Performance Analysis of Modified Cookware Geometry for Efficient LPG Utilization in Domestic Kitchens

Abstract

The following experimentation work focuses on determining the most suitable geometry of cooking utensil to be used for day-to-day specific cooking activity for example milk heating which is a widely found daily task in many houses. For our work, we consider families consisting of 8-10 members (joint Indian families).The quantity of milk and various conventional cooking utensil used for heating is noted as per need of 8-10 members, which depends on the generalized survey conducted in seventeen joint families in nearby locality which is the traditional size of Indian households in rural areas. Four different H/D ratios of simple utensils and utensils with modified bottom geometrical structure are selected for this study and they are tested against three different flame conditions of a domestic gas burner LPG stove for example high, medium and low. Overall thermal efficiency and performance characteristics of each utensil is calculated and compared on graph. Based on the experimental data, conclusions are drawn. Highest efficiency of 51.5% is found to be with utensil P1 at low flame condition. The lowest efficiency of 32.5% is observed with utensil P3 at high flame. It can be deduced that more than 15.2 kg of LPG which is equivalent to one LPG cylinder can be saved annually by just using utensils of optimum aspect ratio, at low flame condition for heating of milk.