04/06/2020

Dielectric Heating (Microwave)

PRO
Ch. 18 of Fellows
And other references

• What?
• Why does the food become hot?
• How it works?

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Dielectric energy microwave (MW)

radio frequency (RF)
and…
Infrared (IR) or radiant energy
 electromagnetic (EM) energy

EM

RF – MW – IR

Commercially, MWs & RF energy

 specified frequency bands; Why?

wavelengths ranging
from one meter to
one millimeter, or ~
frequencies between
300 MHz (0.3 GHz)
& 300 GHz

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Theory
• Water  H+ and O- = electric dipole.
• MW or RF electric field is applied to a food,
 dipoles in the water & in some ionic
components (e.g. salt)  orient themselves to
the field.
• Rapidly oscillating electric field changes from (+)
to (-) & back again several million times per sec
 the dipoles attempt to follow  frictional heat.
• Increase in temperature of water molecules
heats surrounding components of food by
conduction &/or convection.

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Radio frequency (RF) heating

• Operating principle
= MW heating, but
at lower frequencies
• Food is passed
between electrodes &
a RF voltage is applied across
 changes the orientation of water dipoles
in a similar way to MWs  very rapid
heating.

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• Outer parts receive the same

energy as inner parts;
the surface loses its heat faster
to the surroundings
by evaporative cooling.
• Distribution of water & salt within a food mainly
affects the amount of heating.
• Penetration depth of MWs & RF energy is
determined by the (1) frequency, (2) dielectric
constant & the (3) loss factor of food.
• In general, the lower the loss factor (i.e. greater
transparency to MWs) & the lower the frequency,
the greater the penetration depth.

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NOTES:
• The number of dipoles & the changes induced
by the electric field determine the dielectric
constant of a food.
• Dielectric constant: ratio of the capacitance of
the food to the capacitance of air (or in some
cases a vacuum)

• EM energy is absorbed by the food & converted

to heat.
• The amount of absorbed energy is determined
by the loss factor of the material.

• Thermal conductivity of food is not so important

in dielectric.

• Most foods have high moisture content & high

loss factor
 readily absorb MW & RF energy

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Microwaves (MWs)
Penetration depth of MWs

• x (m): depth of penetration;

• λ0 (m): the wavelength,
• є’ : dielectric constant
• tan δ: loss tangent (or loss factor or dissipation
constant).

Power absorbed by the food:

• P (Wm-3): power per unit volume,

• f (Hz): frequency
• E (Vm-1): electrical field strength.

• MW penetration
increases when
water changes
phase to ice,
 possibly molecules are less free to move or
absorb energy from alternating electric field.
• Loss factor of ice < water
• Glass, papers & some polymer films have a low
loss factor & are not heated.
• Metals reflect MW & are not heated  MW
ovens very efficient in energy use. Why still hot?

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• Advantages of MW & RF heating:

– heating is rapid

– the surface of food does not overheat;

minimum heat damage & no surface browning

– Equipment: small, compact, clean in operation

& suited to automatic control

– no contamination of foods by products of

combustion.

Equipment
• MW equipment:
– MW generator (magnetron),
– aluminium tubes
(wave guides),
– a metal chamber (batch)
or a tunnel fitted with
a conveyor belt (continuous).

• A risk of leaking radiation causing injury to

operators, particularly to eyes.
• Chambers & tunnels are sealed to prevent the
escape of microwaves.

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Magnetron
cylindrical diode
consists of a sealed
copper tube with a
vacuum inside.

Tube  copper plates

pointing towards the
centre (‘anode’)
has a spiral wire
filament (cathode) at
the centre

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When a high voltage

(e.g. 4000 V) is applied,
cathode produces free
electrons;
give energy to produce
rapidly oscillating
microwaves;
directed to the
waveguide by
electromagnets.

Waveguide
reflects the electric field
internally
& transfers it to the
heating chamber.

