An Analysis of Dielectric Properties of Synthetic Ballast Water at Frequencies Ranging from 300 to 3000 MH_z

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 completely eliminate this problem due to the particularities of the ballasting and de-ballasting operations (extremely large volumes of water, efficiency at destroying macro and micro organisms, environmental issues associated with chemical treatments). Continuous microwave heating presents a potential solution to this problem, but the design of suitable applicators 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--epsilon'; dielectric loss--epsilon") of synthetic ballast water inoculated with four organisms at seven different temperatures in the frequency range of 300 to 3000 MHz. The dielectric properties of the mixtures were determined using a network analyzer and a dielectric probe kit using the open-ended coaxial probe method. Numerical analysis was performed on data collected across all frequencies involved with an emphasis placed on F.C.C. allotted frequencies of 433, 915 and 2450 MHz. The dielectric constant was relatively independent of frequency and the organism used, but it showed a remarkable decrease with temperature. The dielectric loss showed an extreme decrease with increasing frequency, marked differences between the different organisms and between different growth stages of the same organism, and a large relatively linear increase with increasing temperature.