A high-power microwave continuous cracking system for hard ores

A pilot continuous high power microwave treatment system with a double-tube structure (to give adjustable ore thickness) and automatic reflection adjustment was designed. Sishanling granular iron ore was used as a research object. The action parameters of the system were designed and optimized and their rationality verified experimentally. The results of numerical simulation show that the position of the short-circuit plate has little effect on the uniformity of the temperature distribution, and the double-tube structure (pipe diameters 16 and 6 cm) and double-sided radiation can improve the heating uniformity of the ore. Compared to other particle sizes, when the size of the ore particles is 0–14 mm, the power critical point for large-scale arc phenomenon is higher (80 kW). The microwaves in a double-tube structure (pipe diameters 16 and 6 cm) significantly improved the efficiency of the ball milling and dissociation processes compared with a single-tube structure (pipe diameter 20 cm). Finally, a design scheme is proposed for ores with different microwave sensitivities (pipe diameters and ore particle sizes).