Heat Utilization Characteristics of Two Sensible Heat Storage Vegetable Oils for Domestic Applications

Abstract

The heat utilization characteristics of two different sensible heat storage vegetable oils for domestic applications are evaluated. Heat utilization is the heat delivered to the cooking fluid/load. The two sensible heat storage vegetable oils are sunflower oil, and Roki oil (a blend of palm oil and sunflower oil). The heat utilization characteristics of the two heat storage materials are experimentally determined in water heating experiments using 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 kg water loads. The stored heat in Roki oil and sunflower oil is used to heat up the water during cool down/heat utilization tests. The reason for the research is that new insights into the utilization of a locally available vegetable oil (Roki oil) in Uganda, as a sensible thermal energy storage material, is determined. Additionally, a new storage pot is designed, tested, and compared with Roki oil and sunflower oil as sensible thermal energy storage materials. The highlights of the work are that average heat utilization values are dependent on the water heating load. The average heat utilization efficiency increases with the increase in the water heating load; Roki oil shows higher heat utilization and higher average heat utilization efficiency values as compared to sunflower oil; the average heat utilization and average heat utilization efficiency values increase with the increase in the water load for both Sunflower oil and Roki oil. The results suggest that Roki oil is a potential heat storage material for domestic applications since it shows better heat utilization characteristics than sunflower oil during heat utilization.