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Measurement and Mitigation of Magnetic Field of a Microwave Oven

Conference Paper · October 2014

DOI: 10.1049/cp.2014.1120

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MEASUREMENT AND MITIGATION OF MAGNETIC FIELD OF
A MICROWAVE OVEN
A. M. Ruzaini*, M. A. Salam*, F. Wen*, S. P. Ang*, A. E. Pg Abas†, S. S. Yin*, W. Voon‡
*Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Institut Teknologi Brunei, Tungku Gadong, P.O. Box 2909,
Brunei Darussalam, E mail: ruz_1907@hotmail.com, masalam@ieee.org, ang.swee.peng@itb.edu.bn,
fushuan.wen@itb.edu.bn, priscillaitb@hotmail.com
†
Centre of Science and Technology Research and Development, Ministry of Defence,
Brunei Darussalam, Email: emeroylariffion.abas@mindef.gov.bn
‡
Berakas Power Management Company Sendirian Berhad, Berakas Power Station, Jalan Rimba Link, BE1514, Brunei
Darussalam, E-mail: william.voon@bpmc-brunei.com

Keywords: Microwave oven, Magnetic field, Shield.
Abstract
The presence of magnetic field is observed around when there
is a current flow. With the increase usage of electronic products
in our daily lives, it is essential to understand the characteristics
of the magnetic field. This paper presents the measurement of
the magnetic field with and without shield in the vicinity of a
certain microwave oven. Certain positions on the microwave
oven show high magnetic field value especially around the
Start/Stop button. Relationship between magnetic field value
and distance from the microwave oven is also determined. By
employing different types of easily available and cheap
shielding, results highlight its benefit in reducing the magnetic
field value around the oven. In general, the magnetic fields are
reduced to 30% and 50% by using single and double paper
shields respectively. In addition, plastic shields are also used to
reduce the magnetic field.
1 Introduction
It is necessary to understand the magnetic field characteristic
of various household appliances due to its effect on the
environment. Reference [1] conducts a study whereby the RF
emissions of various common household appliances such as
microwave oven, Wi-Fi routers, and various communication
devices found around the home are measured and analysed.
The microwave oven is one of the most common household
appliances. With a generally high power rating, it operates with
a common frequency in the 2.45 GHz region, which lies in the
3 MHz-3 GHz frequency range used in HF-UHF
communication system. Further, in this frequency range, the
microwave radiation may be a threat to the human’s health.
The authors in [2] conduct a survey to identify areas of concern
pertaining to microwave oven usage and conclude radiation as
one of the concerns. As such, it is important to study its
characteristic. The collective effect of many microwave ovens
are highlighted in [3]. This paper measures the electric field
strength of microwave emissions from microwave ovens in the
915 MHz industrial-scientific medical (ISM) band. At different
distances between 10 and 1000 ft in the vicinity of the two large
condominium buildings containing 385 microwave ovens at
different locations, electric field values are measured. Results
show varying field values at different distances with maximum
field strength of 123.5 dB,V/m and 81.0 dB,uV/m at distances
of 10 and 1000 ft, respectively. For a single microwave oven,
the authors in [4] conduct experimental studies to classify
different energy points inside a microwave oven, by varying
cooking time and power. It is found that different points inside
the oven have different radiations power. The radiation at these
points may be reduced by leakage to the outside of the oven.
Many researches have also measured and investigated the
magnetic field in the vicinity of the microwave oven.
Reference [5] reports some level of leakage to all microwave
ovens under their investigation, albeit only a single microwave
oven exceeds the standard limit of magnetic radiation at a
distance of 5 cm distance from the oven surface.
Electromagnetic analysis of RF leakage radiation from
microwave oven is given in [6] using Finite Difference Time
Domain (FDTD) method. By modelling the oven as a
rectangular cavity, the far-field radiation pattern of microwave
oven is computed by the far-field transformation of Huygen’s
equivalent sources using Green’s function. It is found that the
RF leakage from microwave oven has a characteristic
interference far-field pattern. Further, probable path of leakage
is identified as the gap between the door and oven cavity. This
result coincides with reference [7], whereby the paper
concludes via measurement and numerical modelling that the
greatest radiation of microwave is leaked from the seal around
the door. The measurements of the magnetic field from 2
different microwave ovens under different test conditions are
carried out in [8]. For frequency range between 30 MHz to
1000 MHz, the authors highlights the difference in radiation
patterns of different types of microwave ovens, but concur with
references [6] and [7] in that the greatest leakage comes from
the seal around the door. In this paper, the magnetic field values
at different positions on the microwave oven are measured at
varying distance with and without shields.
2 Equipment Used in the Experiment
The experiment was carried out with the aid of TENMARS
TM-191 magnetic field meter as shown in Figure 1. It measures
the magnetic field at Super Low Frequency (SLF) of 30 to 300
Hz. Magnetic field radiation intensity at this range is associated
with that produced by electric transmission equipment, thickness. This double paper shield is attached to the glass
microwave oven, air conditioner, refrigerator, computer panel and measurements are repeated.
monitor, television and so forth. Further, whereas higher
frequency can easily be blocked by objects, lower frequency
has properties allowing it to penetrate objects more easily.

