NETL’s Microwave-Catalysis Studies: From Fundamentals to Scale-Up

The addition of microwaves to various chemical and material processes has recently received an increasing amount of interest in energy-related applications, including enhanced catalytic conversion of hydrocarbon resources. Variables such as frequency, power, and catalyst composition have significant effects on microwave chemistry. What is less known are the nuances of the material properties and their interactions with the microwave field. Due to the complex nature of catalyst systems, an in-depth study is needed on the various interactions these materials have with a microwave field. Researchers at NETL are pursuing several parallel lines of study to characterize and measure these microwave-material interactions as well as looking ahead to the scaling of these chemical processes more fully.