O aquecimento por micro-ondas (MO) é uma tecnologia emergente para o processamento térmico contínuo de alimentos líquidos. A taxa d aquecimento e a profundidade de penetração das MO dependem das propriedades dielétricas (PD) do alimento (permissividade elétrica relativa e fator de perda dielétrica ). As PD de água de coco verde e de sucos de frutas cítricas (laranja, limão e tangerina) foram estudadas empregando a técnica de cabo coaxial. As medições foram realizadas em 101 frequências na faixa de 500 MHz até 3000 MHz e em temperaturas entre 0 °C e 90 °C, o que permitiu estudar o efeito da frequência e da temperatura. A profundidade de penetração foi calculada com uma expressão derivada das equações de Maxwell para eletromagnetismo. O trabalho experimental começou com as PD de: água de coco verde simulada, água destilada, solução de açúcares e sais da água de coco verde e água de coco verde natural. Resultados foram comparados para avaliar a contribuição de cada componente (água, açúcares e sais). PD de sucos de diferentes variedades de laranjas, tangerinas e limões, assim como misturas de sucos de duas variedades de laranja, foram também avaliadas. A condutividade elétrica das amostras foi medida nas diferentes temperaturas e o seu efeito sobre o fator de perda foi analisado. Os resultados foram comparados nas frequências comerciais de 915 MHz e 2450 MHz. O comportamento dielétrico das amostras estudadas foi caracterizado por dois mecanismos principais: a condução iônica de sais dissolvidos e a rotação dipolar da molécula de água, os quais têm predominância variável dependendo da frequência e da temperatura. A permissividade elétrica relativa de todas as amostras decresceu com o incremento da temperatura e da frequência, enquanto que o comportamento do fator de perda com a temperatura e frequência foi determinado pela composição. Os sais apresentaram maior efeito que os açúcares sobre as PD da água de coco verde. A profundidade de penetração foi maior na frequência de 915 MHz, associada com o aumento no comprimento de onda. Correlações polinomiais foram ajustadas nas frequências comerciais para representar a dependência com a temperatura. / Microwave (MW) heating is an emergent technology for thermal processing of liquid food products. Heating rate and MW penetration depth depending on dielectric properties (DP) of food material (relative electrical permittivity () and dielectric loss factor ()). DP for green coconut water (GCW) and citrus fruits juices (orange, tangerine and lemon) were studied by open-ended coaxial line probe technique. The measurements were carried out for frequencies between 500 MHz and 3000 MHz at 101 points in this range and temperatures from 0 °C to 90 °C, which allowed studying temperature and frequency effect. The power penetration depth was calculated using an expression derived from the Maxwell equations for electromagnetism. Experimental work started with DP measurement for: simulated (GCW), distilled water, sugars and salts solutions of (GCW) and natural (GCW). Results were compared in order to evaluate the each component contribution (water, sugars and salts). DP for juices from different orange, tangerine and lemon varieties as well as mixtures of orange juice from two varieties, were also evaluated. Electrical conductivity was measured and its effect on dielectric loss factor was analyzed. Obtained results were compared at commercial frequencies of 915 MHz and 2450 MHz. Dielectric behavior of studied samples was characterized by two main mechanisms: ionic conduction of dissolved salts and dipole rotation of water molecules, which presented variable predominance, depending on frequency and temperature. Relative electrical permittivity decreased with increase on both temperature and frequency for all tested samples, whereas dielectric loss factor behavior with temperature and frequency was determined by composition. Salts showed higher effect than sugars on dielectric properties of GCW. Penetration depth was higher at 915 MHz, associated to increasing wave length. Polynomial correlations for DP were adjusted at commercial frequencies in order to illustrate the temperature dependence.

This study experimentally investigated the effect of hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces characteristics on nucleate boiling heat transfer performance for the application of direct immersion cooling of electronics. A dielectric liquid, HFE – 7100 was used as the working fluid in the saturated boiling tests. Twelve types of 1-cm2 copper heater samples, simulating high heat flux components, featured reference smooth copper surface, fully and patterned hydrophobic surface and fully and patterned hydrophilic surfaces. Hydrophobic samples were prepared by applying a thin Teflon coating following photolithography techniques, while the hydrophilic TiO2 thin films were made through a two step approach involving layer by layer self assembly and liquid phase deposition processes. Patterned surfaces had circular dots with sizes between 40 – 250 μm. Based on additional data, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces improved nucleate boiling performance that is evaluated in terms of boiling incipience, heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux (CHF) level. The best results, considering the smooth copper surface as the reference, were achieved by the surfaces that have a mixture of hydrophobic/hydrophilic coatings, providing: (a) early transition to boiling regime and with eliminated temperature overshoot phenomena at boiling incipience, (b) up to 58.5% higher heat transfer coefficients, and (c) up to 47.4% higher CHF levels. The studied enhanced surfaces therefore demonstrated a practical surface modification method for heat transfer enhancement in immersion cooling applications.

Bearing in mind environmental concerns and global trends in ecology, biodegradable polyesters have gained enormous attention as alternative to non-biodegradable, commercial polymers used mainly in packaging industry contributing to the worldwide environment pollution. However, substitution of conventional polymers with biodegradable polyesters is limited due to their inferior mechanical and barrier properties, which can be improved by the introduction of relatively small content of non-toxic nanofillers. Nevertheless, environmental pollution is not only affected by material itself, but also manufacturing and processing sector in terms of energy sustainability. In case of the latter, low energetic processes are nowadays preferential. Thus, using microwave irradiation as the more efficient energy source, which can lead to shortening of process time, has become currently investigated subject. In this thesis, microwave-assisted in-situ synthesis of biodegradable nanocomposites based on polycaprolactone and non-toxic clay nanoparticles (layered double hydroxides) was studied and described in detail in four subsections (4.1-4.4). The first subsection (4.1) describes one-pot synthesis of Mg2+ /Al3+ layered double hydroxides functionalized with highly microwave-absorbing ionic liquids. In order to improve...