Figure 3. Measurement of magnetic field at 5 cm distance

Again, a hard plastic with a length 30.1 cm, 21.2 cm and

Figure 1. TM-191 magnetic field meter thickness of 0.3 cm is used as a single plastic shield. The
The specific microwave oven under observation is the Cornell thickness of 0.6 cm is used for the double plastic shield. The
brand, model number DMO-4099 microwave oven, with measurement magnetic fields with different shields at a
dimensions of 260 mm height, 460 mm width and 310 mm distance of 5 cm are recorded in Table 1.
depth. The 230 V, 7.0 A, 50 Hz AC power supply is
transformed by the microwave to generate the microwave of 4 Results and Discussions
2.45GHz with power 1150 W. At the outset, the front surface The magnetic field radiation for microwave oven without and
of this oven was divided into twenty positions as shown in with the different shields are measured at 20 different positions
Figure 2. For our work, the microwave oven is operated with of the microwave oven at distance 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm away
the same food inside. With the microwave oven positioned at as described in the previous section.
1 m high above the ground, measurements are taken with the
meter at distance of 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm away from the front Table1. Magnetic field at 5 cm distance away
surface of the oven. This is shown in Figure 3, with the meter Bdprs Bdpls
Bns Bsprs Bspls
at a 5 cm distance. Position B(mG) B(mG
(mG) (mG) B(mG)
)
Position 20 Position 19 Position 18 Position 17 Position 16 1 69.4 32.0 66.4 28.7 34.7
2 114.8 95.0 76.0 94.6 78.3
Position 15 Position 14 Position 13 Position 12 Position 11 3 60.5 74.9 77.2 55.7 83.4
4 38.0 43.3 57.2 42.3 57.6
Position 10 Position 9 Position 8 Position 7 Position 6 5 32.9 32.3 41.6 29.0 44.3
6 152.3 131.5 93.8 109.0 97
Position 5 Position 4 Position 3 Position 2 Position 1
7 64.5 54.4 36.5 62.9 43.7
8 82.9 35.9 32.9 60.3 47.3
Figure 2. Different positions at the oven front side 9 36.2 30.1 25.5 36.4 20.1
10 16.9 25.9 38.5 22.6 15
3 Measurements of Magnetic Field 11 187.9 153.6 118.9 152.5 141.2
The measurement results taken with the magnetic 12 82.4 40.8 42.8 59.1 52.2
field meter at 5 cm distance away at the 20 different positions 13 163.8 114.4 82.0 111.4 95.4
are tabulated in Table 1. This is repeated at different distance
14 94.6 85.7 77.8 97.0 95.3
of 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm away. For the next stage of our work,
easily available and cheap hard carton made from paper with a 15 72.4 69.3 65.5 70.7 72.4
length of 27.3 cm, width 19 cm and thickness 0.3 cm is used as 16 197.3 183.0 172.5 154.8 142.6
a shield for the oven. This single-paper shield is attached to the 17 59.3 39.4 38.9 45.5 66.6
glass panel of the microwave oven and measurements are taken
at the 20 different microwave oven positions at different 18 155.9 110.2 96.2 113.9 110.4
distances. Then, the thickness of the paper shield is doubled by 19 143.6 98.0 100.7 117.3 94.2
appending the shield with another paper carton with a 0.3 cm 20 103.8 94.7 87.6 83.1 83.1
The variations of magnetic field radiation for microwave oven The magnetic fields at every positions for the case when
without any shield along the 20 different positions are shown double-paper shield is used are plotted in Figure 6.
in Figure 4 for the case of measurements taken at distances of
5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm away. This is compared to the standard 200
5 cm
magnetic field radiation value of 120 mG. 180
10 cm
It can be seen that the magnetic fields at positions 6, 11, 13, 16, 160
15 cm

