Selective Enhancement of Specific Reaction Pathways Using Microwave Energy
January 4th, 1995
Paper to the Institution of Chemical Engineers 1995 Research Event/First European Conference, Edinburgh, 4th-6th January 1995.
S F Bush with J M Methven
Abstract
The rate of crosslinking of a BF3-amine-epoxy-glass fibre composite manufactured by Microwave Assisted Pultrusion (MAP) is increased over that for the average (bulk) temperature of the mixture by a factor of at least 3. This is accounted for by postulating a non-equilibrated temperature in the system of at least 80K that originates from the significantly higher dielectric loss of the amine complex compared with that of the epoxy resin. It is proposed that a general class of systems in which specific reaction pathways can be selected using microwave energy is that where there is an uneasy compromise between a high temperature to achieve an industrially useful overall rate and a low temperature to avoid decomposition through parasitic side reactions.