Harmonic distorted voltage waveforms can lead to excessive heat in the insulation of electrical equipment. The prospectively increasing number of power electronic devices in electrical grids requires the careful examination of the conse- quences of harmonics, which are introduced due to the operating principle of the semiconductor switches. Investigations of the thermal breakdown of solid dielectrics that may occur as a consequence of harmonic distortion on the voltage waveform of electrical grids are presented in this contribution. A thermo-electrical multi-frequency model allows the calculation of the overtemperature in the material. The calculations are confirmed by breakdown experiments of phenolic paper and epoxy resin. Generally, the additional dielectric losses due to the harmonic voltage distortion increase the possibility of exceeding the thermal equilibrium. However, modern insulation materials like the investigated epoxy resin have very low loss factors which is favourable for good thermal performance even with severely distorted voltages.

The purpose of this study is to investigate RF or Radio Frequency energy as a viable alternative to traditional heating methods for the purpose of curing resins used in resin infusion molding, a molding system for polymeric composites. Traditional heating/curing methods include technologies such as room temperature, oven, microwave, infrared, and ultraviolet. Although RF curing provides far more advantages than disadvantages, its implementation into a manufacturing process can be challenging. Specifically, three critical elements must be present in order for RF to function in a manner that is profitable to the manufacturer. Those elements are: (1) the proper generator (voltage and frequency), (2) the correct electrode configuration, and (3) the appropriate material sensitizer (amount and type). There is also the consideration of initial capital investment; which is by no means insignificant. However, if all 3 elements are present, the benefits can be immediate and numerous. Potential advantages include the following: improved part quality through penetrating and uniform heating; competitive, if not superior, material physical properties; and drastically reduced curing times. Other potential advantages include floor space savings, high energy efficiency, and increased operational flexibility. For the purpose of this thesis, experimentation will be conducted to first confirm and then, if successful, quantitatively capture the reduction in curing time. Physical properties will also be measured using tensile testing to determine whether or not RF curing can facilitate minimal loses in the material's physical properties.

This dissertation develops adaptive hp-Finite Element (FE) technology and a parallel sparse direct solver enabling the accurate modeling of the absorption of Electro-Magnetic (EM) energy in the human head. With a large and growing number of cell phone users, the adverse health effects of EM fields have raised public concerns. Most research that attempts to explain the relationship between exposure to EM fields and its harmful effects on the human body identifies temperature changes due to the EM energy as the dominant source of possible harm. The research presented here focuses on determining the temperature distribution within the human body exposed to EM fields with an emphasis on the human head. Major challenges in accurately determining the temperature changes lie in the dependence of EM material properties on the temperature. This leads to a formulation that couples the BioHeat Transfer (BHT) and Maxwell equations. The mathematical model is formed by the time-harmonic Maxwell equations weakly coupled with the transient BHT equation. This choice of equations reflects the relevant time scales. With a mobile device operating at a single frequency, EM fields arrive at a steady-state in the micro-second range. The heat sources induced by EM fields produce a transient temperature field converging to a steady-state distribution on a time scale ranging from seconds to minutes; this necessitates the transient formulation. Since the EM material properties depend upon the temperature, the equations are fully coupled; however, the coupling is realized weakly due to the different time scales for Maxwell and BHT equations. The BHT equation is discretized in time with a time step reflecting the thermal scales. After multiple time steps, the temperature field is used to determine the EM material properties and the time-harmonic Maxwell equations are solved. The resulting heat sources are recalculated and the process continued. Due to the weak coupling of the problems, the corresponding numerical models are established separately. The BHT equation is discretized with H¹ conforming elements, and Maxwell equations are discretized with H(curl) conforming elements. The complexity of the human head geometry naturally leads to the use of tetrahedral elements, which are commonly employed by unstructured mesh generators. The EM domain, including the head and a radiating source, is terminated by a Perfectly Matched Layer (PML), which is discretized with prismatic elements. The use of high order elements of different shapes and discretization types has motivated the development of a general 3D hp-FE code. In this work, we present new generic data structures and algorithms to perform adaptive local refinements on a hybrid mesh composed of different shaped elements. A variety of isotropic and anisotropic refinements that preserve conformity of discretization are designed. The refinement algorithms support one- irregular meshes with the constrained approximation technique. The algorithms are experimentally proven to be deadlock free. A second contribution of this dissertation lies with a new parallel sparse direct solver that targets linear systems arising from hp-FE methods. The new solver interfaces to the hierarchy of a locally refined mesh to build an elimination ordering for the factorization that reflects the h-refinements. By following mesh refinements, not only the computation of element matrices but also their factorization is restricted to new elements and their ancestors. The solver is parallelized by exploiting two-level task parallelism: tasks are first generated from a parallel post-order tree traversal on the assembly tree; next, those tasks are further refined by using algorithms-by-blocks to gain fine-grained parallelism. The resulting fine-grained tasks are asynchronously executed after their dependencies are analyzed. This approach effectively reduces scheduling overhead and increases flexibility to handle irregular tasks. The solver outperforms the conventional general sparse direct solver for a class of problems formulated by high order FEs. Finally, numerical results for a 3D coupled BHT with Maxwell equations are presented. The solutions of this Maxwell code have been verified using the analytic Mie series solutions. Starting with simple spherical geometry, parametric studies are conducted on realistic head models for a typical frequency band (900 MHz) of mobile phones. / text