Abstract
To reduce carbon emissions during heating in the manufacturing processes, microwave technology has attracted significant attention. Microwaves have considerable advantages over traditional heating methods, including more rapid heating, lower thermal damage, and eco-friendly processes. To apply microwaves to the manufacturing process, uniform and efficient heating is required. We analyzed the effect of various design parameters for uniform and efficient heating by changing the cavity heights, application of the reflector, and number and positions of waveguides. We conducted a numerical simulation and verified the findings by experiments. The results showed that a slight change in the cavity height altered the electromagnetic field distribution and heating parameters, such as the coefficient of variance and power absorption efficiency. With reflectors installed, 66% of cases exhibited better comprehensive evaluation coefficient (CEC) with consideration of uniform heating and power absorption. The spherical reflector showed 81% of cases, better than those of the ordinary model without a reflector. Furthermore, when double waveguides were installed, the average coefficient of variance (COV) was improved by 22%, and power absorption efficiency was increased by 53% compared to the single waveguide case. When the power applied to the waveguides was doubled, the average COV values improved by 18%. This large-scale analysis will be helpful in applying microwaves to actual industrial sites.
Highlights
Fossil fuels represent approximately 80% of the total energy sources as of 2020 [1]
The numerical analysis results were verified by comparison with the experimental temperature profile, and the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Despite a slight change in the cavity height caused by changing the wavelength by one-tenth, the electromagnetic field distribution and parameters were considerably changed
The average coefficient of variance (COV) was improved by 22%, and power absorption efficiency was increased by 53% compared to the single waveguide model
Summary
Fossil fuels represent approximately 80% of the total energy sources as of 2020 [1]. Besides energy, chemicals produced from fossil fuels are used daily. The processes of manufacturing chemical products and the use of fossil fuels produce emissions of large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) (33.5 Gt of CO2 annually), which is a greenhouse gas. Technologies that reduce CO2 emissions in the process of converting fossil fuels into different energy sources, such as electricity, are being employed. Clean energy production and various efforts to reduce CO2 emissions are improving, the consumption of fossil-fuel-based plastic products is rapidly increasing each year, compromising the process of low-carbon transitioning. Researchers have focused on various methods to reduce carbon emissions in various processes, such as sintering, drying, and synthesis. Among these processes, material processing using microwave heating has attracted significant attention [3]
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