Microwave applications with semiconductor generators

The usage of microwaves for industrial thermal processes has become of increasing interests from the industry in the last 2 to 3 decades and is already successfully used industrially in some areas. By using microwaves, dielectric materials can be heated much faster and more energy-efficiently than with conventional methods, which use convection and/or radiation heating for this purpose. In addition, microwave technology enables material-specific selective heating. The technical challenge to achieve microwave heating in many industrial processes is to ensure homogeneous heating. In this project, a system and the necessary microwave sources were developed to fulfill the challenge described previously.

The developed 1kW microwave generators, which are based on semiconductor amplifiers, offer an enormous advantage in comparison to classical magnetrons due to the extended degrees of freedom of the sources. Compared to magnetrons, the frequency and phase of the microwave sources can be defined. Furthermore, an optimization-based control was designed, which increases the temperature homogeneity by the fast variation of frequency, phase and power. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the developed sources are suitable for microwave dielectric heating, dielectric characterization and plasma generation.

Partner:

       HBH Microwave GmbH

Funding: ZF4204602PR6

Duration: 2017 - 2020