Journal of Microwave Power

ISSN: 0022-2739 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tpee19

Microwave Applications to Food Processing and

Food Systems in Europe

Nicolas Meisel

To cite this article: Nicolas Meisel (1973) Microwave Applications to Food Processing
and Food Systems in Europe, Journal of Microwave Power, 8:2, 143-148, DOI:
10.1080/00222739.1973.11688869

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222739.1973.11688869

Published online: 17 Jun 2016.

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Nicolas Meiselt

ABSTRACT

The growth of the industrial microwave applications field in Europe at least

paralleled if not outran that of the United States. Many large firms were involved
in finding suitable applications for this unique heating method. However, some
applications failures such as potato chip drying, and the economic crisis during
the 60's forced the shut: down of many of these operations. Today, smaller
companies in England, France, Germany and Sweden are extremely active in
this field. Several applications are described including meat tempering, microwave
vacuum drying and bread pasteurization.

The fields in which European technology has evolved as rapidly as American

technology are rare enough to constitute an exception worthwhile mentioning.
Microwave heating is such an exception. One could even say that Europe was a
forerunner in some aspects of microwave heating when one considers that the
first restaurant without a kitchen, using only frozen foods reheated with micro-
wave ovens (Tad's at 42nd Street, in 1963) was equipped with microwave ovens
built under European license (MlWAG A.G.) and that the first microwave
power tube was built by English Electric (25 Kw - 900 MHz), not to forget
the work done at Lyon's by Peter Smith and at Husqvarna and Philips.
Looking back to the 60's, one can see microwave activity in England,
France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Most of it was and still is confined
to the building of commercial microwave ovens. The food industry which had its
first experience with dielectric heating at low frequency ( 1 0 - 4 0 MHz) in the
early 60's was having great difficulties in the industrial use of such installations,
mostly in the thawing field. Some very expensive equipment was discarded
because of the difficulties encountered by the user, mostly due to spot over-
heating and discharge caused by the nonhomogeneous meat or offal block
conformation and occluded air. Once word of these problems was made public
it did not encourage the food industry's R & D technicians to actively pursue
their work in this field.
In spite of that, small teams of electronics specialists within the big firms
like Atlas Elektronik, Brown Bovery, C.S.F. (Cie Generale de Telegraphie sans
* Received March 25, 1973 © IMPI (1973) Edmonton, Canada
t Les Micro-Ondes Industrielles, 78 - Epone, France

Journal of Microwave Power, 8(2), 1973

144 JOURNAL OF MICROWAVE POWER, 8(2), 1973

Fil), English Electric, Philips, etc., were hard at work to develop new magnetrons,
power supplies and microwave transfer systems.11] Simultaneously, these highly
dedicated men were doing their best to find industrial applications for the hard-
ware they were starting to produce.1"1
Pasteurization of packaged bread and cakes was one of the applications
considered as most suitable for microwave use. GEC A HI in Britain, CSF in
France, Herfurth in Germany, BBC in Switzerland, have each produced at least
one microwave tunnel for that purpose,
Reabsorption of the moisture due to the condensation on the package foil
of the vapours produced during the treatment proved to be the major cause for
this process not being successful in the market place.
Potato chip drying, probably inspired by the success it was encountering in
the States, was the second path some of these manufacturers tried to follow. Only
a few units were built in Britain. Improvements in storage techniques soon ren-
dered microwave finish drying superfluous.
These setbacks, as well as the small crisis within the electronics industry
during the late 60"s, prompted Atlas Elektronik, CSF and BBC to close their
microwave departments completely. GEC AEI applied their efforts towards in-
dustrial uses other than food, i.e. rubber vulcanization and preheating of blanks,
among others.
Thus, had an uninitiated onlooker visited Europe in 1969, he could have
rightly reported that, with the exception of some research work being done at
SIK in Sweden, the actual work in the field of microwave applications to the food
industry, catering excepted, completely ceased within Western Europe.
Subsequent events would have proven him wrong. In England, France,
Sweden, and a little later in Germany, small new companies appeared, living
proof of the resiliency of the microwave "bug": Magnetronics Ltd. (Great
Britain), L.M.I. (Les Micro Ondes Industrielles (France), Ptischner GmbH (Ger-
many), Skandinavska Process Instrument AB (Sweden). All, with the exception
of the Swedish company, were formed by people having left GEC AEI, CSF
or BBC.
They have been, or are in the process of developing and commercializing
concepts and ideas they were unable to realize while working within big organiza-
tions.
The first machine delivered by Magnetronics to the food industry was a 25
KW crisp (chips) dryer-cooker, using the meander wave guide concept. Its
microwave energy was produced by a 25 KW-896 MHz E.E.V. magnetron. This
company is the only one among the four cited to systematically use 896 MHz
generators, as Britain is the only European country tolerating this frequency.
Magnetronics are in the process of completing an order for a major installa-
tion for a biscuit baking plant to be commissioned within a few weeks and are
working on a research project for the cooking of a low loss fluid material. We
will no doubt hear a lot more about these two applications at the next IMP!
Symposium in Loughborough.
L.M.I.-Les Micro Ondes Industrielles, report two laboratory and two industrial
microwave applications:
1. A small fixed power 600 Watt laboratory oven, with a turntable and hot
air (fixed temperature) ventilation for the determination of total solids in food-
stuffs (dairy products, vegetables, bakery and dough products, etc.); the time to
MEISEL: MICROWAVE APPLICATIONS IN EUROPE 145

