Modernization of an existing microwave installation for microwave processing of biological substrates

Abstract

One of the urgent tasks for breeding and seed centers producing elite and superelite seeds is to reduce excess moisture, which leads to reduced storage, reduced efficiency of use, deterioration in the commercial quality of products after drying, and contributes to the rapid development of pathogenic pathogens that render grain unusable ( average losses of grain without drying are 15...18%). Existing methods of reducing seed moisture are the use of drying devices, the significant disadvantages of which are: high energy intensity, the use of diesel and gas fuels, which pollute the environment, and the high cost of installations, which increases the cost of the final product. It is proposed to develop an energy-saving technology to obtain agricultural products with improved qualities, expanding the functionality of the use of equipment both for seed production enterprises and agricultural enterprises, as well as for processing polycaproamide threads used as suture material in veterinary medicine. Ultrahigh-frequency electrotechnological installations, which use the energy of electromagnetic oscillations of ultrahigh frequency, can carry out thermal microwave modification of biological substrates and non-thermal microwave modification of polycaproamide threads. The paper presents an installation with a hybrid-type working chamber, in which thermal and non-thermal microwave modification of biological substrates and polycaproamide threads is simultaneously carried out. The presented installation is cheaper, it requires one rather than two microwave generators, and it occupies less space than two separate installations.