Influence of the Magnetron Operating Frequency

on the Results of Microwave Heating

Michal Soltysiak', Ulrich ErIe", and Malgorzata Celuch'"

'QWED Sp. z 0.0., Warsaw, 02-010, Poland

**R&D Solon Product Technology, Solon, OR, 44139, United States
••• Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, 00-665, Poland

Abstract - In typical simulations of heating processes in Note that simulations following the above algorithm require
household microwave ovens it is assumed that the frequency of a priori
assumptions about the operating frequency of the
the magnetron stays constant at its nominal value. In reality, due
magnetron. Magnetrons, especially those in household
to manufacturing variations, load parameters, and the
microwave ovens, have a tendency to change frequency as a
magnetron temperature, frequency differences or jumps of 50
MHz may occur. This publication shows coupled electromagnetic function of size, dielectric properties, position of the heated
and thermal simulations of microwave heating phenomena in material, and also their own temperature. In extreme cases,
household microwave ovens. Several analyses are performed for frequency deviations of about 50 MHz from its nominal value
a static load at various frequencies in order to assess possible
can occur [10]. Dielectric properties of food products change
effects of frequency changes on the heating patterns. A novel
during the heating, and so do the reflections from the oven
FDTD regime with moving loads and frequency tuning is then
applied to demonstrate that the load rotation typically cavity back to the magnetron. The amount of reflected power
implemented in domestic microwave ovens largely equalizes the is thus frequency- and time- dependent, as shown in [11].
patterns at different frequencies. Both, the total absorbed power Concerns have previously been expressed that simulations
and the power distribution in the load are studied.
with constant excitation frequency may not be representative
Index Terms electromagnetic simUlations, thermal
-
of real life microwave heating scenarios, especially in the case
simulations, magnetron frequency, microwave oven.
of light-loaded applicators, where a kind of "chaos" is often
experienced [12].
I. INTRODUCTION In this work, we address the above concerns through a set of
FDTD simulations carried over the frequency range between
Electromagnetic simulations become an essential tool in the
2.4 and 2.5 GHz for the scenario is described in Sec.I1. First,
classical high frequency engineering from RF to optical bands
the results of Sec.I1I A confirm that microwave heating
[1][2]. Their relevance to emerging technologies based on
patterns in a static load strongly depend on the operating
microwave power applications in various sectors of industry
frequency. Then, frequency changes during the process are
has been recognized later [3][4]. To increase the adequacy of
approximated by the ad hoc model "pulling" the frequency to
existing computational electromagnetics to the high-power
the lowest in-band resonance, and the result indicates partial
microwave processes a number a dedicated models and
smoothing of the cold and hot spots. In Sec.I1I B, load rotation
procedures have been added to, for example, the finite­
during the heating is automatically modeled in the simulation
difference time-domain (FDTD) method. These include
and shown to compensate for the effects of frequency changes.
bilateral coupling with the heat flow equations [5], automatic
variation of material parameters as a function of temperature
[6], and movement of the heated load [7][8]. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The resulting multiphysics algorithm proceeds as follows
All simulations are performed using QuickWave-3D
[6][7][9]. A pure electromagnetic simulation is first used to
software [9], which is based on the conformal FDTD method.
calculate the time-averaged 3D pattern of power dissipated
A Whirlpool-Max microwave oven and a cylindrically shaped
within the heated material at its initial temperature. The
piece of beef with 100 mm in diameter and 35 mm in height
thermal module treats the above results as its initial condition
are taken into consideration. The model of the investigated
and solves the thermodynamic equations over a thermal time
structure is shown in Fig. I.
step. Feedback from the thermal solver is then used by the
Bilateral coupling between the electromagnetic and thermal
electromagnetic solver for updating the material parameters
parts of the simulation is automatically performed by the
based on the new temperature patterns. The load position may
software. The solution of the heat equation (1) is conducted
also be changed at this point, if load movement is
with the built-in Heat Flow Module (HFM):
implemented in the real life process. This process is iteratively
repeated until the sum of thermal steps covers the total
processing time.
aH(x,y,=)
at
V(k(T)VT)
=

[�]
m3s
(1)

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 1436 IMS 2010

 where: H(x, y, z) is enthalpy density in Jlm3, k(T) is heat
conductivity in WI(m°C), T is temperature in DC, and t is time
inS.
III. RESULTS OF SIMULATIONS
A. Reflection Coefficient as a Function of Position and
Temperature of the Object
The following simulations are similar to those performed
for the load curve estimation [11]. The oven cavity is excited
with a pulse of limited spectrum from 2.4 and 2.5 GHz. The
studied angular positions of the material are shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. Numerical model of Whirlpool-Max microwave oven.

