Modeling of Microwave Heating of a Rotating Object in a Domestic Oven in COMSOL Multiphysics

J. Raj[1], S. Birla[2], K. Pitchai[3], J. Subbiah[2], and D. Jones[2]
[1]Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
[2]Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
[3]Dept. of Food-Science, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Published in 2011

Domestic microwave ovens are notorious for their uneven heating of food materials. This is caused by a varying electromagnetic field whose variation is caused by a number of factors dependent on the oven and the food parameters. Experimental validation of heating would therefore give highly variable results and would be labour, resource and time intensive.

Thus modeling of the microwave heating is vital to understand heating characteristics of food items in domestic microwave ovens. A computer model was developed using Microwave Heating module of COMSOL 4.2 which solves coupled equations. A comparison of experimental and the simulated temperature profiles suggested a good agreement.

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