Advantages of RF Defrosting | Disadvantages of RF Defrosting

This page covers advantages and disadvantages of RF Defrosting and its basics. It mentions benefits or advantages of RF Defrosting and drawbacks or disadvantages of RF Defrosting.

What is RF Defrosting ?

The process or technique in which defrosting or thawing of frozen food is carried out using RF (Radio Frequency) is called as RF defrosting. The RF defrosting equipments use EM (Electro-Magnetic) waves for drying and thermal processing. The technique has been adopted in major home appliances. It is also available as standalone application. It uses various RF frequencies specially high frequency ISM bands such as 27 MHz, 12 MHz etc. It is used in food industry for various applications such as sterilize, disinfect and pasteurize food and other commodities such as fruits, dry nuts etc.

The figure depicts RF defrosting machine from STALAM, Italy. The machine takes about 10-20 minutes for defrosting based on food (e.g. fish and other seafood products) to be processed. They are available in 3kW to 105kW ratings. The company NXP semiconductors develops reference designs for defrosting solutions for its customers. The NXP's defrosting solutions are based on its LDMOS technology.

Benefits or Advantages of RF Defrosting

Following are benefits or advantages of RF Defrosting over conventional defrosting techniques.
➨It offers uniform and fast thawing.
➨It minimizes moisture content.
➨It reduces wastage and drip loss.
➨It maintains even temperature throughout the thawing process.
➨It offers great amount of convenience to the users.
➨It delivers high power and ruggedness.
➨It provides tastier and hygienic food which is safe to eat.
➨RF defrosting equipment eliminates the need of larger thawing rooms required by conventional defrosting equipments.
➨It offers great flexibility in production scheduling.
➨The technique does not require direct contact with food items as RF waves penetrate plastic packaging and cardboards.

Drawbacks or Disadvantages of RF Defrosting

Following are drawbacks or disadvantages of RF Defrosting:
➨The RF defrosting equipment requires training to operate it efficiently.
➨The electronics components and reference designs used in RF defrosting process are expensive.
➨Temperature uniformity is affected due to different product sizes, shapes and dielectric properties. This results into non uniform heating of the food products. This needs to be taken care by the user or operator.
➨Electrical costs are higher.

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