ARID ZONE JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY &
ENVIRONMENT

AZOJETE December 2020. Vol. 16(4):773-784
Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818
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Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 773

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR OVEN USING KAPOKWOOL AS
INSULATION MATERIAL

A. T. Abdulrahim1*, S. Abdulkareem2, M. Haruna1, A. S. Abdulraheem1,
F. A. Oluwole1, G. M. Ngala1 and U. A. Mukhtar1

1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069 Maiduguri, Nigeria
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria

*Corresponding author’s email address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com

1.0 Introduction
The use of Solar thermal devices such as solar box oven and solar brick oven are on in the
increase because they offered no fuel cost, environmentally friendly, easily operable among
other advantages. The basic concept of solar oven is simply to trap and store solar energy
inside a box. The box’s upper side is covered by a transparent material and well-insulated with
a reflector at the top which could be used to boosts the incident energy and also functions as
an outer cover when the oven is not in use (Sayigh, 1977; Suharta, 1994; Mukherjee and
Chakrabarti, 2004). The challenges of producing reliable and competitively economic solar box
for household purposes have led to intense research work in all areas of improving component
parts of a solar box cooker (Suharta et al., 1998; Abdulrahim et al., 2015; Maina et al., 2016;
Qandil et al., 2018).

Solar Box oven is among common devices which utilize insulation for lagging. Thermal
insulations play a major role in the design and production of energy efficient process, devices
and systems because of their ability to retards heat transfer by acting as barriers in the path of
heat flow. Previous solar box cookers have used Cotton, Saw dust, and Fibre-glass as insulation
materials (Suharta et al., 1998; Abdulrahim et al., 2015; Adewole et al., 2015; Maina et al., 2016;
Adewumi et al., 2019). Cotton is widely used in cloth making and, in the hospital, while saw
dust is used in stove for cooking as well as in making furniture products which could reduce
their availability. Fibre-glass is a synthetic fiber with high toxin ratings and usually imported into

ARTICLE
INFORMATION

ABSTRACT
Solar ovens are among common devices which utilize insulation materials
because of their ability to retards heat transfer by acting as barriers in the
path of heat flow. Previous solar box cookers have used cotton, saw dust, and
fibre-glass as insulation materials but none has used Kapok wool despite its
potential. This study is aimed at the performance evaluation of solar oven
using Kapok wool as the insulation material. The solar box oven designed is of
the size 59 x 56 x 36cm dimensions made of plywood, with an aperture area
of 3304cm2 double glass cover and an oven’s floor area of 1225cm2 made of
aluminum. Kapok wool was used to line the oven’s walls and floor serving as
insulator. The solar box oven was tested at the University of Maiduguri, Borno
State, Nigeria. It was tested without load to determine its stagnation
temperature and to check its endurance under stagnation conditions. Similarly,
a water boiling test was conducted to cook rice and beans. The results show
that maximum stagnation temperature was 165.1°C and maximum overall
daily thermal efficiency of 19.44% was achieved on a clear day test without
reflector. The field test of the solar oven demonstrated its ability to cook rice
and beans well with 1 kg of rice cooked under 2 hours, while 1 kg of beans
was cooked under 1 hour 45 minutes on the same day. This performance
demonstrated the suitability of Kapok wool as insulation material for solar
ovens.

© 2020 Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. All rights reserved.

Submitted 2 July, 2019
Revised 26 October, 2020
Accepted 8 November, 2020.

Keywords:
Solar oven
Insulation materials
Kapok wool
Stagnation temperature
Efficiency

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Abdulrahim et al: Performance Evaluation of Solar Oven Using Kapok Wool as Insulation Material. AZOJETE,16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 774

the country. Natural fibers which have low to zero toxin ratings, easy to reuse and dispose
with significant health benefits have been recognized as possible alternative. Possible material
for replacing these insulation materials was conceived, and the locally available insulating
materials that have been considered in this study is Kapok wool. Kapok is a natural polymer
and it is a unicellular fibres like cotton with a thermal conductivity of 0.035Wm-1K-1 (Ayugi,
2011). Voumbo et al. (2010) study shows that the kapok's conductivity dregs between 0.03
and 0.04 W/m.ºK for density between 5 and 40 kg/m3, and taking into account year average
diffusivity of 17.1x10G7 m2/s, they concluded that kapok is a good heat insulator.

