An automatic impedance matching system for a multi point power delivery continuous industrial microwave oven

Abstract

Impedance matching is an essential part of a microwave heating system, needed to avoid reflections and optimize the operations of the generator. In some applications the impedance of the load under heating varies with time. In this case, an automatic matching system is required. For industrial applications in continuous microwave ovens, multi point power delivery is required. This paper presents a detailed study of this application and a complete automatic system for impedance matching. A gradient-based algorithm method was developed. The hardware and software implementation is presented. The system was applied on a continuous microwave oven and several essays were performed and their results are discussed. © 2004 IEEE.