| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
h2. Concentrated Cooker Subteam
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center} h3. Members: Margaret Ding, Catherine Hanna and Scott Johnson {center} |
This
...
past
...
semester,
...
the
...
concentrated
...
cooker
...
sub-team
...
has
...
spent
...
much
...
of
...
it's
...
time
...
researching
...
past
...
successful
...
parabolic
...
cookers
...
and
...
both
...
designing
...
and
...
constructing
...
its
...
own
...
concentrated
...
cooker.
...
Past
...
teams'
...
attempts
...
at
...
building
...
non-conventional
...
box-cookers
...
have
...
been
...
relatively
...
unsuccessful.
...
Therefore,
...
our
...
team's
...
goal
...
was
...
to
...
build
...
a
...
parabolic
...
cooker
...
that
...
effectively
...
reached
...
high
...
temperatures
...
of
...
250
...
degrees
...
Celsius
...
needed
...
to
...
fry
...
tortillas
...
(a
...
staple
...
food
...
in
...
Nicaragua).
...
We
...
used
...
a
...
"petal"
...
approach
...
to
...
build
...
the
...
reflector.
...
We
...
cut
...
multiple
...
petals
...
into
...
a
...
flat
...
aluminum
...
metal
...
sheet,
...
curved
...
each
...
petal
...
upward
...
and
...
overlapped
...
the
...
edges
...
to
...
form
...
a
...
parabolic
...
surface.
...
Each
...
petal
...
was
...
adhered
...
together
...
using
...
reflective
...
tape.
...
After
...
the
...
paraboloid
...
was
...
completed,
...
a
...
wooden
...
framing
...
system
...
was
...
built
...
to
...
support
...
the
...
reflector.
...
The
...
framework
...
was
...
designed
...
so
...
that
...
it
...
could
...
tilt
...
the
...
parabolic
...
cooker
...
to
...
directly
...
face
...
the
...
sun
...
at
...
any
...
angle
...
in
...
the
...
sky.
...
In
...
addition,
...
the
...
support
...
system
...
is
...
mobilized
...
on
...
wheels
...
so
...
that
...
it
...
can
...
rotate
...
a
...
full
...
360
...
degrees.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center} !Parabolic Reflector and Framework.png! {center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
Parabolic Reflector and Frame
{center}
\\
|
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
!Reflector Base-Support System.png|thumbnail,border=1!
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
\\
{center}
Reflector Base-Support System
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
\\
When we tested our system, the wooden framework had not been constructed. Therefore, our experimental setup involved a propped wheelbarrow that served as a support for the reflector. Two tripods were used to support a wooden rod that was placed directly across the reflector. Attached to the rod with black duct tape was a small metal corner that could easily absorb heat, and attached to this metal piece was a thermal couple used to record temperatures. This metal piece and thermal couples were placed directly at the paraboloid's focal point (which was measured to be approximately 10 inches).
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
!Reflector Sitting on Wheelbarrow.png!
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}Reflector Sitting on Wheelbarrow {center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
!Thermocouple atached to metal plate.png!
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}Thermocouple Attached to Metal Plate {center} |
The
...
testing
...
showed
...
very
...
promising
...
results,
...
as
...
the
...
peak
...
temperature
...
(achieved
...
within
...
minutes)
...
was
...
145
...
degrees
...
Celsius.
...
However,
...
testing
...
was
...
not
...
completely
...
conclusive
...
since
...
halfway
...
through
...
testing,
...
the
...
tape
...
holding
...
the
...
black
...
metal
...
piece
...
to
...
the
...
wooden
...
rod
...
melted.
...
Hence,
...
the
...
thermal
...
couple
...
fell
...
out
...
of
...
the
...
reflector's
...
focal
...
point
...
and
...
began
...
reading
...
ambient
...
air
...
temperatures
...
instead.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}
!Data From Most successful testing.png!
{center} |
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center}Data from Most Successful Testing {center} |
Given
...
the
...
portion
...
of
...
the
...
successful
...
data
...
that
...
we
...
have,
...
we
...
can
...
conclude
...
that
...
our
...
prototype
...
has
...
definite
...
potential
...
to
...
reach
...
temperatures
...
of
...
250
...
Celsius.
...
The
...
temperature
...
at
...
the
...
focal
...
point
...
was
...
steadily
...
increasing
...
at
...
the
...
time
...
of
...
failure
...
due
...
to
...
the
...
melted
...
tape.
...
Before
...
failure
...
had
...
occurred,
...
the
...
linear
...
trend
...
in
...
data
...
estimates
...
that
...
a
...
temperature
...
reading
...
of
...
250
...
Celsius
...
may
...
have
...
occurred
...
after
...
approximately
...
25
...
minutes,
...
and
...
may
...
even
...
occur
...
faster
...
in
...
non-windy,
...
winter
...
conditions.
...
This
...
past
...
semester
...
allotted
...
no
...
time
...
to
...
build
...
the
...
cooking
...
surface
...
upon
...
which
...
a
...
pot
...
can
...
be
...
placed.
...
Next
...
semester's
...
work
...
on
...
this
...
project
...
should
...
prioritize
...
this
...
task
...
along
...
with
...
another
...
attempt
...
at
...
successful
...
testing.
...