Apparatus and method for processing dielectric materials with microwave energy

Microwave apparatus comprising a tunable cavity device including an elongated casing, a fixed wall adjacent one end of said casing, a wall within said casing movable with respect to said fixed wall, dielectric conduit means passing through both of said walls in a spaced relation with said casing, and means for introducing microwave power into the space between said conduit means and said walls.

Microwave apparatus comprising a series of vertically arranged devices, each device having a vertically oriented tunable cavity, dielectric conduit means extending downwardly through each of said cavity devices, respective means for supplying microwave power to each of said cavity devices at substantially the vertical center of the cavity with which the particular power supplying means is associated, the uppermost power supplying means providing the greatest amount of power and the lowermost power supplying means supplying the least amount of power.

Microwave apparatus comprising a plurality of tunable cavity devices, means for supplying microwave power to each of said cavity devices, conduit means of a dielectric character extending through said plurality of cavity devices, each cavity device having a movable piston therein and means for positioning at least one of said pistons so as to maximize forward power, and means for positioning at least another of said piston so as to maximize reflected power.

Microwave apparatus comprising a plurality of vertically oriented and tandemly arranged cavity devices, means for individually tuning each of said cavity devices, dielectric conduit means extending through each of said cavity devices, respective means for supplying microwave power to each of said cavity devices, respective means for varying the amount of microwave power supplied to each of said cavity devices and including means for determining the amount of power being supplied to each of said cavity devices, respective means for determining the amount of power reflected from each of said cavity devices, and respective monitoring means for each of said cavity devices for determining an electrical characteristic of a material passing through said dielectric conduit means, each of said monitoring means constituting a tunable cavity device including a shiftable piston, said dielectric conduit means also extending through the piston of each of said monitoring cavity device, each of said cavity devices including a shiftable piston through which said dielectric conduit means extends and including respective means for individually positioning each of said pistons to tune each of said cavity devices.

Microwave apparatus comprising a power cavity device having a movable piston, a monitoring cavity device connected beneath said power cavity device and in tandem to said power cavity device, said monitoring cavity device also having a movable piston, first means for supplying microwave power to said power cavity device, second means for supplying microwave power to said monitoring cavity device, means responsive to the amount of forward power to said monitoring cavity device for indicating the piston position to maximize the amount of power to said power cavity device and to minimize the amount of reflected power from said power cavity device.

A microwave method comprising the steps of causing a material to flow downwardly through a vertical dielectric conduit means extending completely through a first casing having upper and lower walls, subjecting the entire portion of said conduit means residing between said end walls to microwave power, said microwave power being introduced at a first location spaced from both of said walls, determining the amount of reflected microwave power at said first location, and adjusting the amount of microwave power to which said conduit means is subjected to maximize the amount of power adsorption by said material at said first location.

The method of processing a dielectric material comprising the steps of passing such a material through a movable piston which is a component of a tunable cavity device, and supplying microwave power to said tunable cavity device while said material is passing through said movable piston.

Microwave apparatus comprising first and second vertically disposed power cavity devices, means for causing a material to be processed to pass downwardly through each of said devices, means for introducing microwave power into said first device so that microwave energy propagates upwardly and downwardly through the material passing through said first power cavity device, means for individually tuning said first device, means for introducing microwave power into said second device so that microwave energy propagates upwardly and downwardly through the material passing through said second power cavity device, and means for individually tuning said second device.

Microwave apparatus comprising a tunable cavity device including an elongated casing, a dielectric conduit extending entirely through said elongated casing and having end portions projecting from ends of said casing, said dielectric conduit being spaced from the inner surface of said casing throughout the length thereof, said casing including spaced walls extending transversely across said casing, one of which walls is movable, said dielectric conduit passing through both of said walls, a flange on each of said projecting ends to render said cavity device modular, and means for introducing microwave power into said cavity device.