MW Heating

Unlocking microwave heating on the Moon: What do temperature-dependent permittivity measurements reveal about lunar regolith?

Researchers from DIMAS-ITACA (Universitat Politècnica de València) and the Surrey Space Centre have demonstrated that lunar regolith could be used to build roads, landing pads, and buildings on the Moon’s surface. The researchers have proved that lunar rocks, or regolith, can be heated more efficiently and rapidly using microwaves than with conventional methods such as furnace heating.

Lunar regolith is a dielectric material which can be efficiently heated to melting temperature using microwave energy. Sintered or melted regolith can then be used as feedstock to construct infrastructure on the Moon, including landing pads, roadways and habitats, making this material the focus of numerous studies aimed at enabling in-situ lunar construction.

One of the main challenges is identifying the most efficient, rapid, and sustainable way to process this material. The new research conducted by the DIMAS-ITACA Laboratory and the Surrey Space Centre shows that microwave heating could provide the optimal solution.

The researchers analysed two lunar regolith simulants representing material from the lunar plains and highlands. Their objective was to determine the materials’ dielectric properties. The simulants were heated from room temperature to their melting point under a nitrogen atmosphere. The researchers found that microwave heating enables lunar regolith to absorb energy more efficiently and much faster than conventional heating methods. As a result, microwave-assisted melting not only improves energy efficiency but also significantly accelerates the process, making it possible to produce high-quality construction materials more effectively.

José Manuel Catalá, Director of the DIMAS-ITACA Laboratory and co-author of the study, added: “In addition to optimising energy consumption, microwave heating accelerates the melting and densification of lunar regolith because it heats the material from within.”

The study was funded by the ViceRectorate for Research at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) through a PAID-06-24 First Research Projects Grant.

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PRINTWAVE

Innovating 3D Food Printing with Simultaneous Microwave Processing

3D printing technology has recently attracted the attention of the food sector by enabling the design of customized foods in terms of dimensional, sensory, and nutritional properties. Three-dimensional food printing (3DFP) is an innovative additive manufacturing (AM) application that uses food 3D printers with edible inks. Unlike conventional 3D printers that use plastics and metals, 3DFPs use food-based inks that can be combined in a variety of ways. Most 3DFPs do not require heat to process food, as they use vegetable pasta, sugar, or chocolate, eliminating the need for pre-consumption heating. However, some food matrices based on vegetables, proteins, or bread doughs require post-printing heat treatment. In this context, a project arises that proposes the integration of a focused microwave (MW) heating mechanism in food 3D printers, allowing more precise spatial control of heat during printing.

This innovation would make it easier to create complex foods with more ingredients and integrate multiple food elements into a single 3D object. Microwave technology is presented as an efficient and ecological alternative for the rapid and homogeneous heating of food, being known for its positive economic and environmental impact. The project, led by a multidisciplinary team from the Universitat Politècnica de València, the Institute of Food Engineering (FoodUPV), and the ITACA Institute (Institute for the Applications of Advanced Information and Communication Technologies), seeks to develop equipment that allows layer-by-layer cooking of food in a targeted and controlled manner through the combination of 3D printing and microwave technologies.

The collaboration between these groups has already resulted in the filing of a joint patent (P202330889) for this equipment. One of the highlights of the project is its approach to sustainability and circularity in the food industry. The use of a microwave heating mechanism and the development of customized food inks from by-products or surpluses from the food industry represent a significant advance in resource management. Not only does this strategy reduce waste, but it also adds value to materials that would otherwise be discarded, contributing to circularity by closing the life cycle of these components.

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i3DAM

Innovation in Personalized and Sustainable Foods: 3D Printer with MW Integration

The I3DAM project aims to develop a 3D food printer with integrated microwave thermal processing for on-site food cooking, layer-by-layer, during printing, in an environment similar to a real-world setting. Technical and commercial feasibility will be demonstrated with a prototype certified for electromagnetic emissions and food safety, capable of printing and cooking foods based on new food inks developed for this application.

The problem of sustainable food supply at a global level is one of the most critical and urgent challenges of the 21st century. The growing global population, projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, along with the limitation of natural resources and the effects of climate change, has placed unprecedented pressure on global food systems. Food production and distribution must evolve to become more efficient, equitable, and environmentally friendly.

In this context, 3D food printing arises as a innovative technology with the potential to radically transform the way of producing and consuming food, introducing culinary innovations, improving personalized nutrition and promoting sustainability.

Recently (October 31, 2023), the project leaders, researchers from the ITACA Institute and the Food Engineering Institute (FoodUPV) at UPV, patented (P202330889) an innovative device that combines 3D printing and microwave cooking, capable of thermally process food, layer-by-layer in a targeted and controlled manner, all within the same printing device, addressing some of the most relevant challenges in these techniques.

This patent is the first for this process, during which it is expected that additional patents from the same family will be added as this innovative technology continues being developed.

 

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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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