polynSPIRE

In recent years, interest in plastics recycling as an alternative to reduce dependence on fossil fuels has increased. Against this background, chemical recycling has been presented as a promising strategy to maximize the recycling rate, although this technology has disadvantages such as high energy consumption. In addition, the potential environmental benefits of recycling can be reduced if conventional heating technologies are used to provide this energy. As a possible alternative to minimize the harmful effects on the environment, the substitution of conventional heating technologies with microwave heating (MW) can bring important benefits. From this perspective, the aim of the current work is to design and optimize a MW-assisted reactor for polymer recycling that uses up to eight ports emitting electromagnetic waves at two different frequencies and simulates the physical process of material heating inside the container.