DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF AN AUTOMATED (VARIABLE TEMPERATURE) DOMESTIC OVEN

ABSTRACT

This work develops an automated domestic oven with a dimension of 0.5m by 0.5m by 0.5m giving it a volume of 0.125m³. The oven was constructed in such a way that two 2kw heating element are mounted at the base to give a total of 4kw output, sufficient to bake any dough at a temperature of 200^oC. By the left-hand side facing the oven are the temperature controller/timer, the contact relay, and the circuit breaker. Situated at the top is a vent for natural convection. The temperature sensor (thermocouple is situated in the oven as well as the baking tray. It has a door mounted at the front with a hinge for opening. It also has its internal and external walls covered with galvanised steel and insulated using a mineral wool of 0.042 w/m°c. Using the electric heating element and a temperature regulator, the maximum temperature of 290°C in 12 minutes was recorded. The oven was tested in order to determine its function, the model works on natural convection. The effectiveness was analysed by baking cake and bread. Results showed that the cake was baked in 25 min at a temperature of 200˚C it depends on the size of the cake, bread took 23 min at a temperature of 200˚C. The oven was constructed with locally available materials.

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

Food is life. This is even more so when we look at other human necessities such as clothing, shelter etc. this is no wonder why a hungry man is an angry man.

The necessity to subject the natural food materials to some kind of treatment before consumption was apparently realized incredibly early in prehistory. Some of these operations such as peeling of inedible parts, cutting, and cooking are aimed at making the food more palatable while others like drying and frying are done to prolong the shelf life of the food.

Today, it is the problem of the engineers; mechanical to design an oven with an efficient and effective heat transfer mechanism to aid in the food processing. In any process, adequate knowledge of the properties of the materials involved is especially important. This is more peculiar with food processing as complex chemical and biological reactions are induced. Hence, adequate process design knowledge is of essence in this field we are discussing.

The concern for safety and hygiene is also paramount when dealing with food compared to other engineering facets.

Lastly, in all processes, control is of high importance to ensure smooth and safe running of the process in question.

In this thesis, justice will be done to all of these in the design of this oven which will be fabricated for the baking of dough and other bakery products. We will start with the definition of the problem, go through our motivation for this work, what is intended to be achieved from the work and carry out a detailed design analysis and select the optimum material for the parts bearing cost, efficient heat transfer, easy operability of the machine, safety, and material sourcing in mind, looking from the eye of the end user and not of a designer.

1.2. Problem Statement

Global warming and environmental pollution have been two of the major problems in our contemporary world. These are the consequences of the burning of fossil fuels, use of nonbiodegradable materials (plastics) etc.

Eateries and homes today use and dispose several million tons of this product (plastics) annually thereby increasing ocean clogging. Market research has also shown that electric ovens used in the homes for baking are quite unaffordable for an average man.

To make the environment more friendly and directly reduce the cost of buying an oven for home use, it is necessary to design and fabricate a locally sourced oven which can be as efficient as imported ones and competitive price wise.

 

                             1.3     Motivation

Necessity they say drives invention. The need to help filling part of the local need in the society by reducing the cost of essential equipment and help in reducing global warming are the driving force for this project. I hope at the end, I will attain the gratification of contributing to the body of knowledge when students to come in the field of heat transfer find my research work helpful.

                             1.4     Aims and Objectives

The aim of this project is to design an electrically powered oven which is intended for the baking of edible cutleries and other bakery products. The following are the specific objectives:

1. To design and optimize the several heat transfer process within the oven
2. To select the most suitable material for the components and construct the oven bearing in mind sourcing and cost

• To employ automatic regulation of heat within the oven

1. To test and evaluate the performance of the electric oven.

                     1.5         Project Justification

The project is intended to help alleviate the burden on importation of some critical items to the country. There is no gainsay in the fact that today Nigeria imports virtually everything! Even equipment that can be locally sourced are being imported daily and hence burden on our forex exchange with the CBN policies not enough to counteract these burdens.

DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF AN AUTOMATED (VARIABLE TEMPERATURE) DOMESTIC OVEN

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