An analysis of dielectric properties of synthetic ballast water at frequencies ranging from 300 to 3000 MHZ

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2007

Abstract

Ballast water presents an important vector for introduction of aquatic invasive species in the coastal waters around the world. Currently there are no established technologies proven to eliminate this problem due to the particularities of the ballasting and de-ballasting operations (extremely large volumes of water, efficiency at destroying organisms, environmental issues associated with chemical treatments). Continuous microwave heating presents a potential solution to this problem, but the design of efficient focusing cavities depends on the dielectric properties of the ballast water to be processed. The study presented in this paper is focused on the dielectric properties (dielectric constant - ϵ'; dielectric loss - ϵ') of synthetic ballast water at different temperatures in the frequency range of 300 to 3000 MHz. Synthetic ballast water (30 ppt) was made with CrystalSea® salt and was inoculated afterwards with four different organisms (A. salina cysts, A. salina adults, A. nauplii, and algae). The dielectric properties of the mixtures were determined with a network analyzer and a dielectric probe kit using the open-ended coaxial probe method. The measurements were performed in triplicates at seven temperatures ranging from 20 to 80°C. Results showed that dielectric properties of ballast water vary greatly with the presence of aquatic organisms.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Proceedings Book - 11th International Conference on Microwave and High Frequency Heating, AMPERE 2007

First Page

109

Last Page

112

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