Investigation of Electric Injera Mitad with Copper Wire Embeddings for Performance Improvement
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Date
0202-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Ethiopians make injera, a staple food, on a clay baking pan, mitad, with either biomass or electricity as the energy source. The existing electric mitads in the country are highly inefficient, demand high power, and consume significant energy. The clay plate of the appliance is produced and assembled traditionally and its poor thermal performance created overloading of the electric power distribution network and introduced high energy consumption to the consumer and the nation. Efforts to enhance the thermal properties of the clay plate are yet to address the practicability of casting and producing improved clay plates at the level of local producers. This study examines the effect of copper wire embeddings in the clay plate of electric injera mitad to improve its performance.
The study investigated the development of a CuWE clay plate of electric mitad, determined its effect on performance, and compared this performance with other similar studies. The traditional methods of clay plate production were identified and the Controlled Cooking Tests were conducted. The investigation revealed that, for a triple baking test, 30 injera per baking test, the CuWE clay plate electric mitad's heat-up time, the maximum-to-minimum heat-up temperature difference, and energy consumption were reduced by 3 min, from 64.3 °C to 36.9 °C, and 110 Wh, respectively. Energy efficiency was improved by 10.8% as compared to the base case electric mitad; the cyclic baking time per injera was decreased by 0.6 minutes; the overall baking period, including heat-up time; the specific energy consumption; and the total energy consumption were reduced by 21 minutes, 0.09 kWh/kg of injera, 1.0 kWh, or 15.4%, respectively.
It was revealed in the study that embedding copper wire in the clay plate of electric injera mitad improved baking surface temperature uniformity and injera quality; reduced energy consumption and time to bake. Local manufacturers can produce CuWE electric mitads without the aid of any special equipment or production techniques to reduce the huge impact of electric injera mitads on the power and energy demand of the country.
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Keywords
Electric mitad, Clay plate, Copper wire embedding, Injera, Baking surface temperature.