Single-mode microwave applicator for homogeneous thermal treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for heat treatment of products using microwaves face challenges in achieving homogeneous heating and precise temperature control, leading to inefficiencies and potential damage to organoleptic properties, especially in industrial settings where continuous flow and uniform exposure are crucial.
Innovation Solution
The use of a waveguide cavity with single-mode propagation for microwave exposure, combined with a conveying system that maintains total and homogeneous filling, allows for continuous and uniform exposure of products to microwave radiation, preventing over or under-exposure and ensuring consistent temperature profiles through controlled exposure time and power distribution across multiple incoupling waveguides.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional microwave heating methods are used with horizontal Archimedes screw conveyance, then continuous flow processing is achieved, but homogeneous heating and optimum heating efficiency cannot be obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The cavity is divided into multiple sections with partitions that create discrete product zones, allowing controlled microwave exposure in each section while maintaining continuous flow. This segmentation enables homogeneous heating by ensuring each product portion receives consistent energy distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the cavity are designed with specific microwave coupling characteristics, with incoupling waveguides positioned at strategic locations to create optimal local heating zones. The partitions and cavity geometry are tailored to distribute microwave energy uniformly across different product positions.
2Speed
If microwave irradiance is increased to quickly heat products in continuous flow, then heating speed improves, but homogeneous temperature distribution and precise temperature control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic microwave pulsing with controlled duty cycles to achieve rapid heating while maintaining temperature uniformity. The microwave energy is delivered in controlled intervals that allow heat distribution throughout the product mass, preventing localized overheating while achieving quick overall heating.
Solution Approach 2:
The continuous flow system maintains constant product movement through the microwave field, ensuring every product portion receives consistent heating exposure. The uninterrupted flow combined with optimized cavity design enables both rapid heating and homogeneous temperature distribution.
3Loss of energy
If higher microwave power is applied to improve heating efficiency, then energy consumption decreases, but precise temperature curve control and product quality deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts microwave power levels during the heating process, modulating energy input to match the thermal requirements of the product at different stages. This dynamic control enables precise temperature curve following while maintaining high overall heating efficiency through optimized power delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The microwave system varies multiple parameters including power level, frequency modulation, and exposure time to achieve precise temperature control. By changing these parameters adaptively, the system maintains high heating efficiency while ensuring accurate temperature profiles for product quality.
4Device complexity
If conventional cavity designs are used without single-mode propagation, then device complexity is reduced, but homogeneous microwave exposure and heating uniformity cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The waveguide cavity is designed to support single-mode propagation that simultaneously provides homogeneous field distribution and maintains relatively simple geometry. This universal design approach achieves heating uniformity without requiring complex cavity structures or multiple adjustment mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables efficient, homogeneous heating of products with precise temperature control, reducing energy costs and maintaining the quality of treated products by ensuring uniform microwave exposure and consistent temperature across the product volume.
Implementation Method 1
the cavity is a waveguide cavity, the section whereof is suitable for single-mode propagation, for an implemented microwave frequency
Implementation Method 2
the particulate product to be treated is exposed to electromagnetic microwave radiation in a cavity
Implementation Method 3
which define the adjoining sliding volumes moving inside the cavity of the exposure waveguide, in the longitudinal direction of said exposure waveguide from the inlet opening towards the outlet opening, so as to maintain total and homogeneous filling of the exposure waveguide by the product during the conveying thereof
Implementation Method 4
the particulate product to be treated is exposed to electromagnetic microwave radiation in a cavity
Data Source
AI summary
An applicator for thermal treatment of a product in which the product is exposed to electromagnetic microwave radiation in an exposure waveguide, in which the microwaves are coupled and propagate according to a single-mode propagation mode. The applicator includes a system for transporting the product in a continuous flow following the longitudinal direction of the cavity of the exposure waveguide between the inlet opening and the outlet opening. A product treatment device includes at least one applicator and at least one continuous wave generator CW. The product, heated by continuous microwave radiation CW in device, is subjected to a thermal treatment method in line with a temperature curve as a function of time, resulting in particular from a speed of movement of the product in the exposure waveguide and from a power of the microwave radiation coupled into the exposure waveguide at each coupling point.