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* Batch equipment;
rotating antenna or fan
 to distribute energy
or food may be rotated
on a turntable.
reduce shadowing
(areas of food not
exposed to the MWs).
* Continuous tunnels;
different design of
antennae
 to direct a beam of
energy over the food as
it passes on a
conveyor.

Applications

Thawing & Tempering

• Thermal conductivity of water < ice. Impact?
 reduces rate of heat transfer & thawing slows
as the outer layer of water increases in
thickness.
• MW & RF energy rapidly thaw small portions of
food & for melting fats (e.g. butter, chocolate &
fondant cream).

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• Difficulties with larger frozen blocks

(e.g. egg, meat, fish & fruit juice)
used in industrial processes.
• Loss factor of water > ice  heats rapidly once
ice melts.
• In large blocks, thawing not uniformly
• Some portions of food may cook while others
remain frozen.
• Overcome  reducing the power & extending
thawing period or
by using pulsed MWs to allow time for
temperature equilibration.

• ‘Tempering’ frozen foods:

temperature is raised from around
-20ºC to 3ºC;
food remains firm but no longer hard.
 more easily sliced, diced or separated into
pieces.
• for meat & fish products, & for butter & other
edible fats.
• Energy to temper frozen beef, e.g. 62.8 J/g from
-17.7 to - 4.4ºC; 123.3 J/g to raise temperature a
further 2.2ºC as more rapid melting begins to
occur.

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App.: Dehydration
• MW & RF energy overcome the barrier to heat transfer
caused by low thermal conductivity
 prevents damage to the surface,
 improves moisture transfer during the later stages of
drying &
 eliminates case hardening.

• Radiation selectively heats moist areas; dry areas

unaffected.
• Not necessary to heat large volumes of air; & oxidation
by atmospheric oxygen is minimised.

• Higher cost & smaller scale of operation  MW drying

for ‘finishing’ (removing the final moisture) of partly dried
or low-moisture foods.

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• E.g.: in pasta drying:

• Fresh pasta is pre-dried in hot air to 18%
moisture; then in a combined hot air & MW drier
to 13%.
• Drying times are reduced 8 h to 90 min; bacterial
counts 15x lower; reduction in energy
consumption 20–25%; drying tunnel is reduced
36–48m to 8 m; clean-up time is reduced 24 to 6
person-hours; no case hardening

• In conventional freeze drying:

• Low rate of heat transfer to the sublimation
front limits the rate of drying.

• In MW freeze drying:
• Heat is supplied directly to the ice front.

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App.: Baking
• Efficiency is improved by RF or MW finishing for thin
products, e.g. breakfast cereals, baby foods, biscuits,
crackers, crisp bread & sponge cake.
• Conventional ovens operate effectively when products
have relatively high moisture contents, but thermal
conductivity falls as baking proceeds;
considerable time is necessary to bake the centre of the
product adequately without excessive changes to the
surface colour.
• RF or MW heaters are located at the exit to tunnel ovens
to reduce moisture content & to complete baking without
further changes in colour.

Effect on foods
• No direct effect on micro-organisms;
all changes are caused by heat alone.

• In pasteurisation & blanching applications;

reduced losses of heat-sensitive nutrients (e.g.
no loss of carotene in MW-blanched carrots)

• Results for some foods are

highly variable; MW heating
offers no nutritional advantage
over steaming.

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to resume & compare with ohmic & IR…

Dielectric
• induces molecular friction in water molecules
to produce heat
• is determined in part by the moisture content of food
• to preserve foods

Ohmic
• heating is due to the electrical resistance of a food
• heating depends on the electrical resistance of food
• to preserve foods

IR
• energy is simply absorbed & converted to heat
• the extent of heating by radiant energy depends on
surface characteristics & colour of food
• used to alter the eating qualities by changing the surface
colour, flavour & aroma

Independent study:
- Ohmic heating
- Infrared heating

Thank you
Any questions?

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