Even though they’ve been around since the 1970s, there are still a lot of new things to learn about industrial microwave ovens.
For one, it’s impossible to list every industry that relies on industrial microwave ovens for their manufacturing process. They’ve become an essential tool for completing heat treatment fast.
In this article, we’ll teach you all you need to know about industrial microwave ovens: what they are, what they’re made of, and what their types are.
Let’s start things off.
Industrial microwave ovens are machines that rely on electromagnetic radiation in the form of microwaves to deliver heat treatment to various materials.
Microwave ovens create high frequency-short wavelength electromagnetic waves inside the oven chamber, causing the water molecules of the treated materials to vibrate. The agitated molecules rub against each other, thus creating heat.
In a traditional industrial oven, we place materials in the oven chamber where the walls radiate heat, warming the materials from the outside. The insides become warm when the heat transfers from the surface of the material to its interior.
In industrial microwave ovens, the waves penetrate the material, which means the whole material is treated simultaneously.
Unlike other heating methods, microwave heating is much faster and cost-efficient than other heating methods from traditional ovens.
According to Jennipher Marshall-Jenkinson, president of the Microwave Technologies Association, microwaves remain the most efficient type of oven for heating.
“Compared to microwave heating, hot air heating [involving gas, electric or fan-assisted ovens] is a relatively inefficient process, since in microwave ovens electricity is converted to microwave energy and this then directly penetrates and heats the food itself, meaning much less energy is wasted heating the oven itself or the air inside or the packaging.”
Microwave ovens do not heat the entire space inside the appliance and just use the waves to heat the food or other materials you put inside.
This makes microwave ovens much more electricity-efficient in the way they produce and distribute heat than traditional ovens, industrial or otherwise.
It’s also important to note that microwave-type ovens leave no wasted heath in the chamber after they complete heat treatment.
Consider how much energy we waste in traditional industrial ovens when they remain heated for a long time after processing.
Industrial microwave ovens are challenging to understand for many people. However, their basic structure is remarkably simple, since they are composed of three essential parts.
Let’s explain them.
The first part is the generator. In layperson’s terms, the generator (also known as magnetron) transforms the electricity from the power outlet into microwave energy. It consists of 3 smaller parts: a solenoid, a magnetron tube, and a transformer; the latter emits 50, 75, or 100 watts of power.
The waveguide is a tunnel-like component that takes the microwave energy from one part of the oven to another. They’re typically made of aluminum.
The waveguide’s size and length vary depending on the size and purpose of the industrial microwave at hand.
The microwave cavity is the first thing that comes to mind when somebody mentions the microwave. The cavity is where materials get loaded in and subjected to heat treatment.
It’s helpful to consider the cavity as the body of the microwave or its oven chamber.
As you can see, these wonders of engineering accomplish a lot in spite of their relatively uncomplicated structure.
When people think about industrial microwave ovens, major food processing facilities are usually the first thing that comes to mind. However, these ovens lend themselves to applications across many industries.
So, let’s go over some sectors whose manufacturing processes heavily depend on industrial microwaves.
The metal processing industry has been using industrial microwave ovens efficiently for metal casting operations.
Industrial microwave ovens can process many metals, including steel, copper, brass, bronze, aluminum, among others, providing a non-oxidizing environment.
The prime advantage of industrial microwave ovens is that they don’t require a water cooling system to cool down after operations.
One study from the University of Tennessee notes that using industrial microwave ovens in the US metal casting industry can save companies up to 3 billion dollars a year.
Microwaves are far more energy-efficient in controlling the heat inside the oven chamber than typical industrial ovens, as mentioned earlier.
In addition, they have reduced firing times compared to traditional forms of industrial heating.
It’s well known that the textile industry consumes vast amounts of water and electricity during the production process.
An academic research paper cites that energy costs (16%) have the second largest share of overall costs in the textile industry, right after human resources (26%). This hardly comes as a surprise, considering how much electricity it takes to heat continuous textile dryers.
However, industrial microwave ovens are highly efficient at pre-treating and drying various cloth materials during processing.
As with the metal-processing industry, using microwave ovens to treat the materials can significantly reduce electricity consumption and make cloth processing more sustainable.
Industrial microwave ovens can reduce the cost and energy consumption of ceramic production and improve the quality of the produced ceramics.
Here are the main benefits of microwave sintering for the ceramic industry:
Ceramic heat treatment requires even higher temperatures than metal and polymers. It doesn’t come as a surprise that these processes are energy-intensive and costly. This makes the benefits of using microwave ovens even more important.
Industrial microwave ovens come in different shapes and sizes, based on the specifics of the industrial process.
While it’s hard to list every one, we can differentiate between 3 main types.
Batch industrial microwave ovens are used for tempering operations across many industries, from food processing to metallurgy.
If a facility has several different materials that need to be treated using microwave heat, its staff can simply load the microwave oven chamber and proceed. In addition, some batch microwave ovens have automated heating and loading features.
Continuous microwave ovens are best suited for heating and drying purposes. Their most distinguishable feature is the moving track, which transfers materials from one chamber to another.
Continuous microwave ovens require more upfront and maintenance costs, but they achieve a greater return of investment over time.
And finally, there are also specialized industrial microwave ovens, such as laboratory ovens used in the pharmaceutical industry. They operate just like domestic microwaves but are fine-tuned for chemical processing.
The topic of industrial microwave ovens is highly technical, but now you know more about what they are and how they contribute to many industries.
Industrial microwave ovens will continue to make waves in the future, as entire sectors seek more cost-effective solutions to cater to their material processing needs.
If your business is looking for efficient oven solutions, industrial microwave ovens might be the thing you need.
Bunty LLC can manufacture different types of industrial ovens. For further information about our ovens and other capabilities, contact us directly via the convenient website form or request a quote here.
We welcome your inquiries.