1.

Function

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Cooking in ashrams, temples, gurdwaras, army canteens etc

2.

Specification

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i. Type and Model

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Automatic tracking solar dish concentrators

3.

General Information

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Solar steam cooking system can cook food for several thousand persons at a time. The system uses automatic tracking solar dish concentrators which convert water into high pressure steam and consists of shell type receiver made of mild steel, 35 cm in diameter, connected to two concentrators on either side, which focus sunlight on both sides of the receiver. Several such receivers are connected to a 12” dia header pipe which is half-filled with demineralized water.
The receivers and the header pipes are insulated to avoid any heat losses. Each receiver is integrated with two pipes of 1 ½” and ½” diameter from inside, which help in thermo-siphonic flow of water from receivers to header and back. When the water gets heated in the receiver, it starts moving up in the header through one pipe and the cold water from the header starts coming into the receiver. The cycle goes on and a high pressure steam is generated in the header pipe after some time.

4.

Cost of the unit (approx)

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5.

Cost of operation

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6.

Salient features

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Cost of cooking system for 1000 people is about Rs.80 lakhs.  (Special workshop facilities are required at site for installing the system besides back up boiler and cooking utensils.)
Saving in fuel cost (furnace oil) would be about Rs.20 lakhs / year. The payback period varies from 3 to  5 years depending upon size of the system.