Microwave-Assisted Concrete Technology : Production, Demolition and Recycling

Microwave heating is rapidly replacing conventional heating technologies used in many industries including food processing, timber drying, ceramic fabrication and processing, and mining. It can readily be used in the concrete industry. This reference book covers the design of industrial microwave heating generators and applicators, as well as various process control techniques to monitor the condition of fresh and hardened concrete during the heating process.

Microwave Technology: A Powerful Technique

The first book to combine microwave-assisted heating technology and concrete technology (covering production, demolition, and recycling), Microwave-Assisted Concrete Technology: Production, Demolition and Recycling explains the underlying concepts and fundamentals involved in the microwave-assisted heating of concrete. While most books on microwave heating focus on the behavior of microwaves, this text centers on the response of materials subjected to microwaves, and specifically concentrates on materials used in the concrete industry. A ready reference for the design of microwave-based equipment, the book describes how microwave-assisted heating technology may be harnessed in the production, demolition, and recycling of concrete. It covers microwave-assisted applications, the design concepts of microwave heating systems (generators and applicators) used in microwave-assisted concrete-processing methods, and process control techniques used to monitor the condition of concrete during the heating process.

The book is written from the perspective of modern practitioners in the construction industry, and addresses the technological, scientific, and environmental issues involved in replacing conventional approaches with microwave heating. The authors categorize the applications of microwave heating in concrete technology into three areas: microwave-assisted accelerated curing of concrete, microwave-assisted selective demolition and drilling of concrete, and the microwave-assisted recycling of concrete. They discuss sustainability and the environmental impact of incorporating sustainable concrete production, demolition, and recycling using microwave-assisted heating technologies, and environmentally friendly microwave heating applications.

• The basics of concrete-microwave field interactions
• Microwave-assisted concrete technologies for use in the production, demolition, and recycling of concrete as well as the control mechanisms required to ensure the efficiency of these methods
• The design of microwave heating applicators

does not require a familiarity with electromagnetism science and can be easily understood by civil engineers as well as by readers with little or no engineering background.