| abstract |
The invention pertains generally to a process for drying and/or pathogen reduction, the process comprising the steps of feeding a sample containing water onto a mesh conveyor belt (14); transporting the sample into a heated chamber (36) having an air flow about, around and through the sample; exposing said sample to at least two sources of microwaves (32, 34) in non-parallel alignment to each other; and collecting the sample. The at least two sources of microwaves are from a split waveguide assembly (24), producing microwaves which are essentially 90° out of phase to each other. The heated chamber is between approximately 75°C and 125°C. Convection heating supplements the microwave heating, thereby both heating the sample from the outside in and from the inside out. The microwave frequency is between 915 MHz and 1000 MHz, and preferably about 915 MHz. |