Microwave Clinkering with a Grooved Resonant Applicator

Abstract

Clinkering of cement raw materials under a microwave field was studied with a grooved cavity using the TE113 mode. Clinker with characteristics similar to industrial clinker was prepared for the first time using only microwaves, avoiding the formation of a plasma. The characteristics of the microwave and the industrial clinker were compared. The evolution of the imaginary part of the permittivity ɛ and of the absorbed power was established and interpreted in terms of the three main steps which characterize the clinkering process: decar‐bonation, formation of aluminoferrite phases and their melting, and formation of alite.