A furnace system includes a heating chamber, a retort assembly, and a waveguide. The heating chamber includes a shell encompassing an insulation layer and a working volume, where the working volume is configured to receive at least one part for heat treatment. The retort assembly is supported within the insulation layer and includes an inner retort surface facing the working volume. The inner retort surface is formed of at least one carbon compound reflective of microwave radiation, and the retort assembly defines a retort aperture. The waveguide is configured to direct microwave radiation from a microwave source to the retort aperture.

A disclosed microwave heating apparatus includes a casing part configured to accommodate an object to be heated; a microwave generator configured to generate a microwave; an electromagnetic wave generator configured to generate an electromagnetic wave whose frequency is different from that of the microwave; an electromagnetic wave sensor configured to measure power of the electromagnetic wave, the power of the electromagnetic wave being measured after the electromagnetic wave incident on the casing part from the electromagnetic wave generator has passed through the object to be heated; and a controller configured to control, based on the power measured in the electromagnetic wave sensor, the microwave generator to generate the microwave.

A cooking apparatus that combines microwave based heating/cooking with either of blender/mixer grinder functionality and traditional cooking using open flame and/or induction cooking is disclosed. The cooking apparatus comprises a lid and at least one microwave producing device coupled to the lid. A lifting and lowering mechanism carries the lid and microwave producing device at a lower end for enabling vertically raising and lowering the lid along with the coupled microwave producing device. Upper end of lifting and lowering mechanism is slidably configured with a lower side of a chimney. Lid in lowered position gets operatively coupled with a container holding a food item. The container can be one for cooking food using conventional source of heat, or a container for preparatory operations such as blending, stirring, grinding and mixing. Coupling of the lid with the containers enables heating of the contents of the container through the microwaves generated by the at least one microwave producing device.

A cooking adjustment system for a cooking appliance includes a body that defines a cooking cavity. A steam generator system is coupled to the body. The steam generator system is configured to inject steam into the cooking cavity. An air temperature sensor is disposed within the cooking cavity and configured to sense a dry bulb temperature. A food probe has multiple food temperature sensors. At least one of the food temperature sensors is configured to sense a surface temperature of a food item. A controller is communicatively coupled to the steam generator system, the air temperature sensor, and the food probe. The controller is configured to determine a wet bulb temperature utilizing the surface temperature of the food. The controller is configured to adjust relative humidity within the cooking cavity in response to at least one of the wet bulb temperature and the dry bulb temperature.

In one aspect, disclosed herein are devices comprising a disclosed hybrid microwave-thermal chemical reactor device. Also disclosed herein are methods of preparing hydrogen and a crystalline carbon material, such as a carbon nanotube, from methane using a hybrid heating comprising heating with both a thermal fluid and microwave irradiation of a catalyst. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

In one aspect, disclosed herein are devices comprising a disclosed hybrid microwave-thermal chemical reactor device. Also disclosed herein are methods of preparing hydrogen and a crystalline carbon material, such as a carbon nanotube, from methane using a hybrid heating comprising heating with both a thermal fluid and microwave irradiation of a catalyst. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

A cooking adjustment system for a cooking appliance includes a body that defines a cooking cavity. A steam generator system is coupled to the body. The steam generator system is configured to inject steam into the cooking cavity. An air temperature sensor is disposed within the cooking cavity and configured to sense a dry bulb temperature. A food probe has multiple food temperature sensors. At least one of the food temperature sensors is configured to sense a surface temperature of a food item. A controller is communicatively coupled to the steam generator system, the air temperature sensor, and the food probe. The controller is configured to determine a wet bulb temperature utilizing the surface temperature of the food. The controller is configured to adjust relative humidity within the cooking cavity in response to at least one of the wet bulb temperature and the dry bulb temperature.

A food treatment appliance includes a thermally insulated food treatment chamber, a refrigeration unit, a microwave generation facility configured to introduce microwaves with an associated microwave frequency into the food treatment chamber, and a low-frequency generation facility configured to introduce into the food treatment chamber low-frequency waves with a frequency which is lower than the microwave frequency.

An electromagnetic heater for heating an irregularly shaped object, including: a cavity within which an object is to be placed; at least one feed which feeds UHF or microwave energy into the cavity; and a controller that controls one or more characteristics of the cavity or energy to assure that the UHF or microwave energy is deposited uniformly in the object within 30% over at least 80% of the volume of the object.

A cooking appliance comprising a base member, an upper member and a cooking chamber defined between the base member and the upper member, wherein the upper member is displaceable between a closed position, in which the upper member is closed on the base member and access to the cooking chamber is prevented, and an open position, in which access to the cooking chamber is permitted. The cooking appliance comprises a locking device displaceable from a locking condition, in which it prevents the upper member from being displaced from the closed position to the open position, and an unlocking condition in which it allows the upper member to be displaced from the closed position to the open position. The cooking appliance comprises an automatic actuating device for automatically taking the locking device in the unlocking condition upon a predetermined condition is reached, and a further manual actuating device for manually taking the locking device in the unlocking condition.