Typical analyses indicate that Kapok fibers comprises of 64% cellulose ((C6H10O5)n), 13% lignin
and 23% pentosan (Chalarrekij et al., 2011). Besides these constituents, they also contain wax
cutin on the fiber surface which makes them water repellent (Chalarrekij et al., 2011).

Purnawati et al. (2018) described kapok fibers as having a hollow structure with a thin fiber wall
and a large lumen filled with air which led to low fiber density, and that hydrophobic properties
are associated with the wax content of the fiber surface. Meiwu et al. (2010) and Mwaikambo
(2006) stated that kapok was the lightest fiber in the world. Studies have also confirmed that
kapok fibers have excellent thermal and acoustic insulating properties, high buoyancy, and good
absorbency for oil and other non-polar liquids distinguishing kapok from most other cellulosic
fibers (Wang et al., 2012; Lim and Huang, 2007; Zheng et al., 2015).

Purnawati et al. (2018) have explained that there are three types of weight/mass loss during
thermal degradation: water removal (drying), organic matter release (devolatilization), and
bonded-carbon oxidation (slow combustion). In thermal degradation, the first aspect is water
desorption in the temperature range of 29.9°C‒65.1°C for kapok fiber and it is endothermic.
The second and third peaks are exothermic, and they occurred at 322.8°C and 444.1°C
respectively for kapok fiber. The third peak expressed the final decomposition of cellulose as
well as lignin degradation. Gaan et al. (2009) also identified three stages of cellulose thermal
decomposition. The first stage occurred at a temperature of 100°C and represented the
release of water. The second stage, at a temperature of 360°C, was identified as a rapid
dehydration and decarboxylation reaction that produced combustible gases such as aldehydes,
ketones and ethers. The third stage, at 400°C, was classified as the second stage of
decomposition and charcoal formation. Lignin degradation occurred at a temperature of
250°C‒500°C because of its high stability which made it difficult to decompose (Poletto et al.,
2012).

While a great deal has been published about solar box ovens or solar box cookers that use
other materials as insulators, there is hardly any mention of one using kapok wool as insulator.
The reason is not that kapok wool is not a good insulator, but they are unexplored. Hence, this
study would conduct a performance evaluation of solar oven using Kapok wool as an insulation
material.

2. Materials and Method
2.1 Materials
The design concept adopted for the solar oven following Suharta et al. (1998). The constructed
Solar box oven consisted of four components, namely box made of wood, absorber plate made
of Aluminum sheet which was painted black at its upper surface and Kapok wool was used as
the insulator. The solar box oven is of the size 59 x 56 x 36cm dimensions with an aperture
area of 3304cm2 and absorber plate made of Aluminum sheet of 0.4mm thick with an oven’s
floor area of 1225cm2, while its total surface area was 5134.6 cm2 and a height of 19cm as
shown in Figure 1. Kapok wool was used to line the oven’s walls and floor. Kapok pod was
obtained at the University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria from Kapok Trees (Figure 2a). The

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Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, December, 2020; Vol. 16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-
5818; www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 775

Kapok wool was removed from its pod and hand picking of the kapok seed in the Kapok wool
was done and the Kapok wool was then brushed to remove other unwanted particles (Figure
2b).

Figure 1: Exploded View of Solar box oven.

(a) (b)
Figure 2: Kapok Source and Processing: (a) Kapok Pod; (b) Kapok Wool, Seed, Exocarp and
Other unwanted particles

The Top view of the solar box oven is shown in Figure 3a. The Kapok wool of average
thickness of 100mm was put at the sides of the absorber plate and kapok wool of thickness
40mm at the bottom of the absorber plate. Kapok wool was also put inside the solar box oven
entrance cover to serve as insulation material as shown in Figure 3b, c, d. A total mass of 2.026
kg of kapok wool was used to cover a total volume of 0.0469 m3.

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Abdulrahim et al: Performance Evaluation of Solar Oven Using Kapok Wool as Insulation Material. AZOJETE,16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 776

(a) Top view of Solar box oven (b) Bottom view of Solar box oven

(c ) Solar box filed Kapok insulator (d) Solar box’s door cover filled with Kapok
Figure 3: Solar Box Oven stuffed with Kapok wool as insulation (a, b, c and d)

Thermometer data recorder (3 Channels, Model: MTM-380SD, accuracy 0.1°C) was used to
monitor the temperature profiles in the oven’s floor (absorber plate) and water temperature.
The Solar Power Meter (Model: SPM-1116SD, accuracy 0.1W/m2) was used for measuring
Solar Insolation while Aerometer (Model: ABH-4224, accuracy 0.1m/s) was used to measure
the Wind speed and Ambient temperature.

