Q1:
What is the history and current status of industrial microwave
processing?
The usefulness of microwaves for cooking was purportedly discovered
by Percy Le Baron Spencer in 1945 when some candy in his pocket
melted while he was working with the radar equipment. Microwave
processing on a commercial scale was, however, only begun in
early 1960s. Lately, this technology has been successfully applied
to many industrial processes; such as drying, tempering, cooking
and pasteurization. Due to the advantageous features that cannot
be found in the conventional methods, microwave processing has
gained more and more acceptances by many industries in industrialize
countries. In South East Asia, its applications are mainly limited
to domestic appliances. We are the first to introduce an industrial
version to this region. |
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Q2.
How fast can I process my product with the industrial microwave
system?
Processing speed of a product by industrial
microwave system is governed primarily by the amount of water
to be removed, the power microwave applied to the
product and the product's dielectric properties (i.e. the
ability of product to loss the microwave energy applied and
resulted in the energy being dissipated in it). Other factors
that affect the processing speed are: -
-
Specific heat, heat of vaporization and heat of fusion
-
Initial temperature of the product and final temperature
required
-
Initial moisture and final moisture contents desired
- Size
and shape of products and
-
Restriction on product temperature
As
a rough guide, for examples:
- A 40kW Sludge Dryer, in a month, can reduce the weight of 30 tonnes anodising sludge with initial MC of 75%, to 10 tonnes with MC of 16%
- A 90kW latex mattress dryer could, in an hour, dry up to four pieces of 150mm thick Queen-size mattresses containing of 25kg water each.
-
A 60kW microwave wood dryer may dry up to 5 tons of 25mm
thick dark-red Meranti or about 2 to 3 tons of
25mm thick Kapur or Keruing per day of 8 working hours.
-
A 50kW microwave-hot air system can process up to 150kg
of bread crumbs per day.
-
A 10kW microwave-hot air system has successfully turned
1000kg of sticky rock sugar to finished product within 8
hours.
- To
dry 100kg of ginger slices from initial m.c. of 90% to about
1% of final m.c., a 15kW microwave-hot air system can accomplish
it within 8 hours.
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Q3.
How do industries normally define moisture content in their
products?
The proportion of water in a wet substance can be defined
in 4 different ways, i.e. on so-called "wet basis", "dry basis",
"solid basis" and "equilibrium basis" The most common definition
adopted by the industries are either on "dry basis" or on
"wet basis" as given in below: -
| On Dry Basis
|
} |
Where Ww is the
weight of water in the substance and Wd
is the weight of dry matter |
| On Wet Basis
|
Latex foam,
textile, paper,
wood and many industries usually adopt the dry basis definition.
This definition is also termed as "moisture percentage regain"
in the textile and paper industries. On the other hand, industry
such as food mostly adheres to the wet basis definition.
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Q4.
How much does the industrial microwave system cost?
Please contact our marketing division
for detailed pricing |
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Q5.
What are the main components of an industrial microwave system?
A standard conveyorized industrial microwave system consists
of the following main components: -
- A conveyor belt
and its controller that allow material to be conveyed through
the microwave field in the applicators at various speeds.
- Microwave generator
- a subsystem that converts AC line power into microwave
energy. It consists of 5 parts: high voltage transformers,
rectifier diodes, capacitors, magnetrons and waveguides.
- Microwave applicators
- chambers where microwave energy is applied to products
for promotion of a specific process, such as heating, drying
or sterilization.
- Attenuator-
a device, which prevents microwave from leaking out through
the entry and exit ports, by absorbing and reflecting the
microwave which is not completely absorbed by material
in the applicators.
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Q6.
What kind of maintenance do the industrial microwave systems
need?
The only moving parts in our system are
conveyor belt, electric motor and fans. Others are electrical
and electronic components rarely need any repair. However,
like any other expendable items, the magnetron tubes may need
to be replaced after a long period of usage (easily more than
3,000 hours). Other maintenance work includes periodical checks
for debris built-ups inside the applicators, ventilation
and cooling systems. By following a correct operating and maintenance
procedure, our industrial microwave system will provide you
years of trouble-free operation. |
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Q7.
How much energy is consumed by the industrial microwave system?
Energy consumption is a direct product of microwave output
power and processing time. A small additional amount of electrical
energy is needed to operate other auxiliary devices such as
conveyor drive motor, cooling and exhaust fans, etc.
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Q8.
What products or applications are practical with industrial
microwave system?
Microwave processing is well suited
for application where premium value will be paid for high
quality treated products. The system is also ideal as part
of the automated production lines where drying, heating, sterilizing,
etc can be done in a continuous flow. For low value products
however, it will unlikely to displace the conventional methods
but may be a good complementary method that results in a substantial
reduction in the total process time. Whether your product
is food, wood, consumer products, industrial sludge or agricultural
products, microwave processing could be a cost-effective solution
for you. So, please contact us and let us determine whether
your products can be dielectrically processed and whether
the process is economically viable.
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Q9.
Do I need special protective clothing for operating the industrial
microwave equipment?
No. A properly maintained system is perfectly safe to operate
without any special protective clothing. |
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Q10.
What are the possible effects that may result from microwave
exposure?
Microwave is NOT ionizing radiation. It
should not be confused with the much more energetic ionizing
radiation like x-ray or radioactive radiation. Therefore, the
main effect of microwave exposure would be heating of tissue
and thus you may be able to feel the leakage if there is any.
In fact, a great deal of research has been ongoing in recent
years, showing that controlled heating with microwave energy
at 2450MHz have therapeutic effects and can be used for treating
a variety of ailments. American National Standards Institute
(the ANSI C95.1 standard) states that whole-body exposure of
10 mW/ cm2 is safe for unlimited period of time under normal
conditions. Comparing with heat loaded onto the body during
sunbathing (somewhere between 10 and 60mW/ cm2), this is still
a very conservative level. |
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Q11.
Are industrial microwave systems re-locatable?
Yes. The industrial microwave systems can be dismantled into
modules and re-assembled after relocation. |
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