Pyrolysis of Heavy Hydrocarbons Under Microwave Heating of Catalysts and Adsorbents

The main features of high temperature chemical reactions under microwave (MW) heating have been considered. The efficiency of the MW power to heat conversion in a MW cavity is estimated, theoretically and experimentally, for different substances and conditions. The new approaches for MW processing of high-molecular hydrocarbons are proposed: (i) thermal decomposition in contact with microwave absorbing catalyst particles placed into liquid substrate; (ii) cracking of hydrocarbons pre-absorbed inside porous granules under rapid MW heating of adsorbent. It has been experimentally found that these approaches provide non-traditional conditions of reaction and can lead to the formation of valuable chemical products.