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Advanced Applications of Microwave Technologies in Agricultural, Resource Management and Energy Industries

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 5526

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Graham Brodie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Dookie Campus, The University of Melbourne, 940 Nalinga Rd., VIC 3647, Australia
Interests: microwave heating of bio-materials; using microwaves for sensing and communication in agriculture and forestry; improving water use efficiency in agriculture; producing renewable energy on farms; on-farm animal waste management; and applications of Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technologies in agriculture and archaeology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Humanity will face several major challenges in the future. Two of these major challenges can be summarised as “Food Security” and “Energy Security”. While major inroads have been made to overcome these global security issues, more needs to be done with less to ensure the future of humanity, while minimising our footprint on the planet. The development and application of novel technologies will play a critical role in this process. Microwave energy has great potential to foster this endeavour, because microwave sensing, heating, plasma, and wireless energy transmission technologies all appear to be more efficient, convenient, and durable than their more conventional counterparts. This issue will present papers that focus on these and other applications of microwave energy in the agricultural, resource management and energy industries.

Prof. Graham Brodie
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Microwave Sensing
  • Microwave Heating
  • Microwave Power Transmission
  • Microwave Plasma

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2028 KiB  
Article
Microwave Soil Heating Promotes Strawberry Runner Production and Progeny Performance
by Graham Ian Brodie, Dylan John McFarlane, Muhammed Jamal Khan, Valerie Buu Giao Phung and Scott William Mattner
Energies 2022, 15(10), 3508; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15103508 - 11 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1379
Abstract
Strawberry runners (transplants) in many regions of the world are produced in soils treated with chemical fumigants to control pathogens and weeds and meet phytosanitary requirements. Many fumigants, however, are under threat of withdrawal because of concerns over their impact on the environment [...] Read more.
Strawberry runners (transplants) in many regions of the world are produced in soils treated with chemical fumigants to control pathogens and weeds and meet phytosanitary requirements. Many fumigants, however, are under threat of withdrawal because of concerns over their impact on the environment (e.g., methyl bromide). The current study considered the use of microwaves for heat disinfestation of soil for field-grown runners for the first time. Results from two field experiments showed that microwave treatment reduced the survival of buried inoculum of the strawberry pathogens Fusarium oxysporum (by up to 93%) and Sclerotium rolfsii (by up to 100%) compared with untreated soil. Furthermore, the treatment reduced the subsequent growth of these pathogens in the laboratory by up to 82% and 100%, respectively. Microwave treatment also reduced the natural DNA concentration of Pythium spp. (clades I & F) in soil by up to 94% compared with untreated soil. The effect of microwave against soilborne pathogens reduced as soil depth increased. Microwave treatment reduced the emergence of weeds in field soils by up to 65% and increased runner yields by 10–37%. The effect of microwave treatment on runner yield was greater when all soil was treated, rather than when strips of soil around the mother plants were treated. Results from complimentary pot experiments showed that early strawberry growth in the glasshouse was equivalent in soils treated with microwave or the fumigant methyl bromide/chloropicrin. Furthermore, the early performance of runners sourced from field soils treated with microwave or methyl bromide/chloropicrin was equivalent. Results from the pot experiments also showed that steam treatment required 10 times more energy per mass of soil to disinfest than microwave. The limitations of microwave in the current experiments are discussed, but the capacity for the technology to disinfest field soils in an energy-efficient manner demonstrates its potential for further development as an alternative to soil disinfestation with chemical fumigants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Applications of Microwave Technologies in Agricultural, Resource Management and Energy Industries)
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17 pages, 3931 KiB  
Article
Microwave Soil Heating with Evanescent Fields from Slow-Wave Comb and Ceramic Applicators
by Graham Brodie and Grigory Torgovnikov
Energies 2022, 15(3), 1068; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15031068 - 31 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1835
Abstract
Microwave soil heating deactivates weed seeds; however, in many modern agricultural settings, weed seeds are mostly found in the top 1–2 cm of the soil profile. Until recently, microwave soil heating has been achieved using various antennas, which project the microwave energy deeply [...] Read more.
Microwave soil heating deactivates weed seeds; however, in many modern agricultural settings, weed seeds are mostly found in the top 1–2 cm of the soil profile. Until recently, microwave soil heating has been achieved using various antennas, which project the microwave energy deeply into the soil. The aim of this research was to develop new microwave applicators that provide shallow heating (less than 50 mm). This paper presents two applicator designs, one based on a comb slow-wave structure and the other on the frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) principle, which utilise evanescent microwave fields to restrict the depth of microwave heating. The background theory to their performance is presented, followed by experimental evidence of their constrained heating performance under different soil moisture scenarios. Experimental measurements of the heating performance of these applicators, in soils of varying moisture content, demonstrate that the evanescent microwave fields restrict the depth of heating, so that most of the energy is manifested in the top 50 mm of soil. The evanescent field decay rate for the FTIR applicator changes from 44.0 ± 0.7 m−1 to 30 ± 1.2 m−1 as the soil moisture changes from 32% to 174% (dry weight basis). This is higher than the evanescent field decay rate for the comb slow-wave applicator (17.6 ± 0.7 m−1 to 19.9 ± 1.5 m−1). The FTIR applicator has a wider and shallower heating pattern than the comb slow-wave applicator. Because of the double heating lobes of the FTIR applicator, the effective half temperature heating width is approximately 150 mm. This is wider than the half temperature heating width of the comb slow-wave applicator (95 mm). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Applications of Microwave Technologies in Agricultural, Resource Management and Energy Industries)
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20 pages, 3763 KiB  
Article
Microwave Soil Treatment along with Biochar Application Alleviates Arsenic Phytotoxicity and Reduces Rice Grain Arsenic Concentration
by Mohammad Humayun Kabir, Graham Brodie, Dorin Gupta and Alexis Pang
Energies 2021, 14(23), 8140; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14238140 - 04 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1718
Abstract
Rice grain arsenic (As) is a major pathway of human dietary As exposure. This study was conducted to reduce rice grain As concentration through microwave (MW) and biochar soil treatment. Collected soils were spiked to five levels of As concentration (As-0, As-20, As-40, [...] Read more.
Rice grain arsenic (As) is a major pathway of human dietary As exposure. This study was conducted to reduce rice grain As concentration through microwave (MW) and biochar soil treatment. Collected soils were spiked to five levels of As concentration (As-0, As-20, As-40, As-60, and As-80 mg kg−1) prior to applying three levels of biochar (BC-0, BC-10, and BC-20 t ha−1) and three levels of MW treatment (MW-0, MW-3, and MW-6 min). The results revealed that MW soil treatment alleviates As phytotoxicity as rice plant growth and grain yield increase significantly and facilitate less grain As concentration compared with the control. For instance, the highest grain As concentration (912.90 µg kg−1) was recorded in the control while it was significantly lower (442.40 µg kg−1) in the MW-6 treatment at As-80. Although the BC-10 treatment had some positive effects, unexpectedly, BC-20 had a negative effect on plant growth, grain yield, and grain As concentration. The combination of BC-10 and MW-6 treatment was found to reduce grain As concentration (498.00 µg kg−1) compared with the control (913.7 µg kg−1). Thus, either MW-6 soil treatment alone or in combination with the BC-10 treatment can be used to reduce dietary As exposure through rice consumption. Nevertheless, further study is needed to explore the effectiveness and economic feasibility of this novel technique in field conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Applications of Microwave Technologies in Agricultural, Resource Management and Energy Industries)
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