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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.

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

50 Companies and Universities from all over the world have used the Dielectric Properties Measurement Service at DIMAS-ITACA

PepsiCo, the Spanish Royal Mint (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), and Stanford University are among the more than 50 renowned companies, universities, and tech centers from around the world that have used the dielectric property measurement service provided by DIMAS-ITACA lab at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), a unique facility developed by its team of researchers.

Dielectric properties are fundamental parameters that define how a material interacts with a microwave field, and therefore they are essential parameters for designing wireless devices, sensors and microwave processing systems within several projects related to different industrial sectors or research lines.

DIMAS-ITACA research team knows the growing demand for fast and accurate measurements and the need of measuring over hundreds of samples per year. That’s the reason why the lab offers highly precise and reliable dielectric measurement services by utilizing the most suitable measurement techniques according to the material specifications (material type, size, shape, frequency, temperature, etc.).

ITACA-DIMAS also offers cost-effective stand-alone highly precise dielectric measurement systems for different types of materials.

Recently, Fuminao Kisimoto, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical System Engineering at the Universidad de Tokio, has concluded a stage at DIMAS-ITACA lab with his team to explore the possibilities of the measurement equipment.

50 Companies and Universities from all over the world have used the Dielectric Properties Measurement Service at DIMAS-ITACA Read More »

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 »

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