HEATING UNIFORMITY AND RATES IN A DOMESTIC MICROWAVE COMBINATION OVEN

摘要

Physics-based modeling complemented with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for validation can provide a novel means to understand and thereby optimize combination heating processes. The objectives of this study were to compare heating patterns in a combination of radiant, forced air and microwave oven measured by MRI with those predicted by coupled electromagnetics-heat transfer model; quantify speed and uniformity of heating for the different combination modes; determine the effect of food dielectric properties on heating patterns; and delineate the nature of individual heating modes and their combinations. The modes of radiant heating through heating elements and forced convection by fan led to a more uniform heating compared with the faster (but less uniform) heating method provided by the microwaves. Combination methods were faster than radiant, forced-air and microwave-only heating. Although the speed of heating increased appreciably for combination modes, the nonuniformity of heating did not increase as much.