Apparatus and related industrial applications with solid-state RF energy technology

A processing apparatus, in which a substance is heated, dried, disinfected, pasteurized, and/or sterilized, wherein the processing apparatus comprises a multitude of solid-state radio frequency sources, each of the solid-state radio frequency sources comprises a radio-frequency power amplifier that drives an antenna of a transmitter for transmitting microwaves, the antenna is coupled to and/or located in a waveguide, which guides the microwaves to a food chamber in which the substance is heated dried, disinfected, pasteurized, and/or sterilized, the processing apparatus comprises a conveyor to transport the substance past the multitude of solid-state radio frequency sources, the conveyor is at least partially transmittal for RF-radiation, the RF-radiation is isolated from ambient via one or more valves, each one of the multitude of solid-state radio frequency sources is powered individually, and wherein the processing apparatus comprises one or more sensors that measure at least one property of the radiation reflected from the substance, and a signal from the one or more sensors is utilized by a control system to control the multitude of solid-state radio frequency sources.