The study on the heater usage for better energy efficiency of domestic convection oven

In this study, the heater usage algorithm has been studied for cooking process in a domestic oven. For the analysis, numerical simulation and experimental study have been performed, focusing on heat distribution and heat loss mechanism. Better fidelity of baking process model was achieved by incorporating enthalpy jump at the phase change and evaporation-condensation mechanism into the thermal properties of cupcake. The result of heat flux calculation over enclosed walls shows that the back surface has the highest heat flux due to high temperature of convection heating during preheating process. During baking process, the heat flux on the top surface of cupcake on a upper tray was found to be about 1.8 times as that on the lower tray due to radioactive heat flux from grill heater. For an energy saving purpose, the more balanced use of heating units, for instance, more use of grill heater than convection heater, was recommended. The thermal conductivity of insulation material was a more important factor than specific heat on the power consumption during preheating