Dielectric Properties of Rice Paddy and Sitophilus Oryzae for Microwave Heating Treatment

This paper present the measurement of the dielectric properties of rice and rice weevil specifically from Sitophilus Oryzae species. This information is useful in controlling insect disinfestation for microwave heating application. Microwave heating is an alternative method to overcome the problem of rice storage in the factory as insect has been recognized as one of the major factor of this matter. The dielectric properties can describe the interaction of the insect with the electromagnetic energy. From this paper, the value of dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of are determined by using open ended coaxial probe technique. Both values are found vary within the frequency range of 900 MHz to 2.5 GHz and specifically focused at temperature of 82.5 degrees C. These values can be used to further design and understand the microwave heating treatment.