Equation (1) is also suited for scenarios involving a phase

change of the processed products. Adiabatic boundary
conditions (zero heat flux at the boundary) between the heated
element and air as well as the heated element and the rotating
....----
. ....... z YLX
plate are assumed in the cases reported herein. At each heating Fig. 2. Consecutive positions of the object inside the cavity.
time step, the value of enthalpy density for equation (1) is first
estimated by the electromagnetic software using the average The values of relative permittivity and electric conductivity
value of power dissipated per each FDTD cell: are constant and set to 49.2 (-) and 2.44 (Slm) , respectively.

H"+1( x,y,z ) - H"( x,y,z ) + P(x,y,z)· !H'

_

i1V( x,y,z
)
[�]
m
3 (2)
This corresponds to the temperature of _1 °C (Table I). Heat
flow effects are not considered. Reflection coefficient as a
function of the object position and the magnetron frequency
are shown in Fig. 3.
where: H"+! (x, y, z) is enthalpy density in Jlm3 first predicted
at the current step (and then corrected though the solution of
eq.(1)), H"(x, y, z) is enthalpy density in Jlm3 at the previous -Position 1
step, P(x, y, z) is dissipated power per cell in W, ,1 V(x, y, z) is 0.8 Position 2 I-
volume of the cell expressed in m3, ,1r is a predefined heating Position 3
I-
-Position 4
0,6
time step in s. --
-
Microwave heating simulations are performed with
IE
!:::-. r--...,
�
�� �
- 0.4
temperature dependent dielectric and thermal properties of --
beef, as shown in Table I. The values of enthalpy density and 0,2
r---- / --=

heat capacity (columns 2 and 5) are taken from [13]. The

°
dielectric properties (columns 3 and 4) are based on the
2.4 2.425 2.45 2.475 2,5
measurements by Ohlsson et al. published in [14]. Density and Frequency (GHz)
heat conductivity (columns 6 and 7) are based on the Fig. 3. Reflection coefficient as a function of the object position
measurements performed by the authors for raw beef at room and magnetron frequency for object temperature of _1°C.
temperature.
TABLE I When the material is placed in Position 3 closest to the
DIELECTRIC AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF HEATED BEEF feeding waveguide (cf. Fig.2 and Fig.3), the value of the
Ent halpy Relative Electric Heat Heat reflection coefficient for frequencies higher than 2.46 GHz
Temperature Den sity
density permittivity conducti vity capacity conducti vity
decreases below 0.1, and at frequency of 2.5 GHz it is around
"C J/kg (-) (S/m) J/(kg°C) kg/m' W/(m°C)
0.008 . The whole amount of power available from the
-20 0,0 4,9 0,064 3215,0 1060,0 0,69
magnetron is delivered to the load and dissipated inside the
-15 14840, 0 5,5 0,093 4088,0 1060,0 0,69
heated material. For the same material position, but magnetron
-5 75684 , 0 12,3 0,573 21842,0 1060,0 0,69
operating with frequency between 2.4 and 2.44 GHz, the value
-3 11 7024.0 22.0 1.118 26098.0 1060.0 0.69
of the reflection coefficient is around 0.45. This corresponds
-2.2 153064.0 30,0 1,636 18545,0 1060,0 0.69
to 20% of power being reflected back to the magnetron. Other
-1 305704,0 49,2 2,440 2362,0 1060,0 0,69
positions of the object do not lead to such drastic changes of
10 347574,0 48.9 2.317 2442.0 1060.0 0.69
the reflection coefficient over frequency. The outermost
20 405 874.0 48.2 2.194 2431.0 1060.0 0.69
position of the heated material (Position 1) results in 10%
50 5 48974.0 45,5 1,949 2303,0 1060,0 0,69
variation of the reflection coefficient over frequency, while its
80 692074,0 41,7 1,908 2269,0 1060,0 0,69
maximum value does not exceed 0.35.
In real life processing, the heated object temperature
increases and affects its dielectric properties (Table I). The

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26,00 ©2010 IEEE 1437 IMS 2010

 curves in Fig.4 are obtained for the object at the fixed Position
��:��:���: 2.44
20 .,-----ri = �::� ��� h---�
z
GH
Frequency
1 and uniformly heated to the temperature of -20°C, _1°C, 20 =

°C, and 60°C. E 1 ++r�--H = ��:��:���: �:::��� H-�f...'>r--l

5
GH
�� 10 1-rh��-+== � :�=��:���������
==�= �� g = Z=�_hL�t�
<II
--20 degC c.
0.8
1 degC
-
g
I-
5 +H�������-�����M1
0.6 -20 degC
60 degC
.n
- 0. 4
f.-.-- -� a 0.25 0.5 0.75

���
Normalized diameter (-)
0.2 r---- Fig. 6. Temperature as a function of the magnetron frequency
"-./
o
'C-- along the profile shown in Fig. 5 in the static object at Position I.

