Affiliations: [a] College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China | [b] Biological and Environmental Engineering Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Xing Chen, College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China. E-mail:chenxing@scu.edu.cn
Abstract: This research presents a novel designed cavity system for improving
microwave heating efficiency. Microwave heating at 2.45 GHz with monopole
antennas in a cavity is compared with the conventional magnetron heating on
a tylose block. The model for both heating methods was first validated
versus experimental results and showed excellent agreement. The antenna
heating in a cavity significantly improved the heating rate and uniformity
in the tylose sample. The cavity heating method exhibited nearly twice the
efficiency as sample sizes increased. The cavity design improves the
microwave absorption and final temperature uniformity substantially over the
traditional microwave oven. Notably within the first 60 seconds, the
non-uniformity in temperature distribution begins to decrease in the cavity
while the magnetron method still shows increasing temperature
non-uniformity. The novel use of antennas in a cavity demonstrates the
potential for a controllable and selectable microwave heating system that
improves power efficiency, heating rate, and temperature uniformity over
conventional microwave heating.
