Online temperature measurement of a sample inside of a microwave cavity

Abstract

Microwave technology and the application of electromagnetic fields in raw materials treatment, new materials development and processes, as well as, their improvements are being documented in our country just recently and are a research topic of several groups in the world. The present article describes the electronic system modification of a conventional microwave oven to allow the online temperature measurement, required for the microwave thermal effect study on pavement samples, which were taken as a demonstrative example. This method of temperature measurement showed to be cost effective when compared to optic fiber based systems; its precision and reproducibility were quite acceptable when contrasted to alternative systems, but with the advantage of using just thermocouples.

Keywords

• pavement
• asphalt
• microwaves
• thermal treatment