Disclosed is an apparatus and methods for sintering particulate to make a workpiece.

An apparatus for direct reduction of iron ore in a solid state including a pre-heating furnace for pre-heating iron ore fragments and biomass in briquettes of these materials to a temperature in the range of 400-900° C.; and a reduction assembly for briquettes from the pre-heating furnace. The reduction assembly includes a reaction chamber, a source of electromagnetic energy in the form of microwave energy, a wave guide for transferring microwave energy to the chamber for heating and reducing iron ore in briquettes from the pre-heating furnace, with biomass acting as a reductant, a source of an inert gas, pipework for supplying the inert gas to the chamber to maintain the chamber under anoxic conditions, and an outlet for discharging an offgas and any retained particulates that are generated in the chamber.

A continuous process provides direct reduction of iron ore in a solid state. Briquettes of iron ore fragments and biomass are transported through a preheating chamber and preheated to a temperature of at least 400° C. The preheated briquettes are transported through a heating/reduction chamber that has an anoxic environment, and iron ore and biomass in the briquettes are exposed to electromagnetic energy in the form of microwave energy under anoxic conditions. Microwave energy generates heat within iron ore, and biomass acts as a reductant and reduces iron ore in a solid state, as the briquettes move through the heating/reduction chamber.

Systems and methods for fabrication of ceramics from celestial materials using microwave sintering and mechanical compression for space mining applications are disclosed. In one aspect, a chamber for sintering loose mineral material into solid ceramic shapes includes a plurality of zirconia insulting plates configured to clamp the mineral material and forming a cavity in which the mineral loose material is contained, and at least one dipole array configured to generate microwave energy and apply the microwave energy to the mineral material.

The furnace system for controlling of individual temperature through selectively radiating of electromagnetic waves according to the present invention comprises: a heating body unit for heating a melt to a predetermined temperature; a heating sensing unit for selectively measuring the internal temperature of the heating body unit to calculate predetermined temperature information; a heating cover unit that selectively covers the heating body unit to prevent a predetermined heat from being diffused to the outside so that the melt maintains a predetermined temperature; and a radiating unit receiving the predetermined temperature information from the heating sensing unit and selectively irradiating a predetermined electromagnetic wave so that the melt becomes the predetermined temperature.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a heating furnace that sufficiently exhibits the microwave effect produced by microwave heating and allows economical heating taking advantage of the characteristics of each heating method. The provided microwave composite heating furnace (1) is equipped with: a housing (10); a heating container (11) for accommodating and heating an object to be heated; a heating means (12) for heating the heating container (11) from the outside; a microwave irradiation device (13); a to-be-heated object supplying device (14) that supplies the object to be heated to the inside of the heating container (11); a gas introducing means (15) for introducing gas into the heating container (11); and a gas recovery means (16) for recovering the gas generated when heating the object to be heated. The heating container (11) comprises a material that has high electrical conductivity so as to reflect microwaves and confine the microwaves inside and that has high heat resistance so as not to react with the heated object, thereby confining microwaves irradiated into the heating container (11) not through the outer wall of the heating container, and allowing an improvement in electromagnetic field density.

A sintering apparatus is provided. The sintering apparatus includes a case having an internal space formed therein and including a door provided in a front portion thereof to open and close the internal space, a magnetron coupled to the case and oscillating microwaves toward the internal space, a heat insulating unit disposed in the internal space to form a chamber space and blocking transmission of heat of the chamber space to the internal space, a susceptor unit disposed in the chamber space and having a sintering space in which a to-be-sintered material is accommodated, and a cooling unit cooling at least one of the case or the chamber space.

In order to obtain an electromagnetic transmission device and an electromagnetic transmission system that emit high-power continuous microwaves stably onto a material or an irradiation target in electromagnetic heating systems and electromagnetic power transmission systems that are required to emit electromagnetic waves such as high-power microwaves, the electromagnetic transmission device, the power amplification device, and the electromagnetic transmission system emit, onto an irradiation target, electromagnetic waves that are modulated by a repeating pulse with a predetermined transmission duty cycle, or electromagnetic waves that are modulated by a repeating pulse with a predetermined transmission duty cycle and are amplified.

A microwave heating apparatus is provided herein comprising a tubing conduit consisting of two or more removable bend portions connected to each other. The tubing conduit is supported by a support system. Each removable bend portion includes a microwave emitter to heat a fluid flowing through the conduit. The apparatus can replace or be integrated into existing heating equipment used in, for example, steam cracking of hydrocarbons. Also provided are pipe segments, such as spools, that are adapted for heating a fluid by applying microwave energy. The pipe segments can be lined with microwave absorbing materials and comprise an opening through which an insert comprising a microwave emitter can be removably inserted and retained.

The present invention relates to a microwave melting apparatus and system for investment casting the metals obtained therefrom. In addition to enhanced production capacity, the system allows for the use of both a broad range of metal alloys and a variety of forms including ingot, scrap, granulated and powdered metals not possible with induction systems generally.