Industrial application of microwave, as a heating source for material processing, was reviewed. The feasibility ofcarbothermic reduction of zinc oxide concentrate, as well as the effect of operating parameters was investigated,using a home style microwave oven at 2.45 GHz. Zinc oxide concentrate does not effectively absorb microwaveenergy, while any source of carbon, which is used as the reduction agent, absorbs microwave energy very well. In thisrespect coke breeze was found to be the best, and thus, coke was used both as the reducing agent and the absorbentof microwave energy. It was also found that any increase in the carbon content and size, increases the reductionrate. Increasing the microwave power and the size of the sample could also increase the reduction rate. Furtherinvestigation shows that when zinc oxide is exposed to the microwave for some time, the rate of the reduction byconventional method increases.
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