What are microwaves?

Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths from 1

mm to 1 m with corresponding frequencies between 300 MHz and
300 GHz. Since microwaves obey the laws of optics, they can be
transmitted, absorbed and reected
Among the industrial, scientic and medical radio bands set aside
for non-communication purposes 915 and 2450 MHz are the most
commonly used frequencies for microwave heating.
In particular, 915 MHz is preferred for industrial/commercial
microwave heating systems while 2450 MHz is mostly used for
household microwave ovens.
Microwaves
are the most complex heating source used in metal extraction since
the heating process depends upon the multifaceted interaction of
both the electric and the magnetic elds of the microwave radiation
with both the chemical and physical properties of the material.

Heating mechanism
However, the strengths of the interaction
of the microwave radiation with the materials of
interest are largely unknown, Since the microwave
heating characteristics of most of the materials
cannot be predicted, research is being performed
to determine
the underlying factors which govern the
microwave response of ores, concentrates,
reducing agents
and other feedstocks used in pyrometallurgical
processes

 In conventional heating, the heat is generated outside of the

material (e.g. by a ame or a resistance heater) and is
transferred into the material by conduction or convection.
The surface of the object is heated rst, and then the heat
ows to the inside by conduction and thus the temperature
decreases from the surface to the interior. On the other hand,
microwave radiation penetrates into the object, where it is
transformed into heat, which is conducted through the
material back to the surface, leaving the outside cooler than
the interior. Fig. 1 shows a briquette of a nickeliferous silicate
laterite ore, containing carbon as a reducing agent, after
microwave treatment. The inverted temperature gradient has
resulted in considerable internal fusion but the top and
bottom of the briquette remain intact (Pickles, 2005).

The two dominant microwave heating

mechanisms are: (1) dipolar rotation, i.e. the rotation of an entire
polar molecule in the electric eld and (2) electron or ion AC resistivity. When external elds are applied to atoms and molecules,
the bound charges shift slightly relative to each other, creating
electric dipoles. The short-range displacement of the charge
results
in a polarization phenomenon. Also, as the electromagnetic elds
change direction rapidly, all the polar molecules oscillate at the
same rate, and as a result, the intermolecular friction generates
heat. Any unbound charges (primarily electrons, but sometimes
free ions) produce ohmic heating because the microwave eld
induces
AC currents.

Carbon particles have conduction electron loss

as their primary heating mechanism, and often act as the principal
heat source when used as a reducing agent in a pyrometallurgical
process. In the case of water containing solutes in hydrometallurgical
systems, both dipolar rotation and ionic conduction can contribute
to the heating process. If the water contains ions, then they
will move in the direction of the electric eld and as they collide
with other molecules their kinetic energy is converted into heat.
Less commonly, arcing between particles and the interaction of
the magnetic eld with a magnetic material can produce heat.

Fig. 1. Photograph of a microwaved

briquette of nickeliferous silicate
laterite ore.
Some internal fusion is evident
(Pickles, 2005).

The rate of microwave energy absorption by a material at a specic

temperature (T) is related to the complex permittivity(e), which is dened at
a given temperature (T) as follows:
Here
is the complex permittivity,
0 is the permittivity of free space;
r Is the relative real permittivity (or relative dielectric constant),
j is the imaginary component ;
r is the relative imaginary permittivity (or relative dielectric loss).
The dielectric constant() s a measure of the ability of the material to be
polarized by the electric eld, while the dielectric loss () represents the
efciency of conversion of the electromagnetic energy into heat. Both of the
dielectric components contribute to the electric eld distribution within the
material, but the loss factor () determines the resulting heating rate.

 The loss tangent (tan) is the ratio of the loss

factor to the dielectric constant, and is often
used as a quantitative measure of how easily a
material will heat in a microwave eld:
where eq is the equivalent AC electrical
conductivity of the material
f is the frequency of the microwaves. As shown
in Eq. (2),
the amount of microwave energy absorbed by a
material depends to a large extent on its
electrical conductivity.

 the penetration depth is inversely proportional

to the frequency of the microwave radiation.
Although low frequencies result in greater
penetration depths, the actual amount of
heating may not be signicantly increased if
the internal eld, E ,is low.
The power absorbed by a material per unit
volume at a locationz in the material (i.e.
the deposited power density, P V(z)) is dened
as follows:

 The deposited power density is directly proportional

to
both the frequency and the dielectric loss factor.
Materials with
high values of the dielectric loss factor will absorb
energy more
readily than materials with low loss factors. The rate
of temperature
increase in the dielectric material at the location z,
as a result of
the conversion of the electrical eld energy into heat

For materials with a very high conductivity, such as metals, the

loss factor is in principle, very high, but the electric eld penetration
depth is very small (<<1 mm) and most of the microwave
energy is reected. Insulators are comparatively microwave transparent
and absorb very little energy. Semiconductors have an
intermediate conductivity and they can be relatively easily heated
with microwaves, since the penetration depth is reasonable. Good
microwave heating arises with modest microwave absorption, and
a penetration depth similar to the material dimensions. Therefore,
the relative dielectric loss should be high and the relative dielectric
constant should be intermediate.

