It is estimated that the chemical industry accounts for around 40% of the Japanese manufacturing sector’s total energy consumption. Within that industry, particularly large amounts of energy are consumed in operations that involve heating, such as reactions, cracking, distilling, and drying.

In these heating operations, energy is transferred via the transmission of thermal energy, which occurs in three forms: thermal conduction, convection, and radiation. Thermal conduction is a phenomenon whereby heat is transmitted inside a solid or stationary fluid, from the hot side to the cold side. One example of this from the chemical industry is when a heat transfer medium such as steam passes through a heat exchanger or jacketed reactor: the heat is transferred to the vessel itself and its temperature rises. Convection refers to heat being transferred by the movement of fluids. Examples include solid bodies being heated by blowing hot air onto them, or boilers where heat is transferred by the actual substance being heated receiving thermal energy from a heat transfer surface and moving.

Radiation occurs when thermal energy is transmitted through space by infrared rays (which, like microwaves, is a type of electromagnetic waves). An example of this is a naphtha cracking furnace for ethylene production, which makes use of radiant heat from the flames when gas is combusted.

All the above methods share the feature that the transfer of thermal energy requires a heat source hotter than the object to be heated. And this must be done either via a vessel holding the material to be heated (examples include a liquid passing through a heat exchanger, a liquid in a reactor, or a fluid passing through the tube of a cracking furnace), or via direct contact with a fluid heat source. We refer to these methods as ‘conventional’ heating.

Microwave heating, in contrast, is a method that uses a completely different means of energy transfer. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves, propagating through changes in electric / magnetic fields. Electromagnetic waves are classified according to their frequency (wavelength) into x-rays, ultraviolet rays, visible light, infrared rays, and radio waves. Radio waves which have frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz (or wavelengths of between 1 m and 1 mm) are known as microwaves.

Microwaves can transfer energy directly to dielectrics*, so the actual object being heated behaves like the heat sources in conventional heating. This means that unlike conventional heating, there is no need for a heat source hotter than the object to be heated, which in turn means that the processes and equipment can be expected to be more effective than those of the past.

* The IEC defines microwave heating as “to heat dielectric materials by generating heat through mainly their molecular motion and their ionic conduction”. In reality, dielectrics are not the only things that can be heated by microwave, but here we are considering microwave heating in its narrow sense.

Our vision
To reinvent a chemical industry which has remained unchanged for over a century and transform the world of manufacturing. To make the microwave process a global standard.

The chemical industry supplies raw materials to various fields, from food and clothing through pharmaceuticals to aviation. It accounts for about 30% of the entire industrial sector’s energy consumption, and 17% of its CO₂ emissions.
Changing how we produce chemicals could affect the whole manufacturing sector.
At MWCC, we have developed unique technologies utilizing the same microwaves as used in microwave ovens. We will innovate the world of manufacturing by promoting the use of microwave processes, not just in Japan but also globally.