An innovative microwave system for wooden art object disinfestation
Purpose - Many objects made up of wood, as well as paper and carpets with artistic or cultural value, are seriously damaged by various infesting microorganisms and often such damage is irreversible. The purpose of this paper is to describe an equipment which has been realized, able to induce, inside the object to be treated, having any shape, and in particular in the infesting agents, a uniform distribution of temperature. Design/methodology/approach - The equipment consists of a metallic shielding chamber where the objects to be disinfested are placed. Here, through appropriate openings in the walls, electromagnetic energy at the frequency of the microwaves is introduced. The electromagnetic waves provoke a heating effect in the infesting biological forms with no significant thermal effects in the materials of the artistic object due to the different dielectric characteristics and to the very little percentages of water in them. Findings - The uniform distribution of temperature guarantees that the organisms or the microorganisms are heated up over their lethal temperature while the temperature reached by the object and its spatial variations do not provoke deformations. Practical implications - The current technologies employed in disinfestation of works of art present big limits as regards excessive treatment times, risks of pollution both for the operator and for the environment and possible damage to the treated objects. Originality/value - This new system described in the paper gives complete effectiveness of disinfestation, with a rapid treatment,, without damage to the objects, with total protection for the operators and the possibility of re-using the object immediately after the disinfestation process.
wood disinfestation micro-organisms electromagnetic induction microwaves ovens reverberating chamber