Magnetic field (mG)

18 and 19 exceeds the standard magnetic field. The highest 140
Std
magnetic field value of 197.3 mG and second highest value of 120
187.9 mG are found at position 16 and 11 respectively. These
100
correspond to points near the Start/Stop button of the
microwave oven, which may produce excessive amount of 80
magnetic field. Positions 18 and 19 corresponds to door gap 60
areas. 40

220 20
5 cm 0
200
10 cm 0 5 10 15 20
180
15 cm Positions
160
Magnetic field (mG)

140 Std Figure 5. Magnetic fields with single paper shield

120
Magnetic field values at all positions have values below the
100 standard 120 mG when measured at a distance of 5 cm away
80 except at position 16, where even after the 20% reduction, the
60 magnetic field value remains high.
40
20
200
0 5 cm
0 5 10 15 20 180
10 cm
Positions 160
15 cm
Magnetic field (mG)

Figure 4. Magnetic fields without shield
As the meter is moved away from the microwave oven,
reduction in magnetic fields is observed which confirms the
observation in [7]. Moving the meter from 5 cm to 10 cm,
reduces the magnetic field values by approximately 50%. It
should be noted that at a distance of 10 cm from the microwave
oven, magnetic radiation value at every position falls below the
standard magnetic field value of 120 mG. Single Paper, double
paper, single plastic and double plastic shields are then used to
reduce the magnetic field radiation. The magnetic field
radiations are plotted against different positions on the
microwave oven, for different distance are plotted in Figures 5
to 8. With a single paper shield as shown in Figure 5, only three
positions on the front surface of the microwave exceeds 120
mG. The values are 131.5 mG, 153.6 mG and 183 mG for
positions 6, 11 and 16 respectively. It should be highlighted
that these positions corresponds to areas where no shielding is
placed directly over it. Although shielding is not placed
directly over positions 1, 6, 11 and 16, reduction in magnetic
field values are still observed at these positions. This may be
caused by reduction in magnetic field from other shielded parts
which contributed to an overall reduction in the magnetic field
on those positions. An interesting observation is the increase of
magnetic radiation at positions 3, 4 and 10 albeit with values
below the standard magnetic radiation. As these positions
correspond to areas near the door gap, the increase may be
caused by leakage through the door gap as mentioned in [6].
140
Std
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20
Positions
Figure 6. Magnetic fields with double paper shield
In comparing the effect of single and double paper shields at
position 6, the magnetic field is reduced to 20.8 mG and 58.5
mG when single paper shield and double paper shield are used
respectively. Reduction with double paper shield represents
almost 30% reduction in magnetic field radiation. As in Figure
5, certain positions (i.e. positions 3, 4, 5 and 10) on the
microwave oven experience an increase in magnetic field
values particularly in areas near the door gap. The magnetic
fields at different positions on the microwave oven when single
and double plastic shields are used, as plotted in Figures 7 and
8 respectively. From Figure 7, it is seen that only positions 11
and 16 have magnetic field values above the standard 120 mG.
This is compared to the case when single paper shield is used,
where three positions have above standard magnetic field
values. However, adding another layer of plastic shield does
not quite have the same effect as adding another layer of paper
shield. From Figure 8, it is observed that the double plastic
shield still has two positions with above standard magnetic magnetic field values. This highlights the huge benefits of
field value albeit with some reduction in their values. easily available and cheap paper shield, in reducing the
magnetic field value.

