Improving the energy efficiency of industrial radio frequency heat treatment by optimizing electrode sizes and reversal cycles

Abstract

Radio Frequency (RF) heating technology exhibits potential advantages in the heat treatment of bulky products. The influence of electrode size on the RF heating performance by the electric field distribution, electromagnetic loss density, and temperature distribution was evaluated. An electrode reversal device was developed, facilitating the cyclic reversal of the positive and negative electrodes and the effect of electrode reversal was also investigated. Simulation results showed an optimal heating uniformity when the ratio of electrode to product width is 1.4. At that time, the influence of stray electric field between the positive electrode and the cavity on the electromagnetic energy was minimal. The variation in loss angle tangent caused by temperature change was the primary reason for the fluctuation of the electromagnetic-thermal energy conversion efficiency within the same radio-frequency field. The electrode reversal dramatically improved the heating uniformity in the direction of electromagnetic energy decay. The temperature uniformity index (TUI) can be reduced by 32.79 % to 75.41 % with the shorter reversal cycle, but the service life of the device was also curtailed due to more mechanical motions. Considering the stability of the equipment and the heating performance, the optimum reversal cycle was chosen to be 420 s. In this case, the maximum TUI didn’t exceed 0.017, demonstrating better heating uniformity as compared with the commonly used for improving heating uniformity. In conclusion, a suitable electrode width and reversal cycle can effectively avoid the thermal offset effect of larger agricultural products during RF heating, thus improving the heating performance.