Design of a High Power Microwave Applicator for the Control of Insects in Stored Products

Recent tests of infested, freely flowing, hard red wheat, in a 28GHz microwave applicator indicate that a bounding energy input of 56.8 J/g will produce a mortality of 99% for the least vulnerable species and age level of each of the three major grain pests tested, i.e. hard red wheat, Triticum aestivum (L.), infested with pupae, young larvae and eggs of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae (L), the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), and the lesser grain borer Rhizopertha dominica (F.). A 200kW prototype unit is now being developed for testing at throughput rate of 24 tonne/h. Technical specifications for this unit are described herein.