200 Acknowledgement
5 cm
180
10 cm The authors are gratefully acknowledged the house owner for
160
15 cm
providing microwave oven for the experiments in different
Magnetic field (mG)

140 times.
Std
120
100 References
80
[1] Nooradzianie Muhammad Zin, Mohammad Zarar
60 Mohamed Jenu and Farhana Ahmad Po’ad,
40 “Measurements and Reduction of Microwave Oven
20 Electromagnetic Leakage”, IEEE International RF and
0
Microwave Conference, Seremban, Malaysia, 2011.
0 5 10 15 20 [2] WEN Yinghong, LIU Chen, ZHANG Linchang and
Positions ZHANG Xiaodong, “Measurement and Calculation of the
Radiation Characteristics of Microwave Ovens”,
Figure 7. Magnetic fields with single plastic shield Electromagnetic Compatibility, IEEE International
Symposium on EMC, Istanbul, Vol. 1, pp 92-94, 2003.
[3] WEN Yinghong, ZHANG Xiaodong, “Radiation
200
Characteristics of Microwave ovens”, Electromagnetic
5 cm Compatibility, 3rd International Symposium on EMC,
180
10 cm Beijing, China, pp 214-217, 2002.
160 [4] Thierry Letertre, Alain Azoulay, and Raul de Lacerda,
15 cm
“Study of RF Emissions of Various Electronic Devices
Magnetic field (mG)

140
Std
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 2, 2012.
0 5 10 15
Positions
Figure 8. Magnetic fields with double plastic shield
5 Conclusions
The magnetic fields at different positions of a Cornell brand
microwave oven have been measured with and without shields.
Results have confirmed that the general reduction in the effect
of magnetic field value with increase in distance from the
microwave oven. High magnetic field values are measured
around the Start/Stop button which may be caused by its
shielding. By employing cheap single hard paper cartoon,
differing percentage of a reduction in magnetic field is
observed depending on the positions on the oven. Doubling the
paper to 0.6 cm manages to reduce the magnetic field values of
most positions on the microwave to below the standard
magnetic field value.
The results from employing single and double plastic shields
are a bit mixed. Although, single plastic shield performs better
than single paper shield, doubling the plastic shield is not able
to reduce the number of positions with above standard
Used by the Public”, IEEE International Conference on
Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronics
Systems (COMCAS), Tel Aviv, pp. 1-6, 2011.
[5] Shiv Narayan, Arun K., and R. M. Jha, “RF Leakage
Radiation from Microwave Oven for Aircraft Interior
Applications”, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society
International Symposium (APSURSI), Chicago, IL, pp. 1-
20 [6] R.Satish Kumar and Dr.M.Y.Sanavullah, “Theoretical and
Experimental Study of Cooking Regions for Shell Eggs in
a Domestic Microwave oven”, 3rd International
Conference on Electronics Computer Technology
(ICECT), Kanyakumari, Vol. 4, pp. 306-310, 2011.
[7] Linxin Zheng, Leming Fan and Ying Wang, “Analysis on
a Microwave Oven Based on User Operation”, IEEE 9th
International Conference on Computer-Aided Industrial
Design & Conceptual Design, Kunming, pp. 100-104,
2008.
[8] Richard A. Tell, “Field-Strength Measurements of
Microwave Oven Leakage at 915 MHz”, IEEE
Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. 20,
Issue 2, pp. 341- 346, 1978.

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