Question

Advanyage of microwave heating over conventional method

Answer 1

Advantages of microwave heating over conventional thermal heating
Microwave irradiation has several advantages compared to conventional thermal heating of reactants. Conventional thermal heating usually involves the use of a furnace or oil bath, which heats the walls of the reactor by convection or conduction. The core of the sample takes much longer to achieve the desired temperature and as a result the sample is not heated uniformly as with microwave heating. Energy is also wasted in heating the furnace or oil bath. The introduction of microwave energy into a chemical reaction which has at least one component which can couple with the microwaves can lead to much higher heating rates compared with conventional heating. As microwave energy is introduced into the sample remotely, there is no direct contact between the energy source and the sample. Microwave dielectric heating resembles a flash heating process where the energy is produced much more rapidly and the sample cools more rapidly at the end of the reaction. This leads to very different temperature-time profiles compared with conventional heating which may lead to significantly different products.
Use of Micr