Arrangements for radio-frequency heating of building structures
ISSN: 0332-1649
Article publication date: 15 August 2018
Issue publication date: 22 November 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to prove that radio-frequency (RF) energy with 13.56 MHz can be used for heating building structures in a controlled manner exploiting the advantage that homogeneous heating with sufficient penetration depths can be achieved.
Design/methodology/approach
Because parallel electrodes on both sides of the heated structure cannot be used in many practical applications, two special electrode designs have been developed by modeling the field distribution and energy absorption and by carrying out test experiments to validate the simulation results.
Findings
One solution is based on a two-dimensional surface capacitor providing certain penetration depths and being especially suitable for treating thin structures such as wooden parquet floor. Such an arrangement can be particularly used for pest control even when sensitive surfaces have to be protected. The other solution uses a capacitive coupling between the grounded shielding and an electrode or an equivalent structure (e.g. moist soil) at the other side of the masonry to establish a sufficiently strong electrical field between a “hot” electrode on the side of the shielding and the coupled rear electrode.
Originality/value
Both solutions significantly enhance the application potential of RF heating.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Microwave Energy Applications (3GCMEA 2016) ”, guest edited by Juan Monzó-Cabrera.
The financial support by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Project AZ 32404/0145 and the program “VIP – Validation of the innovation potential of scientific research” funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project RWBau, AZ 03V0004) is gratefully acknowledged.
Citation
Roland, U., Holzer, F., Trommler, U., Höhlig, B., Kraus, M. and Hoyer, C. (2018), "Arrangements for radio-frequency heating of building structures", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 37 No. 6, pp. 1933-1942. https://doi.org/10.1108/COMPEL-03-2017-0145
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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