2.2 Method
The solar box oven as shown in Figure 4 was tested at the Entrepreneurship Centre, University
of Maiduguri, Borno State Nigeria without a load to determine its stagnation temperature and
to check the oven endurance under stagnation conditions. Water boiling test and cooking of
rice and beans was also carried out using the solar oven. The solar oven is preheated for 30
minutes using solar energy to remove vapor inside the oven which can limit the rate of the
cooking performance. Then, the loading test was done by placing the cylindrical pot covered
with a lid filled with 1 litre of water inside the solar box oven. And for cooking food, the food
items were put inside the cylindrical pot covered with a lid filled with water inside the solar
box oven. Thermometer data recorder (3 Channels, Model: MTM-380SD, accuracy 0.1°C) was
used to monitor the temperature profiles in the oven’s floor (absorber plate) and water
temperature. The Solar Insolation was measured using Solar Power Meter (Model: SPM-
1116SD, accuracy 0.1W/m2) while the Wind speed and Ambient temperature (T4) were
measured using Aerometer (Model: ABH-4224, accuracy 0.1m/s). Figure 4 shows the Solar Box
Oven under test.

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Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, December, 2020; Vol. 16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-
5818; www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 777

Figure 4: Solar box oven under Test

Performance Tests were repeated on the same Solar oven, and the performance evaluation
carried out were: i. Stagnation temperature, and ii. Solar box oven Efficiency.
The overall thermal efficiency of the solar box oven is expressed mathematically by Khalifa et al.
(2005) and Olwi et al. (1993) as reported in El-Sebaii and Ibrahim (2005) as:

ƞu =
MwCw
IavAc

∆T
∆t (1)

Where ƞu represents the overall thermal efficiency of the solar box oven, Mw mass of water
(kg), Cw specific heat capacity of water (J/kg°C), ∆T temperature difference between the
maximum of the cooking fluid and the ambient air temperature, Ac the aperture area (m2) of
the oven, ∆t time required to achieve the maximum temperature of the cooking fluid, Iav the
average solar radiation intensity (W/m2) during time interval ∆t.

3.0 Results and Discussion
3.1 Preliminary Test
The results of the stagnation test of the solar oven at no load is shown in Figure 5, and the
maximum temperature attained was 148.3oC at 13:00 hours (1:00pm). This is due to the fact
that on a clear sunshine the solar energy increase to a maximum at solar noon and the solar
collector received this energy and its distribution within the solar box is a function of time.
Maximum wind speed recorded was 1.7m/s which has not exceeded 2.5m/s for which the data
shall be discarded if such value lasted for more than 10 minutes (ASAE S580.1, 2013).

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Abdulrahim et al: Performance Evaluation of Solar Oven Using Kapok Wool as Insulation Material. AZOJETE,16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 778

Figure 5: Stagnation Test of Solar Oven at no-load at University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri,
Nigeria.

The results of 1 litre of water boiling test using the solar oven is shown in Figure 6. The water
temperature reached a maximum of 99.8°C at 12:00 noon. This could be regarded as the
boiling temperature of the water, and since most food can be fully cooked at the temperature
range of 60 - 90°C the solar oven performance is good and suitable for cooking. The overall
daily efficiency of the solar oven (ƞ) was calculated using equation (1) to be 11.6% where Mw =
1kg, Cw = 4220 J/(kg.K), Ac=0.3304m2, Iav = 857.28W/m2, ∆T=55.86°C, and ∆t=7200s.

Figure 6: Solar box oven Water Boiling Test (1 Litre of Water) at University of Maiduguri,
Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Tables 1 and 2 show the results obtained when the solar oven was used to cook 1 kg of rice
and beans each where cooking times, oven plate temperatures and ambient conditions of
temperature and solar insolation were noted. Rice was cooked under 2 hours after placed
inside the oven, and Beans was cooked under 1 hour and 45 minutes after placed inside the
oven.