MEASUREMENT
TECHNIQUES
Three main approaches to determining the interaction
of microwaves with a given material:
(1) quantication of the permittivities as a function of
temperature and process state (no information on
heat transfer or power distributions),
(2) measurement of the absorbed and reected power
to a microwave reactor containing the sample (only
an average measurement of power transfer), and
(3) evaluation of the heating behaviour in a
microwave system (usually no intermediate or
transient information; only nal state).

The
magnetron operated at 3000 V DC and produced high frequency
(2.45 GHz) microwaves and the incident power could be varied
continuously from 0 to 2000 W. In general, magnetrons operate
between
65% and 85% efciency, where the efciency is dened as
the ability to convert the AC line electrical power into microwave
power. The microwaves travel along the rectangular waveguide
to the applicator. The waveguide has a hollow rectangular
crosssection
and is constructed of highly reective metals, such as aluminium.
The applicator is usually a metal box or cavity and is designed
to ensure the transmission of electromagnetic energy from
the waveguide to the sample

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the microwave heating

system.

The major advantages of utilizing microwaves as an energy

source
in extractive metallurgy systems would be as follows:
(1)The energy is transported from the microwave source to the interior of the material in the
form of microwaves, which are converted into thermal energy only in the interior of the
material. There is very little heat deposited in or lost to the surroundings.
(2) In many cases, the temperature of the interior of the material to be heated is much higher
than the surface. Thus, for materials such as oxides, where the poor thermal conductivity limits
conventional heat transfer from the outside to the inside, signicant improvements in heat
transfer can be attained. Also, this inverted temperature gradient minimizes the temperature
of the refractory container or crucible.
(3) The energy densities in microwave systems can be relatively high and this in combination
with the low thermal conductivities of oxides and minimal heat absorption by the surroundings
can lead to very high internal heating rates.
(4) The electrical energy source can be relatively clean and is easily controlled. Continuous
processing is facilitated. Since there is no combustion of carbonaceous or hydrocarbon fuels,
then the only gases generated are those produced as a result of the intended reactions. This
minimizes the amount of off-gas and also the amount of entrained dust particles.
(5) The working conditions in microwave processes would be expected to be far superior to
those in conventional processes.
(6) The thermal energy is generated on the atomic or molecular level and thus both
endothermic and exothermic reactions can be promoted.
(7) In special cases, some degree of selective heating can be attained but this is restricted by
heat conduction, which limits temperature gradients.

ISSUES
(1) The initial capital investment cost is higher than conventional
processing.
(2) The maximum microwave power is limited to about 100 Kw unless
multiple microwave sources are used and this has already been done on
other microwave applications.
(3) The operational costs are dependent on the lifetime of the magnetron
(the usual heat source) but signicant improvements are being made.
(4) Uneven heating can lead to thermal runaway and hot spots.
(5) The efciency of conversion of the electricity to microwaves is
between 65% and 90% (depending on the system design and frequency
selection), so energy is lost as heat in the microwave source.
(6) The technology is relatively complex in comparison to other heating
techniques.
(7) Electrical energy can be an expensive in contrast to hydrocarbons or
carbonaceous materials.

 In the present paper, the research, which has

been conducted at Queens University over
about the last decade, on the application of
microwaves to mainly pyrometallurgical
processing of oxide ores, is reviewed. These
processes are as follows: drying, calcination
and sintering, reduction and smelting,
heating and reduction of slag, the
segregation process, and the processing of
electric arc furnace dust and gold-bearing
materials.

DRYING

Microwave drying rates at 750 W and the conventional drying rates at 140
C of the limonitic nickeliferous laterite ore as a function of the moisture
fraction (Pickles, 2005b).
compares the drying rates of both the conventional and the microwave
drying processes for the nickeliferous limonitic laterite ore and it can be seen
that the microwave drying rates are typically two to ve times higher than

The drying process consists of three stages: (i) set-up, (ii)

constant rate and (iii) falling or decelerating rate.
The critical moisture content is the moisture content when
stage two ends and stage three begins. In the rst stage, the
sample is being heated to the predetermined drying
temperature. In the second stage, the water is removed from
the surface of the sample and is replenished by water that
moves to the surface via capillary action. The larger
capillaries are drained rst and then the smaller. When
capillary action is no longer possible then the drying rate
decreases and the removal of this internal or trapped
moisture is more difcult. In order, to remove this remaining
water it may be necessary to increase the temperature,
which could involve overheating the surface.