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Being one of the major energy consumers, cooking is a necessary part of daily life. Non renewable cooking fuel sources, such as wood or cow dung cause hazardous pollution and a poor ecosystem worldwide. Over the past few decades, solar-powered cooking has undergone numerous improvements. Solar cooking has been predominantly used as a substitute for reducing oil and gas dependence, increasing environmental sustainability, and reducing global warming threats. This paper talks about the recent development of the box-type solar cooker. The paper discusses the principles and classifications of various parameters that affect the performance, energy, and exergy related to the solar cooking system. In line with the sustainable development goals of the UN agenda 2030 and especially the heed to the accomplishment of SDG 7 and SDG 13, various economic factors, such as the payback period (PP), net present value (NPV), benefit–cost (B–C) ratios, internal rate of return (IRR), levelized cost of heat (LCOH), and levelized cost of cooking a meal (LCCM) have been discussed. The environmental analysis has also been presented to show the overall benefit of solar cooking. The review also focuses on the current development of a box-type solar cooker, its components, and its heat transfer characteristic. Various geometrical modifications, the use of reflectors, and transparent insulating materials that improve cooking have been discussed. The concept of energy storage in the form of Phase change material (Latent heat storage) with the latest studied designs improvements of solar cookers has been obtained to be efficient, which also help in late-evening cooking. It can be said that with better policy implications, the social and economic acceptability of the solar cooker can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jagpura Au-Cu deposit is situated within the Aravalli craton in the northwestern part of India. In the present work, petrography, mineral chemistry, fluid inclusion and sulfur isotopic compositions were used to study the Jagpura Au-Cu deposit. The ore mineral association of the deposit is arsenopyrite, loellingite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and pyrite, along with native gold, magnetite and apatite. The gold fineness ranges from 914–937‰ (avg. 927‰). The presence of Au-Bi-Te phases, pyrite (>1 Co/Ni ratio), magnetite (≥1 Ni/Cr ratio, <1 Co/Ni ratio) and apatite (>1 F/Cl ratio) suggest the hydrothermal origin Au-Cu mineralization. A fluid inclusion study indicates the different episodes of fluid immiscibility with the homogenization temperatures varying between 120–258 °C and salinities range within the 8.86–28.15 wt% NaCl eq. The sulfur isotopic composition of sulfides varies from 8.98 to 14.58‰ (avg. 11.16‰). It is inferred that the variation in the sulfur isotopic compositions of sulfides is due to the cooling and dilution of the metalliferous fluid of mixed origin, derived from the basement meta-sedimentary rocks and the high saline basinal fluid. The iron oxide-copper-gold-apatite associations, structural control of mineralization, pervasive hydrothermal alteration, fluid salinity and sulfur isotope compositions indicate that the Jagpura Au-Cu deposit is similar to the iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG)-iron oxide-apatite (IOA)types of deposits. Based on the ore geochemistry and the trace elements systematic of magnetite, the deposit is further classified as an IOCG-IOA type: IOCG-Co (reduced) subtype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase change materials have been overwhelmingly used for thermal energy storage applications. Among organics, fatty acids are an important constituent of latent heat storage. Most of the saturated fatty acid PCMs so far studied are either unary or binary constituents of pure fatty acids. In the present study, ternary blends of saturated fatty acids i.e., capric, lauric, myristic, stearic, and palmitic acids have been developed with different weight proportions. A series of 28 ternary blends viz. CA-LA-MA, CA-LA-PA, CA-LA-SA, CA-MA-PA, CA-MA-SA, and CA-PA-SA were prepared and analyzed with differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. DSC analysis revealed that the prepared materials lie in the 15–30 °C temperature range. Also, 300 thermal melt/freeze cycles were conducted which showed ±10% variation in terms of the melting peak for most of the PCMs, with the average latent heat of fusion between 130 and 170 kJ/kg. The TGA analysis showed that most of the PCMs are thermally stable up to 100 °C and useful for medium-low storage applications, and FTIR analysis showed that the materials are chemically stable after repeated thermal cycles. Based on cycle test performances, the developed materials were found to be reliable for long-term use in building and photovoltaic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]