Coupled Simulation of an Electromagnetic Heating Process Using the Finite Difference Time Domain Method

Abstract

Due to the complexity of interactions between microwaves and food products, a reliable and efficient simulation model can be a very useful tool to guide the design of microwave heating systems and processes. This research developed a model to simulate coupled phenomena of electromagnetic heating and conventional heat transfer by combining commercial electromagnetic software with a customer built heat transfer model. Simulation results were presented and compared with experimental results for hot water and microwave heating in a single mode microwave system at 915 MHz. Good agreement was achieved, showing that this model was able to provide insight into industrial electromagnetic heating processes.

Key Words:

• Electromagnetic heating
• FDTD
• heat transfer
• temperature