José Manuel Catalá

AI-MetPro

Precise Control of Singular Microwave Field Distributions through AI-Calibrated Simulations for Advanced Processing in Metallurgy

Increasing environmental and security restrictions in the automotive sector are forcing the industry to shift from steel towards the development of more sustainable and cost-efficient light alloys manufacturing technologies for structural components (i.e. aluminium and magnesium). However, these manufacturing technologies nowadays still incur in high production costs. Therefore, a new paradigm in metal parts manufacturing is targeted that will allow implementing lightweight metal components with improved performance, while reducing energy and resource consumption, able to replace current steel structural components in industrial mass production lines.

Die Casting (DC) is nowadays a recognized technology for the production of aluminium parts, especially Aluminium components used in the transport industry. To improve their performance and extend their durability, DC produced parts can be densified with High Isostatic Pressure (HIP). The possibility of applying microwave technology to perform this heat treatment has been already demonstrated in a previous project with the same partners (HIPPERWAVES), leading to important energy savings and reduced processing times.

 

However, the quality of the produced parts is dramatically dependent on the temperature profile achieved by the metal parts during the heating process. This project proposes a ground-breaking Artificial Intelligence-based tool able to tailor the temperature profiles inside the microwave reactor. The method relies on the development of accurate multiphysic 3D models that include electromagnetic and thermal equations and provide the basis for the AI-based optimization of the desired thermal profiles. This novel system would be the basis to produce metal parts with exceptional properties, due to the ultrafast, volumetric and optimized microwave heating process applied to metal powders.

Although results from the state of the art proved that metallic powdered materials can be efficiently heated by microwaves, the developments proposed in this project will suppose a technological breakthrough supported in the ambitious undertaking of the following challenges: (1) development of new 3D multiphysic models including strategies for modifying the electric field distribution; (2) approaches to tailor specific microwave heating thermal profiles from AI-based machine-learning processes; (3) adequate designs to ensure proper interaction between microwaves and target materials; (4) fully operative control routines and protocols linked to products quality and security aspects.

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Transzerowaste Team Finds the Best Materials that could be heated in a Gigantic Microwave for Recyling Steel Residues

The researchers of the Microwave Division (DIMAS-ITACA) at UPV have identified the target compositions and mixtures that would be efficiently heated inside the microwave reactors, as well as the most suitable materials for transport and thermal insulation compatible with the microwave environment and high temperature conditions.

The study has been conducted within Transzerowaste, a European project promoted by 12 partners, and could be the first step to upgrade low-quality iron ores and by-products, enhance impurity separation and boost recycling rates for low-quality scrap, thus contributing to climate-neutral, circular industrial value chains.

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“We have studied the mixtures that are going to be processed and we have observed which are those that best heat and in which temperature conditions they react,” explains Beatriz García-Baños, researcher at DIMAS-ITACA. “Besides, we have identified those constructive materials that could be used for transport, such as ceramic tubes, or for thermal insulation, and that are also compatible with microwaves,” adds the researcher. In this sense, Quartz and some magnesia spinels have been identified in the study as the most suitable materials for using inside a microwave reactor, because the energy would be absorbed by the target materials and not by these materials.

The importance of investigating the use of microwave technology to upgrade low-quality iron ore with steel plant residues as e.g. dust and sludge lies on the advantages of this technology, but is crucial researching how the materials react at so high temperatures. The design of microwave applicators is intended within the project, but requires the knowledge of dielectric properties of raw material composition and those other constructive materials that will be present inside the microwave reactors. These properties provide key information about the materials’ behaviour under the electromagnetic field, and about their capacity to be heated by the microwave energy, thus are crucial data to design the microwave reactors and processes.

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Evaluating Microwave Energy Impact on 3G Snacks
(Food Research International, 2024)

This study, developed together with the i-Food Group at the Universitat Politècnica de València, applies our work experience with microwave energy to third generation snacks, evaluating its impact on them and the dielectric properties and their expansion on food samples used in the work. The study has been published in Food Research International.

Third-generation (3G) snacks, a food type of widespread interest in the industry, have a longer shelf life than second-generation (2G) snacks. The primary regeneration process for these snacks involves frying and microwaving. However, only a few studies have detailed the effects of microwave irradiation on these products. This study aims to analyse the influence of the type of material, compression, and microwave power on the expansion capabilities of the pellets. Four raw materials (rice flour, rice semolina, corn semolina, and wheat starch) were combined with water to achieve uniform moisture content and extruded into pellets with different compression ratios (1:1, 2:1, and 3:1). The elaborated samples were processed at different microwave powers (heating rates of 2 and 10 °C/s) using an instrument capable of accurately delivering microwave energy to food samples while monitoring key process parameters, including dielectric properties.

 

Food Research International 2024

The main results obtained were that samples with high starch content, low protein content, and low fibre content, in conjunction with higher compression ratios exhibited a more pronounced expansion, which highly influences the texture and perception of the final product by customers.

Evaluating Microwave Energy Impact on 3G Snacks
(Food Research International, 2024) Read More »

Materials developed to improve hydrogen production from water using microwave radiation

A team from the Microwave Division (DIMAS) of the Institute of Information and Communications Technologies (ITACA), and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), a joint research centre of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has developed the design of materials that improve the process of obtaining hydrogen from water using microwave radiation. The process allows hydrogen to be obtained from renewable electrical energy, thus avoiding CO2 emissions from hydrogen production.

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Materials developed to improve hydrogen production from water using microwave radiation Read More »

Moisture measurements in granulate materials with DKV

The determination of the moisture content is of economic importance in the manufacturing and processing of materials. This understanding can be essential for evaluating the value of raw materials, implementing control measures, and ensuring final product quality. 

Moisture determination has been traditionally measured by analyzing the weight loss of a sample during the drying process, which is very time consuming and labor-intensive method.  

Electromagnetic techniques have proven a valuable tool for moisture determination. The principle of microwave moisture content measuring method is based on the fact that permittivity of water is much higher than that of most dry substances.   …

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