Heating with Radio Frequency
Heatwaves' unique technology utilizes electromagnetic waves from the Radio Frequency spectrum to heat products within a vacuum controlled environment. Heatwaves' kilns use amplifier based power generators to create the radio frequency field which heats each load. Amplifiers, as opposed to oscillators, allow for absolute control of the RF field which allows us to prevent any unwanted effects during the process.
Interesting tidbits
- Amplifiers & Oscillators ≅
- Though Oscillators have been used to generate radio frequency for heating purposes in the past, Heatwave uses Amplifiers to control the power in the kiln system. Amplifiers provide exact power control which simplifies the control process and helps eliminate drying defects.
- Loss Factor ≅
- Loss Factor is the property of a material that describes how much energy is dissipated as heat when exposed to a alternating electromagnetic field such as an RF field. The loss factor (in a 10MHz e-field) of wood is .8 and water is 100. This means that water dissipates much more energy as heat than wood within the kiln creating effective means of converting water to vapor while gently heating the wood.
- Dielectric Heating ≅
- Dielectric Heating is the term applied to the phenomenon heating non-conductive (dielectric) within an electromagnetic field. The particular peculiarity which happens in our use is the dipole moment.
- Dipole Moment ≅
- The dipole moment is the instance that polar molecules (such as water) align themselves within the e-field. Because the field alternates the dipole moment occurs with each alternation of the field. The continuous re-alignment causes friction and therefore heat.