Power and temperature distribution during microwave thawing, simulated by using Maxwell's equations and Lambert's law

The microwave thawing of frozen food was simulated by using an equation to describe heat conduction. This was based on the fact that the thermal and dielectric properties of food vary with temperature. The microwave power absorbed was modelled by using Maxwell's equations and Lambert's law. The power and temperature distributions calculated using both models were compared. Although Lambert's law is theoretically less applicable for simulating the transmitted microwave power, it provided an effective numerical approach for calculating temperature distribution during microwave thawing, which proved compatible with experimental results.