2.4 2.425 2.45 2.475 2.5

Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 4. Reflection coefficient as a function
temperature and magnetron frequency for object at Position I.
As indicated in Table I, rapid changes of the beef
parameters occur around its thawing point. At -20 °C, the
values of relative permittivity and electric conductivity are 10
and 38 times lower, with respect to those at _1°C. Hence the
reflection coefficient obtained at -20°C deviates strongly from
the curves obtained at the remaining temperature points
(Fig.4). Note that, due to load pull effects [10], the reflection
coefficient further influences the actual operating frequency of
the magnetron.
B. Coupled Electromagnetic-Thermal Simulation of Static
Object
Position 1 (Fig.2) of the object is assumed. The total heating
time is set to 30 seconds and it is divided into three heating
time steps, 10 seconds each. This means that the dielectric
properties of the heated object in each FDTD cell are updated
As seen in Fig. 6, the heating pattern in the static load is
of the object strongly influenced by the frequency of the magnetron. At
some locations, frequency changes within the 2.4 ..2.5 GHz
band lead to the final temperature variations by over 10 °C
degrees (in the context of the maximum heating by 16 °C
degrees from the initial state). Moreover, the profile of Fig.6
demonstrates clear cold and hot spots, differing in temperature
by over 18°C.
It can be expected that frequency changes during the
heating, which are typical for domestic oven magnetrons, may
reduce non-uniformities of the heating pattern. A new FDTD
regime with automatic frequency tuning to the lowest
resonance inside the user defined frequency band has been
applied to verify this claim. Indeed, temperature variations
along the profile is suppressed to 6 °C (Fig.6). In general the
temperature distribution shows higher heating along the edges
and a central cold spot, both controlled by the food shape and
composition.
C. Coupled Electromagnetic-Thermal Simulation of Rotating

3 times during the coupled simulation. over the changes of Object

temperature. For simulations of microwave heating patterns
the waveguide was excited by the magnetron of 625 W time­
averaged available power, estimated for Whirlpool-Max oven
using a standard 1 liter test [15].
�L x
Fig. 5. A profile line for temperature monitoring in the static
object at Position I.
The final temperature is captured along the profile defined
in Fig.5. The profile is located in the middle of the object
height (z-coordinate), along its diameter parallel to the x-axis
(Fig.5).
The effect of load rotation on the heating performance was
originally investigated by post-processing the results obtained
for several load positions independently [8 ]. A novel FDTD
approach [7] incorporates the movement of the load directly
into the coupled electromagnetic-thermal simulation. The load
position is automatically changed at each heating step. This
approach is more accurate and also faster, since simulation at
each new position is re-started from the steady state fields
calculated at the previous pOSItIOn, wherefrom the
convergence to the new steady state is faster than from the
zero initial conditions.
In this computational experiment, Position I (Fig. 2) is
assumed as the initial position for the object rotating with
constant speed of 5 rpm. The continuous rotation is discretized
into the 12 angular steps, 30 degree each. The total heating
time is again equal to 30 seconds. This encompasses 2.5 full
revolutions of the object around the center of the plate, with
heating simulations through eq.(1) and eq.(2) applied at 30
consecutive angular positions. After each heating simulation,
the material parameters are updated for each FDTD cell based
on the data in Table I. The final position of the object is shown
in Fig. 7. The final temperature is captured along the profile
defined in Fig.7. The profile is located in the middle of the

