Multiple tube structure for heating uniformity and efficiency optimization of microwave ovens

¹ College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, P.R. China
² Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610068, P.R. China

^a email: yyxxqq_mail@163.com

Received: 26 September 2014
Revised: 19 October 2014
Accepted: 20 October 2014
Published online: 20 February 2015

Abstract

Microwave heating is widely applied to microwave assisted chemical reactions in modified domestic microwave ovens, however, the potential issues (non-uniformity and low heating efficiency) still exist during the heating process. In this paper, a new heating model of multiple tube structure is proposed and the relevant simulations and experiments of heating water were performed based on the computational platform COMSOL Multi-physics software in order to achieve the better temperature uniformity and heating efficiency. Besides, the influence of the instability of microwave ovens on the heating performances of the optimal heating models was analyzed. The simulation results show that the heating uniformity and efficiency of water in optimal six tube structure increased by 7.1% and 68.5% (30 mL), 9.2% and 61% (60 mL) respectively compared with the optimal single tube structure. Moreover, the heating performances of the optimal heating models do not change obviously, while the working frequency and power change slightly. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experiment data.