Aspects of the present invention relate to systems and methods for customizing microwave energy distribution within a chamber to accommodate various load characteristics. Aspects of the present invention customized configurations of ports, deflectors, waveguides, conducting rods, and slots to shape and distribute energy.

A tunnel furnace for continuously heating a pressed mat for making wood-based panels has a housing forming a tunnel and a conveyor for passing the pressed mat in a travel direction through the tunnel. A microwave generator for producing microwaves is connected to a waveguide extending from the generator and forming a slot antenna having a plurality of antenna slots opening into the tunnel for irradiating the mat therein with microwaves produced by the generator.

A fluid conduit heating system includes a fluid transport conduit including a wall including a radially inner surface and a radially outer surface. The radially inner surface has a predetermined topography and the fluid transport conduit is configured to transport a hydrocarbon fluid therethrough. The system also includes a microwave heating device in radio frequency (RF) communication with the fluid transport conduit. The microwave heating device includes a microwave generator configured to generate microwave radiation and a waveguide coupled to the microwave generator. The waveguide is configured to conform a propagation pattern of the microwave radiation generated by the microwave generator to the predetermined topography of the radially inner surface.

A method and apparatus comprising microwave radiation pulses to reduce a microorganism population in an object.

In a microwave heating device of the present invention, a heating-chamber input portion is adapted to direct, to a heating chamber, microwaves having propagated through a waveguide tube and having passed through the positions where microwave radiating portions are formed, thereby realizing a state where progressive waves are dominant among the microwaves propagating through the waveguide tube, so that the microwave radiating portions are caused to radiate, to the inside of the heating chamber, microwaves based on the progressive waves propagating through the waveguide tube. This enables uniformly heating an object to be heated, without using a rotational mechanism.

An apparatus for processing a material is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a toroidal bed chamber (110) and a waveguide (120). The toroidal bed chamber (110) has chamber walls comprising an inner sidewall (111), an outer sidewall (112) and a base (113), the inner sidewall (111), outer sidewall (112) and base (113) at least partly defining a toroidal volume for material to circulate within. A circulation fluid inlet (130) is provided for introducing a circulation fluid (131) with a velocity component tangential to the toroidal volume for causing the material to circulate within the toroidal volume. The waveguide (120) is for receiving microwave radiation and communicating the microwave radiation to interior of the toroidal bed chamber. The waveguide (120) comprises at least one microwave transparent window (121) in the inner sidewall (111), the outer sidewall (112) or the base (113).