Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Simulation analysis of microwave sintering of recycled building bricks

based on three-phase porous medium model
Junxi Cheng a, b, Zhushan Shao a, b, c, *, Yan Wang c, Wei Wei c, Yuan Yuan c
a
School of civil engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, Xi’an 710055, China
b
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Geotechnical & Underground Space Engineering, Xi’an 710055, China
c
School of science, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, Xi’an 710055, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The visualization and quantification characteristics of numerical simulation can overcome many obstacles caused
Recycled building bricks by experimental conditions and contribute to the development of the microwave sintering mechanism of recycled
Microwave sintering building bricks (RBB). However, existing research has paid little attention to the numerical simulation of the
Three-phase porous medium
microwave sintering of RBB. This study considers the phase transition and mass transfer of three-phase porous
Electric field distribution
Temperature field
media, and establishes a fully coupled model of electromagnetic, heat transfer, and three-phase porous media to
study the thermal behavior of RBB under microwave irradiation. The results indicate that the electric field inside
the cavity exists in a non-uniform form with high and low energy regions. The addition of RBB will see a
redistribution of the electric field in the cavity. The non-uniform distribution of electric field and the selective
heating of microwaves result in the appearance of hot and cold regions inside RBB during sintering. Phase
transition and mass transfer are beneficial for improving the uniformity of temperature field. The geometric size
and position of RBB will affect the uniformity of the temperature field of RBB, and adding SiC board can be
effective to improve the uniformity.

1. Introduction field [12]. It is a fast and efficient volumetric heating mode[13]. In

As one of the disposal measures for engineering spoil, recycled
building bricks (RBB) have demonstrated significant economic and
environmental benefits [1–5]. The strength formation of RBB depends
on the high-temperature phase transition of the mineral, and a heat
source is required during the manufacturing process. However, tradi­
tional sintering technology generally suffers from high pollution [6],
high energy consumption [7], and low efficiency [8]. Microwave sin­
tering technology has the characteristics of clean, low energy con­
sumption, easy control and efficient heating mechanism, which is more
suitable for automation and continuous production than conventional
sintering methods[9–11]. Meanwhile, microwave sintering technology
is constructive to reduce the waste of clay resources and high emissions
in the traditional sintered brick industry.
Conventional sintering transfers the energy provided by the heat
source to the material from the outside to the inside through thermal
conduction, convection, and radiation. Microwave sintering, on the
other hand, generates power dissipation and completes energy conver­
sion through the mutual coupling of the material and electromagnetic
addition to factors such as microwave frequency and power, the effi­
ciency of microwave sintering also depends on the dielectric properties
of the raw materials. Due to the different dielectric and thermophysical
parameters of various materials, different losses of microwave energy
can occur, resulting in different temperature rises. RBB is made from the
sintered green body, which mixed construction spoil and a certain
proportion of water. RBB can effectively absorb microwave energy
because the Al2O3 and alkali metal oxide components commonly present
in clay-based materials have the characteristics of conductivity loss[14].
Great progress was made in the manufacturing of recycled building
materials using microwave technology with extensive researches con­
ducted in recent years. Gabriela et al. [8,15] used sugarcane bagasse
/rice husk ash instead of 40 wt% red clay as the raw material to compare
the differences in materials and technics of manufacturing lightweight
aggregates between conventional sintering technology and microwave
sintering technology. In addition, both Guo et al. [16] and Taurino et al.
[17] studied the application of microwave sintering technology in
recycled building materials. However, the raw material used is clay, and
the research still remains focused on the macroscopic characteristic

