Radiofrequency wave treatment of a material using a selected sequence of modes

A method of heating of an initially liquid or solid material with a complex dielectric constant which changes as a function of radiofrequency heating over a heating time which comprises:

• (a) providing a radiofrequency wave generating apparatus including a metallic radiofrequency wave applicator which is excited in one or more of its pre-selected material loaded modes of resonance as a single mode or controlled multimode in the applicator around an axis of the cavity so that there is pre-selected heating of the liquid or solid material in the applicator including moveable plate means in the applicator mounted perpendicular to the axis in the cavity with electrical contacts around an outside edge of the plate which contact inside walls of the applicator, and moveable probe means connected to and extending inside the applicator for coupling the radiofrequency wave to the applicator;
• (b) continuously heating the liquid or solid material with an initial complex dielectric constant positioned in the applicator in a precisely oriented position in the applicator with the radiofrequency wave and maintaining an initial mode of the radiofrequency wave with the material in the applicator during the heating as a result of tuning by moving the antenna or the plate or by varying the frequency and power of a source of the radiofrequency wave as the dielectric constant of the material changes for a period of time during the heating and then shifting to at least one second mode in the cavity during the heating after the first mode is extinguished and maintaining the second mode as the complex dielectric constant of the material changes during the heating wherein the modes in the applicator are maintained using measured incident and reflected power such that the reflected power from the applicator is continuously tuned to approximately zero in the applicator, wherein an optimum pattern of the tuning and the power variation is used during the heating of the liquid or solid material as a function of time in the applicator.

A method of heating an initially liquid or solid material with a complex dielectric constant which changes as a function of radiofrequency heating over a heating time which comprises:

• (a) providing a radiofrequency wave generating apparatus including a metallic radiofrequency wave applicator which can be excited by an antenna in one or more pre-selected modes of resonance as a single mode or a controlled multimode around an axis of the applicator so that there is pre-selected heating of the material in the applicator;
• and programmable means connected to the antenna which shifts the radiofrequency excited by the antenna from a first mode to at least one second different mode only after the first mode is extinguished in the application without removing the material from the applicator, wherein each of the modes in the applicator is tuned to maintain the mode by the programmable means using measured incident and reflected power from the applicator;
• and
• (b) heating the material with the radiofrequency waves with switching of the modes by the programmable means.