outer cover. To improve the efficiency of the furnace in this design, copper fins were attached inside to improve the heat transfer within the furnace. After manufacturing and assembly, we tested the oven with and without fins and noticed a difference after recordings made at 20-minute intervals. The indoor air temperature recorded after 20 minutes was 55 without fins and 65 with fins. During the test, the maximum temperature recorded inside the oven was approximately 173 (air temperature) and 238 (fin tip temperature); these temperatures are high enough to be used in various household applications such as cooking. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay BackgroundSolar energy is undoubtedly the oldest source of energy. It is basically the radiant light and heat of the sun. However, we can trace all other forms of energy used on earth back to the sun. The exploitation of solar energy has been the objective of various research for many years. We believe that resources for fossil fuels such as oil and coal are limited and will soon vanish. Many scientists are working to use solar energy for different purposes. The history of solar energy is as old as humanity and over the last two centuries this energy has been increasingly used directly to produce electricity or in applications to meet humanity's diverse needs. One such application is in the production of solar ovens which could be used for many purposes. A solar oven is a structure that uses concentrated solar energy to produce high temperatures, usually for industry. Parabolic mirrors or heliostats concentrate light onto a focal point. The temperature at the focal point can reach very high temperatures, and this heat can be used to generate electricity, melt steel, and produce hydrogen fuel or nanomaterials. A solar oven uses reflectors to channel and concentrate solar energy thereby producing heat. Solar ovens can range in size from small to large depending on your desired heat needs. In the past, around the 7th century, people used magnifying glasses in simple form to generate concentrated light from the sun and use it domestically to produce firewood for cooking. However, over the years, changes and improvements in technology have led to the production of more sophisticated solar ovens. The largest solar oven is located in Odeillo in the Pyrenees Orientales in France, inaugurated in 1970. Objectives The main aim of this project is to design and build a working solar oven. The main objective of the solar furnace design will be to generate heat from solar radiation as a high-intensity energy source for high-temperature processes. In this project the goal is to produce temperatures high enough to be used in both domestic and industrial cooking applications. 1.3 Limitations and Scope A viable option for this technology is what this project will be limited to; producing temperatures high enough to cause wood to burn(carbonization) and also efficient enough to facilitate cooking in homes. The components of a solar oven will be well documented as the economic benefits of solar ovens are enormous. However, a constraint on its production is the high initial start-up costs, but on the contrary, once started, the operating costs necessary to continue are minimal. By replacing conventional furnaces, such as electric arc furnaces and blast furnaces, with a solar furnace operating at high temperatures, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy consumption will be significantly reduced, which will improve our society immensely. This project will discuss the topic of solar oven in detail by first giving details of other research works done on the topic - literature review, then enumerating the methodology, design and calculations of this project and finally ending with a conclusion and part of discussion. A Brief History of the Solar Furnace A solar furnace is not actually a furnace but just involves an optical system that receives solar radiation from a collector and concentrates it into a small area. In case this highly concentrated radiant energy is channeled into a cavity, high temperatures are obtained due to the heat generated. In reality it is this cavity that constitutes the furnace and represents a small part of the entire system, so it is not out of place to call solar furnaces: - solar energy concentrators. The idea of ​​using solar energy to produce high temperatures is not new. In 212 BC Archimedes supposedly set fire to the Roman fleet by concentrating the sun's rays on the ships using several hundred flat mirrors. In the 17th and 18th centuries both mirrors and lenses were used, and in 1772 Lavoisier built a furnace with a collecting lens about 5 feet in diameter, in which he almost reached the melting point of platinum (1773◦ C). After Lavoisier's work, until the beginning of the 20th century, solar ovens were completely ignored. However, in 1921 Straubel and his collaborators at the Zeiss Company in Germany built the first modern reflection furnace. This was done with a glass parabolic mirror about 6 feet in diameter and a focal length of 2 feet; in the end temperatures exceeding 3000◦C were generated. This paved the way for the use of parabolic mirrors of different sizes. Straubel had another collaborator in the person of W. Conn, he built a 10 foot oven and this was installed at Rockhurst College in Kansas USA. This furnace is made of aluminum alloy sheet metal and is still in operation at Convair in San Diego and is used for high-temperature materials studies. Additionally, projector mirrors about 5 feet in diameter make good concentrators and are in operation in numerous laboratories in the United States. The largest solar oven installation of various sizes is located in Montlouis in the French Pyrenees. Professor Felix Trombe, director of the laboratory for the study of solar energy, has six furnaces in operation, made of German parabolic mirrors. They are 6.5 feet in diameter and there is also a large furnace that is 35 feet in diameter. The large reflector is made up of 3500 smaller flat mirrors, fixed on a parabolic steel frame. To obtain better focusing, each mirror used is mechanically bent and a curvature close to 4 that of an ideal parabola is obtained. Another larger furnace, with a diameter of over 100 feet, was produced and, after design, its reflective components were tested. The power of this large system is approximately 1000kW. Furthermore, Professor Guillemonat adopted W. Conn's design and built a furnace 27 feet in diameter at Algiers, New Orleans. The parable of this oven.