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Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, December, 2020; Vol. 16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-
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Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 779

Table 1: Cooking Test using Rice as food item
Time (s) Oven plate

Temperature Tp (°C)
Ambient
Temperature Ta (°C)

Solar Insolation
I (W/m2)

Wind Speed
V (m/s)

9:30 72.2 39.0 912.5 0.5
9:45 79.4 41.2 924.5 0.2
10:00 86.8 40.6 937.6 0.1
10:15 93.8 40.1 930.6 0.0
10:30 100.4 40.8 952.5 0.0
10:45 106.6 41.9 948.0 0.0
11:00 108.5 43.1 943.4 0.0
11:15 114.4 42.5 948.8 0.0
11:30 119.2 43.2 961.5 0.0
Rice cooked as at 11:30 am

Table 2: Cooking Test using Beans as food item
Time (s) Oven Temperature

Tp (°C)
Ambient
Temperature Ta (°C)

Solar Insolation
I (W/m2)

Wind Speed
V (m/s)

12:00 106.7 46.0 925.1 0.1
12:15 104.9 46.9 930.3 0.0
12:30 109.0 47.3 932.0 0.0
12:45 114.0 43.9 961.5 0.0
1:00 117.0 46.3 949.7 0.0
1:15 119.2 46.8 941.5 0.0
1:30 119.2 45.8 935.2 0.0
1:45 118.8 49.0 970.6 0.0
Beans cooked as at 1:45 pm

3.2 Stagnation Temperature Tests
During the repeated tests carried, Temperatures of the absorber plate of the oven during the
day having fluctuating insolation is shown in Figure 7. The plots of Oven plate temperature (Tp),
Ambient temperature (Ta) and Solar Insolation (IR) indicate that the Solar insolation recorded a
minimum of 409.5 W/m2 at 10:15 am and a maximum of 963.6 W/m2 at 11:10am. The
maximum absorber plate temperature obtained was 151.1°C recorded at 12:55pm, the
temperature between the Absorber plate and the ambient temperatures was 109.1°C at
12:55pm, while the maximum Ambient air temperature is 44.3°C. Maximum wind speed
recorded was 1.9m/s which has not exceeded 2.5m/s for which the data shall be discarded if
such value lasted for more than 10 minutes (ASAE S580.1, 2013). These results have
demonstrated the suitability of the solar oven for heating water and cooking even during
fluctuated weather condition.

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Abdulrahim et al: Performance Evaluation of Solar Oven Using Kapok Wool as Insulation Material. AZOJETE,16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 780

Figure 7: Stagnation Test (Fluctuation Insolation) at University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
(TP = Oven Plate Temperature, TA = Ambient Temperature, IR = Solar Insolation).

Also, the temperature distribution inside the oven during clear weather day (14/04/2020) is
shown in Figure 8. The plots of TP, TA, and IR indicate that the Solar insolation (IR) reached a
maximum of 1056 W/m2 at 11.35am while the maximum absorber plate temperature (Tp)
attained was 165.1°C at 12:10pm and maximum ambient temperature (TA) recorded was
46.3°C at 13:05pm. The temperature between the Oven plate and the Ambient Temperature
was 123.7°C at 12:10pm.

Figure 8: Stagnation Test (Clear Weather Condition) at University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri,
Nigeria. (TP = Oven Plate Temperature, TA = Ambient Temperature, IR = Solar Insolation).

The oven reached a maximum temperature of 151.1°C on the day of fluctuating insolation, and
a maximum oven temperature of 165.1°C on the clear weather day. The temperature attained
on a clear weather day is higher than the corresponding temperature on fluctuating insolation
day by 14°C. This is because at any moment clouds intercept the sun, it decreases the energy
to a low value due to the diffuse sky radiation (Sayigh, 1977). Earlier studies have reported
difference levels of solar ovens (cookers) performances with respect to stagnation
temperatures attained. These include, Suharta et al. (1998) who reported that one of their

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solar ovens with reflector reached 183°C while another one attained a temperature of 202°C.
And Adewumi et al. (2019) also reported that their solar cooker with no reflector attained a
temperature of 69.8°C while the one with four reflectors attained a temperature of 175°C. In
the case of Adewole et al. (2015), the stagnation temperature attained by their solar cooker
with reflectors was 76°C. Though there are those solar ovens with higher stagnation
temperatures than that of the present study as reported, it could be observed that such solar
cookers were installed with reflectors which boosts the incident energy thereby increasing the
heat energy available to the absorber plate. The maximum stagnation temperature of 165.1°C
attained in this study could cook most foods fully because temperature range of 60-90°C is
required to cook any food (Folaranmi, 2013), and the oven endurance under stagnation
conditions has also been confirmed.