achieve complete dehydration of the samples averages 6-10 minutes and the
measurements are at least as accurate as any conventional method lasting much
longer. Its acceptance by the industry for laboratory as well as manufacturing
control units seems to be good.
2. A bigger variable power (400-2000 watts) laboratory oven, with a turn-
table and hot air (variable temperature), for exploratory microwave work.
3. A 20 to 40 KW microwave frozen food tempering tunnel (GIGATRON)
using ten 2.5 KW or 5 KW, 2450 MHz magnetrons, which are positioned alter-
natively above and below the tunnel (see Figure !). Several are now in use, as
part of frozen meat processing systems. Thus it is used in an automatic line of
meat preportioning. The already trimmed meat pieces, stored at —20 C, are-
tempered to —3 to — 4"C in the tunnel, then pressed into a uniform shape in a
special press, from which they are directed to an automatic slicing machine, and
then packed in cardboard boxes. Each slice weighs about 150 grams. The output
is 1600 lbs. hour or 8000 steaks. Less than 15 minutes are needed to temper,
form, slice and package the meat. As the finished slices are only partly thawed,
there is no danger of bacterial infection. Moreover, microwave thawing diminishes
considerably drip loss, which makes it particularly attractive.GIGATRONS
are also used with good success for thawing of hams and lamb shoulders for
boning purposes.
Fig. I "GIGATRON 20"—Microwave Tunnel Oven.

- W *

Overall length : 8,20 m

—Loading and unloading sections : 0.70 m each
—Entry and exit microwave traps : 1.50 m each
—Two 10 KW microwave modules : 1.90 in each
—Tunnel opening : 440 X 220 mm ( 17V3 " X 8 % " )
•—Microwave power : 20 KW
—Tubes : ten 2.5 KW magnetrons situated five by five above and beneath the conveyor
belt.
146 JOURNAL OF MICROWAVE POWER, 8(2), 1973

