The depolymerization process of DEMETO occurs in the reactor. There, the chemical reaction is intensified and accelerated by microwaves (MW) that act as a sort of catalytic effect. A better homogeneity of the MW field allows an increase of flow of the processed material, thus a better reactor efficiency: this is one of the critical aspects where the team of SUPSI is focusing their effort in this phase of the DEMETO project.
SUPSI is working in close collaboration with the engineers of SYNESIS, GR3N and F&M in order to develop an electromagnetic /thermodynamic model of the microwave cavity, of the MW power generators and of the thermal management system, optimized according to the project requirements. The task is particularly challenging due to the technical and economic goals.
During the first phase of the project SUPSI has followed a wide approach in order to identify the optimal MW designs to achieve the project goals. After a technical discussion with the partners, the most promising design of the cavity was identified and is now under development.
The next steps will be on the fine-tuning of the developed models by means of an in-depth measurement campaign with quasi-real working conditions, conducted on the full-scale prototype of a single core reactor.