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Radio frequency (RF) treatment is a promising physical method for disinfesting and pasteurizing foods but the non-uniform RF heating is still a major obstacle for industrial applications. In this study, a three-dimensional model was established with COMSOL software to simulate temperature distributions in milled rice with different packaging shapes and experiments using a 6 kW, 27.12 MHz RF system were carried out to evaluate the improvement of heating uniform of sample by changing temperature of forced air. The established model was validated by temperature-time histories at three points in the sample and temperature distributions at the top and bottom surfaces. The results showed that the cold spot of the regular shape sample was found at the part with small thickness, and the RF heating uniformity was improved by increasing temperature of forced hot air. When the temperature of forced hot air increased from 40 to 60 °C, all the sample temperatures were above 50 °C, which might meet the required temperature of disinfestation, and the heating uniformity index decreased from 0.113 to 0.099. For the cuboid shape sample, the corner/edge effect was observed and the heating uniformity index firstly decreased and then increased with reduced temperature of forced cold air. When the temperature of forced air decreased to 10 °C, the best heating uniformity of the cuboid shape sample was obtained. The results of this research can help to select packaging shape and improve the heating uniformity of samples for RF treatment in large-scale applications. • The corner and edge effect were observed during RF heating. • The cold spot of the regular shape sample was found at the part with small thickness. • The λ values for the regular shape sample decreased with increasing temperature of forced hot air. • The heating uniformity of the cuboid shape sample was improved by forced cold air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe 2 O 3 –K 2 O–CeO 2 catalysts with various ratios of K 2 O to CeO 2 were prepared by the wet-chemical method. Their phase compositions, reducibility, valence states of elements and catalytic activities for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation were studied. The results demonstrated that when the weight ratio of K 2 O: CeO 2 was 1.40, the catalyst had highest ethylbenzene conversion and styrene selectivity, which were attributed to the optimization of active phase content and electron transfer ability, etc. Further, higher CeO 2 content not only enhanced styrene selectivity, but also prolonged the life cycle of catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]