Microwave Heating Performances of Eucalyptus Camaldulensis Leaves with Silicon Carbide for Biofuel Upgrading

Article Microwave Heating Performances of Eucalyptus Camaldulensis Leaves with Silicon Carbide for Biofuel Upgrading Faizan Ahmad, Muhammad Kashif, Wenke Zhao and Yaning Zhang * School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 4 December 2024; Revised: 31 December 2024; Accepted: 2 January 2025; Published: 9 January 2025 Abstract: Microwave heating is an efficient and effective heating method for upgrading biofuels. This study investigated the heating performance of eucalyptus camaldulensis leaves with and without silicon carbide (SiC) in a microwave chamber. The effects of quartz reactor volume (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 mL), microwave power (400, 450, 500, 550, and 600 W), and SiC amount (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 g) on the heating performance were analyzed. The result showed that as the quartz reactor volume increased from 50 to 250 mL, the average heating rate of eucalyptus leaves without SiC decreased from 153.2 to 47.2 °C/min, while with SiC, it decreased from 366.8 to 106.2 °C/min. As the microwave power increased from 400 to 600 W, the average heating rate of eucalyptus leaves without SiC increased from 73.3 to 197.4 °C/min, and with SiC, it increased from 138.6 to 352.4 °C/min. When SiC amount increased from 0 to 10 g, the average heating rate of eucalyptus leaves increased from 73.9 to 352.4 °C/min. Relationships were proposed to describe the microwave heating performances of eucalyptus camaldulensis leaves with R2 of 0.9953–0.9999.