Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Python Modeling Of Heat Flow In A Thermal Storage Device, Tim Hider

Physics

A parabolic dish that concentrates sunlight into a thermal storage device may comprise an inexpensive, environmentally benign, clean cooking technology appropriate for developing countries. A Scheffler Solar reflector was constructed and a thermal storage device built to eventually be coupled with the Scheffler. We tested the heat flow in the thermal storage device with an electric heater, and wrote Python code that solves the heat diffusion in 1D and 2D in order to model heat flow in the thermal storage device.