Prediction and optimization of the temperature distribution in different food products for choosing a suitable geometry in a microwave system

Abstract

This study investigated temperature distribution in different food products, microwave oven geometry, and combination heating of MW with direct heat transfer. This research has been done by the finite element numerical method was used to discretize the equations using the COMSOL Multiphysics software. A comparison of 2D and 3D MW simulations showed that 2D modeling of cooking with MW gives completely unacceptable results. In MW cooking, dielectric material temperature is not affected by convection heat transfer around the dielectric material. To prevent cold spots in any part of the food during transportation, it is important to have a homogeneous temperature distribution in the MW. Different inlet surface areas of electromagnetic waves were compared and the maximum average temperature was obtained when the opening width of MW wave entrance was equal to the dielectric medium. If the entrance area of the waves was larger than the dielectric size then the temperature distribution becomes less homogenous. The height of wave entrance of the MW was also considered and when the opening height from the bottom of the MW was equal to the wavelength, then the maximum temperature is obtained.