| 摘要 |
An apparatus and method for drying, by heating, a continuous supply of dielectric material. A terminated, quarter-wavelength transmission line is used as a "traveling wave" applicator for transferring electromagnetic energy from a radio-frequency generator to the dielectric material as the material passes through the transmission line, preferably by gravity feed. The transmission line applicator is directly connected to the output of the radio-frequency generator, without any intervening feeding transmission line, so that the transmission line applicator becomes the resonant output tank circuit of the generator and thus determines the oscillation frequency of the generator. Forced air may be blown through the dielectric material as it flows through the transmission line so as to sweep moisture, driven to the surface of the dielectric material by heating, from the flowing dielectric material. The temperature of the flowing dielectric material may be monitored, and control circuitry accordingly adjusts the power output of the radio-frequency generator so as to maintain the temperature within a desired range. The flow of the dielectric material from the transmission line applicator may be metered so as to achieve a required residence time of the dielectric material within the transmission line for proper drying.
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