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 1438 IMS 2010

 object height (z-coordinate), along its diameter parallel to the RF to optical frequency bands," IEEE Microwave Magazine,
x-axIs. vol. 9,no. 6,pp. 150-158,2008.
[3] P. O. Risman, M. Celuch-Marcysiak, "Electromagnetic
modeling for microwave heating applications," 13th
International Conference on Microwaves, Radar and Wireless
Communication MIKON-2000, Wroclaw, vol. 3, pp. 167-182,
'L
z x
May 22-24,2000.
[4] M. Celuch, W. K. Gwarek, "Properties of the FDTD method
Fig. 7. A profile line for temperature monitoring at the final relevant to the analysis of microwave power problems," J.
position of the rotating object.
Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy, vol. 41, pp.
62-80,2007.
20,-------1
[5] P. Kopyt, M. Celuch, "Coupled electromagnetic­
thermodynamic simulations of microwave heating problems
E 15 -F- �--1
----"
using the FDTD algorithm," J. Microwave Power and
�
Electromagnetic Energy, vol. 41,no. 4,pp. 18-29,2007.
� 10 ����\a��==�==���----�
(j; [6] M. Celuch-Marcysiak, W. K. Gwarek and M. Sypniewski, "A
Co
novel FDTD system for microwave heating and thawing
� 5 +-----�������--�----� analysis with automatic time-variation of enthalpy-dependent
media parameters," Bth International Conference on
0.25 0.5 0.75 Microwave and High Frequency Heating, Bayreuth, pp.108-
Normalized diameter (-) 110, 2001; full text in Advances in Microwave and Radio­

Fig. 8. Temperature as a function of the magnetron frequency for Frequency Processing, Springer Verlag, pp. 199-209,2006,
the profile shown in Fig. 7 for the rotating object at its final position. [7] P. Kopyt and M. Celuch, "Modeling microwave heating in
foods ", in: Development of packaging and products for use in
microwave ovens, ed. M. W. Lorence and P.S.Pesheck,
As shown in Fig.8 , rotation of the object during the heating
Wodhead Publishing Limited and CRC Press LLC, pp. 305-
substantially reduces the influence of the operating frequency
348,August 2009.
on the heating pattern. In fact, visible differences (within a 5°C [8] P. Kopyt, M. Celuch-Marcysiak, W. K. Gwarek: "Microwave
margin) between the heating patterns at different frequencies processing of temperature-dependent and rotating objects:
only occur along the object circumference, where the edge development and experimental verification of FDTD
overheating mechanism dominates. Elsewhere the margin IS algorithms," Proceedings of the third World Congress on
less than 1°C. Cold and hot spots are almost annihilated. Microwave and Radio Frequency Applications, The American
Ceramic Society, pp.7-16, 2003.
[9] QuickWave-3D, QWED Sp. z 0.0., 1997-2009
IV. CONCLUSION http://www. qwed.eu.
[10] 1. M. Osepchuk, "Microwave engineering problems in the
Coupled electromagnetic and thermal simulations have microwave oven," IEEE MTT-S Inti. Microwave Symp. Dig.,
become a useful tool for the prediction of temperature patterns pp.334-336, 1976.
inside materials processed with microwaves. Besides [11] M. Soltysiak, U. Erie, and M. Celuch, (2008) "Load curve
replacing complex hardware prototyping, the simulations may estimation for the microwave ovens: experiments and
also give new insight into the physics of the microwave electromagnetic modeling," 17th International Conference on
processes, difficult to extract or even unavailable from the Microwaves, Radar and Wireless Communications MIKON-
200B, Wroclaw,pp 873-876,May 19-21,2008.
measurements. In this paper, novel multiphysics FDTD
[12] 1. M. Osepchuk, "Microwave power applications," IEEE
regimes have been applied to demonstrate that a "chaos" in
Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 50,
light-loaded microwave appliances [12] is actually evened up
no. 3,pp. 975-985, March 2002.
by the superposition of load rotation effects and magnetron [13] A. M. Tocci and R. H. Mascheroni, "Characteristics of
frequency changes in domestic microwave ovens. differential scanning calorimetry determination of
thermophysical properties of meats," Lebensmittel­
Wissenschaft und-Technologie, vol. 31,pp. 418-426,1998.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT [14] T. Ohlsson, N. E. Bengtsson, and P. O. Risman, "The
frequency and temperature dependence of dielectric food data
The authors wish to thank Whirlpool Sweden AS for
as determined by a cavity perturbation technique," J.
providing CAD files with the MAX mIcrowave oven
Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy, vol. 9, pp.
geometry. 129-145,1974.
[15] "Household microwave ovens - Methods for measuring
performance ", International Electrotechnical Commission,
REFERENCES
Standard Nr. 60705.
[1] W. K. Gwarek, "Analysis of an arbitrarily-shaped planar
circuit - a time-domain approach," IEEE Trans. Microwave
Theory Tech., vol. 33,pp. 1067-1072, 1985
[2] M. Celuch and W. K. Gwarek, "Industrial design of
axisymmetrical devices using a customized FDTD solver from

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 1439 IMS 2010