Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Dr. Baik and co-applicants wish to procure a lab-scale (1 to 4 kW output power) 27 MHz Radio Frequency (RF) heating system. RF heating is a promising technology for food and biomaterial processes owing to the associated rapid and relatively uniform heat distribution as well as higher energy efficiency. For the applicants' research, the RF heating system should not only be able to adjust RF output power and electrode gap independently, but also provide access for the installation of optic fibre temperature sensors and easily accommodate hybrid applications with vacuum and forced convection. In addition, a 50-ohm technology-based system is preferred. With the new research tool, Dr. Baik would be interested in determining why RF heating can eliminate anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) and negative flavours (NFs) better than conventional roasting. He will also determine microchannel development and release of ANFs and NFs through the channels of pulses during RF heating with 3-D synchrotron X-ray images. Furthermore, Dr. Baik also plans to conduct research to ascertain which specific RF heating conditions can increase the germination rate of grains and why. Meanwhile, Dr. Tabil will study the drying of primary agricultural materials, including cannabis. The drying will be performed with RF heating with vacuum and forced air convection for energy consumption and chemical quality. He will also utilize the equipment to confirm whether volumetric preheating of biomass before densification will be more efficient than conventional preheating to procure pelleted biofuel in sold format. Dr. Meda will use the equipment for volumetric heating in terms of drying kinetics and the physical and chemical properties of lentil flour. He will also work with crude canola oil heating using RF to assess its oxidative quality and chemical reactions in oil under different conditions, including pH and additives. Dr. Acharya will utilize the equipment to aid in the development of a novel bioplastic film, intended to replace non-degradable fossil fuel-based polymer bale wrap. His group will also investigate the effect of RF treatment on the viscoelastic properties of the bio-wrap under varying stress, temperature, and humidity conditions. Dr. Nickerson will employ the proposed radio-frequency system to pretreat oats and enhance the efficiency of oat protein extraction using optimized extraction conditions. Overall, the proposed RF research will improve the quality of food and bioproducts and reduce energy consumption through a carbon-neutral process. In addition to the five applicants, other faculty have related research projects that would also use the equipment. This includes the involvement of several faculty members and approximately 50 HQPs in the College of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Bioresources. The timely acquisition of the RF heating unit is critical to accelerating the related projects. This will benefit Canadian value-added processing industries.