Abstract

--- - In the background of the COVID 2019 pandemic, the importance of developing realistic and efficient decentralized energy solutions is one of the essential requirements. This paper presents the performance of a small-scale solar box cooker cum dryer (SBCD) for decentralized communities and domestic scale applications. The drying process in SBCD uses a simple and effective method for moisture removal. It enables de-moisturization of the cooker interior, allowing efficient use of SBCD for the simultaneous dual-mode operation of cooking and drying. Cooker Opto-thermal Ratio (COR) as a thermal performance parameter and glycerin as a test load enable cooking process analysis. COR-based objective parameters (OPs) realistically comment on the cooker performance in the dual-mode operation. Drying kinetic studies describe the drying performance of the device. The levelized cost of cooking meals (LCCM) allows understating of the economics of SBCD. - The mean value of COR for the cooker is 0.104 +/- 0.0028 (m(2).degrees C)/W with a percentage standard deviation of 2.69%. The experimental values of OPs, reference cooking time, and maximum achievable load temperature varies between 74 and 86 min and 103-111 degrees C, respectively. Thus, SBCD cooks in approximately 80-90 min and dries similar to 100 g of food products simultaneously with 70-80 % moisture removal. The LCCM for SBCD is $ 0.0174 per meal. Thus, SBCD depicts a realistic solution for ensuring self-sustainability in decentralized communities.