3.3 Start cook time
Suharta et al. (1998) defined a ‘start cook point’ as time for a standard load of 1.2 l of water to
reach 80°C. Since water has a higher specific heat than any food, it provides the heaviest load
for the performance test. The boiling test results are presented in figure 6. The temperature of
the water heated in the oven reached 80°C at 10:31am. The performance was quite similar to
the performance of the one reported by Suharta et al. (1998) in which the solar oven attained
80°C at 10:25am though his own uses one reflector. It has been reported by Suharta et al.
(1998) that Users can generally start cooking 1 h before the ‘start cook point’, and for this
oven, at 9:31am.

Figure 9: Boiling Test on a Clear Weather Condition at University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri,
Nigeria. (TW = Water Temperature, TP = Oven Plate Temperature, TA = Ambient
Temperature, IR = Solar Insolation).

The results of 1.2kg of water boiling test using the solar oven on 15th April, 2020 is shown in
Figure 9. The water temperature reached a maximum of 99.6°C at 11:25am. The overall daily
efficiency of the solar oven (ƞ) was calculated using equation (1) to be 9.6% where Mw=1.2kg,
Cw = 4220 J/(kg.K), Ac = 0.3304m2, Iav= 971.22W/m2, ∆T=58.6°C, and ∆t = 9600s.

The results of 2.643kg of water boiling test using the solar oven on 16th April, 2020 is shown
in Figure 10. The water temperature reached a maximum of 99.6°C at 1:00pm. The overall
daily efficiency of the solar oven (ƞ) was calculated using equation (1) to be 18.8% where Mw =
2.643kg, Cw = 4220 J/(kg.K), Ac = 0.3304m2, Iav=1031.52W/m2, ∆T = 55.22°C, and ∆t = 9600s.

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Abdulrahim et al: Performance Evaluation of Solar Oven Using Kapok Wool as Insulation Material. AZOJETE,16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 782

Figure 10: Boiling Test of 2.643 litres of Water on Clear Weather Condition at University of
Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria. (TW = Water Temperature, TP = Oven Plate Temperature, TA
= Ambient Temperature, IR= Solar Insolation)

The results of 2.313kg of water boiling test using the solar oven on 17th April, 2020 is shown
in Figure 11. The water temperature reached a maximum of 99.1°C at 12:10pm. The overall
daily efficiency of the solar oven (ƞ) was calculated using equation (1) to be 19.44% where Mw

= 2.312kg, Cw = 4220 J/(kg.K), Ac = 0.3304m2, Iav=1076.14W/m2, ∆T=55.26°C, and ∆t = 7800s.

Figure 11: Water Boiling Test of 2.313kg of Water on a Clear Weather Condition at University
of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

The maximum overall daily efficiency obtained during the various tests carried out was 19.44%
and it is an indication of good performance and better heat retention ability of the cooker since
the solar oven is without reflector. Though solar thermal efficiency of 33% have been reported
by Adewole et al. (2015) based on performance of a reflected solar box cooker implemented in
Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Adewumi et al. (2019) reported the performance of solar cookers tested at
Ilorin, Nigeria and confirmed that the efficiency of the solar cookers increases with increase
number of reflectors from 18.72% (no reflector) to 72.22% (four reflectors). All these reported
cases above used reflectors, so if one or more reflectors are introduced to the solar oven in
this study, there will be increase in thermal efficiency.

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4.0 Conclusion
The use of loose Kapok wool as insulation material in solar oven has been evaluated in this
study. The results based on the performance evaluation carried out in Maiduguri, Nigeria show
that it can serve as a good insulator. The use of Kapok wool has ensured insulation and
increases oven temperature. The maximum stagnation temperatures obtained were 151.1°C on
day of fluctuating insolation and 165.1°C on clear weather day. Maximum overall daily thermal
efficiency of 19.44% was obtained on a clear day test without reflector. The field test of the
solar oven has also demonstrated its ability to cook rice and beans well. For example, 1 kg rice
was cooked between 9:30 and 11:30am while 1 kg beans cooked between 12:00 noon and
1:45pm. The solar oven performance has demonstrated the suitability of Kapok wool as
insulation material for solar ovens and it is here by recommended for use for this purpose.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the TETFund through the IBR Research Grant No.
TETFUND/DESS/UNIMAID/MAIDUGURI/RP/VOL.II at University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri,
Nigeria for providing financial support for the study.

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Abdulrahim et al: Performance Evaluation of Solar Oven Using Kapok Wool as Insulation Material. AZOJETE,16(4):773-784. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: engrabdulrahimat@gmail.com 784

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