Dielectric heating of food and polymeric materials

New technologies have been studied to replace or help traditional heating technologies. Currently, the interest of the industrial panorama for dielectric heating applications is growing and strengthening, pushed by the prospect of ensuring a faster, more homogeneous and more efficient heating process than those traditionally used, limiting the inconveniences related to a not uniform heating within the material matrix, or to the achievement of excessively high temperatures. To provide proper heating, it is necessary to quantify the dielectric properties of the materials in terms of dielectric constant (ε') and loss factor (ε''). Dielectric properties are fundamental to understanding the electrical behaviour of a material: ε' is related to the ability to store electricity in the presence of an external field and ε' refers to energy dissipation in the form of leaks. Data on dielectric properties are critical to the development of heat treatments using radio frequency (RF) or microwave (MW) energy and are essential for estimating the uniformity of heating in electromagnetic fields: the properties of a product are a general guide to select the optimal frequency range and the system power. The purpose of this work is to define a measurement protocol and provide data on the dielectric properties of various types of materials, both liquid and solid, of food origin and more. Furthermore, have been provided the theoretical equations that describe the dielectric properties of the materials analysed as a function of temperature