H2-reduction Behavior of FeS-CaO Mixture during Microwave Heating

[EN] Microwave irradiation is an energy-efficient and a rapid-heating method to decrease the activation energy of chemical reactions via both thermal and non-thermal effects of microwave photons 1). Recently, hydrogen-reduction during microwave heating has been proposed for magnetite reduction to combine the advantages of microwave irradiation and using H2 as a reducing agent during iron production 2). In the present study, as a novel idea, the traditional microwave heating system was equipped with thermobalance to investigate the kinetics of H2-reduction of FeS-CaO mixture (FeS(s) + CaO(s) + H2(g) = Fe(s) + CaS(s) + H2O(g)) under microwave heating at 2.45 GHz to further mitigate CO2 emission and prevent SO2 release during iron production from a sulfide mineral. Microscope observations revealed that the un-reacted core model can be employed for such a kinetic study. Linearity (R2) of different rate-controlling mechanisms after a 10-minute reduction reaction demonstrated that the gas diffusion in micropores of reduced metallic Fe is a dominant rate-controlling mechanism while the interfacial chemical reaction is progressed rapidly. This is attributed to extraordinary effects of microwave irradiation on speeding up the chemical reactions 3), while the formation of Fe shell on the surface of FeS/FeO particles decreases the accessibility of gas to un-reacted parts, resulting in a lower rate of gas diffusion in micropores. Moreover, the diffusion coefficients (De) at 460, 570, and 750 °C were calculated from the plot of the gas diffusion, as illustrated in Fig. 1, wherein the X is reduction degree: where Wi (g) is the initial weight of the sample, Wt (g) is the weight of the sample after treatment for t seconds, Wht (g) is the weight change of the sample owing to the dehydration reaction, and WO (-) is the stoichiometric weight ratio of oxygen in the sample, which is 0.111. Consequently, the activation energy of 22.3 kJ.mol-1 was attained from the Arrhenius equation for the hydrogen-reduction reaction of FeS-CaO mixture under microwave heating.Amini, A.; Ohno, K.; Maeda, T.; Kunitomo, K.; Kashimura, K. (2019). H2-reduction Behavior of FeS-CaO Mixture during Microwave Heating. En AMPERE 2019. 17th International Conference on Microwave and High Frequency Heating. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 357-364. https://doi.org/10.4995/AMPERE2019.2019.9755OCS35736

Behaviour of Microwave-Heated Al4SiC4 at 2.45 GHz

The ongoing development of high-temperature processes with the use of microwaves requires new microwave absorbers that are useful at these temperatures. In this study, we propose Al4SiC4 powders as important and efficient microwave absorbers. We investigated both the behavioural microwave heating and electrical permittivity characteristics of Al4SiC4 powders with various particle sizes at 2.45 GHz. The TE103 single-mode cavity indicated that Al4SiC4 powder samples yielded different heating behaviours and dielectric constants for each particle size compared with SiC. By microwave heating ∅50 mm × 5 mm disks of Al4SiC4 and SiC, we demonstrate that for specific sizes, Al4SiC4 can be heated at a higher temperature than SiC. Finally, the results of the two-dimensional two-colour thermometer show that an energy concentration appears at the interface of the microwave-heated Al4SiC4. These phenomena, which are inconsistent in individual physical property values, can be explained without contradicting microwave heating physics

Microwave Heating Behavior in SiC Fiber-MO2 Mixtures (M = Ce, Zr)—Selective Heating of Micrometer-Sized Fibers Facilitated by ZrO2 Powder

SiC fiber-MO2 (M = Ce, Zr) mixtures with various compositions were heated by applying an 80 W microwave electric field, to investigate their heating rate, maximum temperature, and dielectric constant. For the SiC fiber-CeO2 mixture, all three parameters continued to increase as the weight ratio of the SiC fiber increased; in contrast, for the SiC fiber-ZrO2 mixture, these parameters reached a maximum value at a certain composition. A thermal gradient of 500 °C was observed at a microlevel in the SiC fiber-ZrO2 mixture, and hot spots were located in regions with a certain composition. This result not only contributes to designing a novel good microwave absorber but also presents new aspects with regard to high-temperature microwave processing, including the mechanism behind the high-temperature gradients on the order of micrometers as well as engineering applications that utilize these high-temperature gradients

Effect of Aspect Ratio on the Permittivity of Graphite Fiber in Microwave Heating

Microwave (MW) heating has received attention as a new heating source for various industrial processes. Some materials are expected to be a more effective absorber of MW, and graphite is observed as a possible candidate for high-temperature application. We investigated the dependence of the aspect ratio of graphite fibers on both their heating behavior and permittivity under a 2.45 GHz MW electric field. In these experiments, both loss tangent and MW heating behavior indicated that the MW absorption of conductive fibers increases with their aspect ratio. The MW absorption was found to be well accounted for by the application of a spheroidal model for a single fiber. The absorption of graphite fibers decreases with increasing aspect ratio when the long axis of the ellipsoid is perpendicular to the electric field, whereas it increases with the aspect ratio when the long axis is parallel to the electric field. The analytical model indicated that MW heating of the conductive fibers is expected to depend on both the shape and arrangement of the fibers in the electric field

Effects of Normothermic Conditioned Microwave Irradiation on Cultured Cells Using an Irradiation System with Semiconductor Oscillator and Thermo-regulatory Applicator

We investigated the effects of microwave irradiation under normothermic conditions on cultured cells. For this study, we developed an irradiation system constituted with semiconductor microwave oscillator (2.45 GHz) and thermos-regulatory applicator, which could irradiate microwaves at varied output powers to maintain the temperature of cultured cells at 37 °C. Seven out of eight types of cultured cells were killed by microwave irradiation, where four were not affected by thermal treatment at 42.5 °C. Since the dielectric properties such as ε’, ε” and tanδ showed similar values at 2.45 GHz among cell types and media, the degree of microwave energy absorbed by cells might be almost the same among cell types. Thus, the vulnerability of cells to microwave irradiation might be different among cell types. In HL-60 cells, which were the most sensitive to microwave irradiation, the viability decreased as irradiation time and irradiation output increased; accordingly, the decrease in viability was correlated to an increase in total joule. However, when a high or low amount of joules per minute was supplied, the correlation between cellular viability and total joules became relatively weak. It is hypothesized that kinds of cancer cells are efficiently killed by respective specific output of microwave under normothermic cellular conditions

Microwave-Driven Asbestos Treatment and Its Scale-up for Use after Natural Disasters

Asbestos-containing debris generated by the tsunami after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, was processed by microwave heating. The analysis of the treated samples employing thermo gravimetry, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and phase-contrast microscopy revealed the rapid detoxification of the waste by conversion of the asbestos fibers to a nonfibrous glassy material. The detoxification by the microwave method occurred at a significantly lower processing temperature than the thermal methods actually established for the treatment of asbestos-containing waste. The lower treatment temperature is considered to be a consequence of the microwave penetration depth into the waste material and the increased intensity of the microwave electric field in the gaps between the asbestos fibers resulting in a rapid heating of the fibers inside the debris. A continuous treatment plant having a capacity of 2000 kg day^–1 of asbestos-containing waste was built in the area affected by the earthquake disaster. This treatment plant consists of a rotary kiln to burn the combustible waste (wood) and a microwave rotary kiln to treat asbestos-containing inorganic materials. The hot flue gas produced by the combustion of wood is introduced into the connected microwave rotary kiln to increase the energy efficiency of the combined process. Successful operation of this combined device with regard to asbestos decomposition is demonstrated