4. In November, 1972, L.M.I, received the LA.A. (Industries Alimentaires

et Agricoles) INNOVATION PRIZE FOR 1972 for its continuous microwave
vacuum dryer—MICROVAC. (The development of this equipment is due to the
close collaboration between the I.R.A.B. (Institut de Recherches appliquees aux
Boissons) working for the PERNOD group and L.M.I. Division of B.E.R.E.B.
sari on the other. Research has been partly financed by the D.G.R.S.T. (Delega-
tion Generale a la Recherche Scientifique et Technique) organization allotting
governmental funds for scientific research. The IF AC (Institut Francais de
Recherches Fruitieres d"Outre Mer) is associated with this program for tropical
fruit products (bananas) ).
The MICROVAC is a unique system which applies microwaves within a
vacuum cavity for rapid, nondestructive drying of many thermolabile materials.
When food products such as fruit concentrates or milk are to be dried, they are
spread on the conveyor belt by a dosage pump in the form of a paste or concen-
trate. Under the simultaneous actions of the vacuum (1 to 10 Torrs) and the
microwaves, foaming is produced which permits rapid evacuation of the water
vapor. The foam becomes a dry meringue by the time it reaches the end of the
belt. This is then broken up by a turning scraper and drops through a hopper
into the dry product collector located under the vacuum drum. While emptying
the drum a special spherical vane maintains the vacuum inside the cavity. The
microwave generators are located above the vacuum drum and inject the micro-
waves through two special portholes. The vacuum drum itself is 4 meters long
and 650 mm in diameter. The conveyor belt is 450 mm wide; the unit is shown
in Figure 2.
The excellent coupling of the microwaves into water insures no heat genera-
tion in the drum walls, while the product itself is heated to a temperature only
exceeding 30°C in the last minutes of the cycle, while never reaching 40 C C. Thus
the system has been used to process, with good results, coffee extracts, concen-
trated milk and fruit concentrates (strawberry, raspberry, passion fruit, banana,
etc.), wherein the raw material was either fruit concentrate with or without sugar,
a sugared fruit juice, or a paste. It may also be used for the drying of protein
preparations. In general, the products to be dried may be of high solids content,
60% or more, and may have glucocidic additives where desired. Powders obtained
by continuous vacuum microwave drying have a wealth of natural flavors and
colors, and reconstitute quickly and easily, even in cold water.
L.M.I, has also installed a pilot plant for the partial drying of stuffed pasta
(ravioli, etc.). It is too early to draw any conclusions yet, although the first results
look promising.
To the writer's knowledge, Piischner GmbH (Germany) has not yet installed
any industrial equipment. It is promoting a 25 KW, 900 MHz tubular applicator
for the cooking, pasteurizing or sterilizing of foods in liquid or semi-liquid form.
One such unit should be installed soon.
After encountering some trouble with their first microwave tunnels, Skan-
dinavska Process Instrument AB announced the installation of a 30 KW micro-
wave unit also using hot air. In combination with a surface fryer it should be used
for continuous production of different types of patties. They are also building
a second generation of tunnels for bread pasteurization and claim that they have
licked the condensation problem. A first such unit will be installed in March.
1973.
MEiSEL: MICROWAVE APPLICATIONS IN EUROPE 147

Fig. 2 MICROVAC
microwave-vacuum
dryer: General
Characteristics:
Stainless steel vacuum
drum: Length (total) :
4400 mm.. Height
(total) : 2600 mm..
Diameter (Int.) : 650
mm., Belt width : 450
mm.. Belt speed : 1 -30
m/h; Vacuum : 1-20
torrs.
Microwave power:
Model 2000 : 400-2000
watts; Model 4000 :
400-4000 watts.
Drying capacity: Model
2000 : 2 liters of
water/hour; Model
4000 : 4 liters of
water/'hour

It Is also a known fact that Husqvarna and Alfa Laval have been working
on other microwave applications. As yet these companies have not released any
information but it is believed that they will do so in the near future. The Nestle
Company in Switzerland is reported to be actively engaged on a program of micro-
wave freeze drying; however, no technical information is as yet available.
It is the writer's belief that the unsuccessful first attempts of the big electronic
companies in the field of industrial microwave heating was due to their unwilling-
ness or inability to allot the necessary financial means. Because of this, and in
spite of its 20 years of continuous interest in microwave heating, the European
food industry has yet or may just be about to cross the threshold between dilet-
tantism and genuine serious and continuous research and development work, the
only possible way towards an industrially and financially efficient use of this new
technology. The industrial infrastructure built within the last few years by the
equipment manufacturers, and the experience and process knowledge acquired
by the technical people, are in existence. Therefore, the food industry can rely
upon the equipment manufacturers not only for the development of new processes,
but also for the manufacturing ability to turn the results obtained in the lab-
oratories into highly acceptable industrial processes.
148 JOURNAL OF MICROWAVE POWER, 8(2), 1973

References
1 Microwave heating in Europe by H. Piischner, J.M.P. Vol, 2 ( 1967) No. 2.
2 Radio Frequency heating applications in the European food industry by Nils E. Begtsson—
Microwave Energy Applications Newsletter, Vol. 4 - July-August, 1969.
3 Tempering of meat by microwaves by N. Meisel—Microwave Energy Applications News-
letter, May J u n e , 1972.