Energy Efficiency in Rocks Comminution using High Power Microwaves
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Uppsala universitet - Avdelningen för fasta tillståndets elektronik |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 500 000 |
| Project duration | March 2019 - December 2019 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | The strategic innovation programme for Swedish mining and metal producing industry - SIP Swedish Mining Innovation |
| Call | Strategic innovation programme for mining and metal producing industry – 2018 |
Important results from the project
We have fulfilled the main goal of the project, investigating the potential of using high power microwaves for rocks comminution. We have gained know-how and gathered evidence of energy efficiency using microwaves for rocks comminution. We have established a collaboration with two industrial partners and together, we have submitted a full-scale project, entitled: “: Mikrovågor för hållbar mineralutvinning - Sustainable Microwave Mineral Processing”, project number 2019-05171.
Expected long term effects
We have gathered evidence of energy-efficient rocks comminution and established a collaboration between Scandinova AB, Uppsala University and Percy Roc AB, a spin-off to commercialise microwave technology for rocks comminution. Using the high power microwave sources available at Uppsala University, FREIA laboratory, we could evaluate the impact of microwaves on rock crushing and measured the force and energy used. The reduction of the force applied and energy used are in the 90% levels.
Approach and implementation
The project resulted in gaining know-how on microwave rock comminution: (i) materials characterization, (ii) power levels, (iii) hardware needed, (iv) control and process monitoring and (v) industrial collaborations needed for the implementation of a full-scale project. Rocks comminution using high power microwave have potentially the following benefits: (i) greater selectivity (cracks at material boundaries), (ii) energy efficiency (90%), (iii) integration in complementarity to existing equipment, (iv) reduced wear of equipment, (v) no vibrations and (vi) no contact.