Study of the Shape of a Microwave Chamber for Heating a Dielectric Object

Abstract

Currently, microwave energy is actively used in various industrial spheres for heating dielectric materials. In order to ensure uniform heating, it is necessary to obtain a uniform distribution of absorbed power in the volume of a dielectric. In this paper, we consider two models of a microwave chamber for heating a dielectric object – a rectangular chamber and a cylindrical chamber. Computer simulation was performed in the FEKO software for several cases: using two and four radiation sources and using two different dielectrics, with parameters corresponding to water and wheat. The results show that a cylindrical chamber provides a more uniform distribution of absorbed power in the inner volume, and therefore, allows to obtain a more uniform heating of the dielectric object inside it, than a rectangular chamber. One possible variant of implementation of a chamber for microwave heating of a dielectric object may be a rotating cylindrical chamber. Its application will allow obtaining uniform heating with a smaller number of emitters due to the choice of the optimal cylinder rotation speed.