3. Governing equations
Dimensions of the food are much smaller than the wavelength
in question, quasi–static analysis is appropriate. This assumption
was made based on the results of Chan et al. (2004) in which no
apparent heating patterns due to standing electromagnetic waves
were observed in the horizontal planes (parallel to RF plate electrodes)
within a model food when heated in 6-lb capacity polymeric
trays in a 27.12 MHz RF cavity. In addition, in the vertical
direction, the thicknesses of the layered food ingredients and the
height of the tray used in the current study were much smaller
than the wavelength of 27.12 MHz waves in food (800 mm, estimated
from the free-space wave length divided by the square root
of the dielectric constant of the food sample). The Laplace equation
can then be deduced from Maxwell’s equations as (Haus and Melcher,
1989):
r2V ¼ 0 ð3Þ
Calculation of the scalar electric potential, V (V) from above equation
leads to the value of the corresponding electric field intensity
by using:
E ¼ rV ð4Þ
The time-averaged power density, P, was then determined by Eq.
(2)
Since the time period for the electromagnetic wave at 27 MHz is
less than 0.04 lSec, which is much smaller than the thermal
changes, the power density can be used as a time varying quantity,
P(t), in the thermal problem. With time-averaged power density as
the heat source in the heat transfer analysis, the electromagnetic
field is coupled with the thermal field by:
qCp
@T
@t rðkrTÞ ¼ PðtÞ ð5Þ