* Corresponding author at: School of civil engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, Xi’an 710055, China.
E-mail address: shaozhushan@xauat.edu.cn (Z. Shao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2024.134956
Received 24 June 2023; Received in revised form 21 December 2023; Accepted 7 January 2024
Available online 16 January 2024
0950-0618/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Cheng et al.
analysis. Cheng et al. [7] used engineering spoil as the raw material for
RBB and analyzed the effect of microwave irradiation on material
properties. As the experiment can only monitor the surface temperature
of the sample, the distribution and evolution of the electromagnetic and
temperature fields within the sample cannot be observed [18]. The
delayed temperature monitoring that may be induced by high-power
and long term microwave sintering process can cause significant er­
rors in results [17], the phenomena of hot spots [19–21]and heat con­
centration [22–24] occurred in some research have not been
scientifically addressed, which poses many obstacles to the development
of current research. Therefore, it is necessary to take the advantages of
numerical simulation visualization and quantification [25] to conduct
further research on the mechanism of microwave sintering of RBB.
It can be seen that the majority of numerical simulation studies on
microwave sintering focus on food, ceramics, and minerals, with little
attention paid to the RBB. However, there are still some studies in
similar directions that are worth learning from. Peng et al. [26] used the
explicit finite difference method to establish a one-dimensional micro­
wave heating model of magnetite plate considering heat convection,
heat conduction and heat radiation, predicting the temperature field
distribution in the magnetite plate, and studied the migration law of the
temperature peak. The idealized assumptions and parameter settings of
this model lack guiding significance for practical application. In fact, the
dielectric properties of materials are closely related to microwave fre­
quency and temperature, rather than being constant [27–29]. Rattana­
decho et al. [30] used the finite difference time domain method (FDTD)
to solve the transient Maxwell equation. By considering the correlation
between wood dielectric properties and temperature during the iterative
Fig. 1. Microwave equipment and geometric model of numerical simulation.
2
Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956
process, the more accurate electromagnetic field and power loss were
determined. However, the model did not consider the impact of phase
transition of water. Kumar et al.[31] developed a porous medium model
to discuss the changes in vapor pressure and evaporation in food during
intermittent microwave convective drying. However, in order to
simplify the calculation, the above studies have assumed the model to be
a symmetric structure, which differs significantly from the actual
situation.
RBB is a multiphase porous medium, and the microwave sintering
includes complex changes such as electromagnetic heating, heat transfer
in porous medium, phase transition, and mass transfer. At present, there
is no model to completely describe the process of microwave sintering
RBB. This study aims to establish a fully coupled model for electro­
magnetic, heat transfer, and three-phase porous media. The thermal
behavior of RBB under microwave irradiation is studied based on this
model, providing more reference for future research and application.
2. Numerical model
2.1. Geometric model
This study established a microwave reactor model (Fig. 1) in the 1:1
ratio based on the CY-MU1000C-L microwave furnace used in the
experiment. The rectangular cavity is made of stainless steel, with length
(Lc) and width (Bc) of 420 mm and height (Hc) of 320 mm. There is an
insulation layer (made of aluminum oxide) with a thickness of 150 mm
in the heating cavity, which can block the heat transfer with the outside.
Two waveguides with section size of 83.36 mm × 43.18 mm are on the
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

back and bottom surface of the cavity. The geometric size of RBB is the 3. Governing equations
standard brick size (240 mm × 115 mm×53 mm) as in the specification
[32]. 3.1. Electromagnetic equation

2.2. Problem description and assumptions The electromagnetic field at any point in the microwave heating
cavity can be calculated by Maxwell’s equations [2]. In the frequency
This study focuses on microwave sintering of three-phase porous domain, the control equation for electric field intensity can be written
media. During the sintering process, the electromagnetic field, temper­ as：
ature field, and phase transition coexist and work simultaneously. The ⎧ ( ( )
→) jσ →
finite element method in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5 was adopted to ⎪
⎪
⎨ ∇ × μr
− 1
∇ × E − k0 2 εr − E =0
ωε0
solve the coupling of multiple physical fields. The heat source of the (1)
⎪ √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ ω
system is the electromagnetic wave generated by the magnetron, which ⎪
⎩ k0 = ω ε0 μ0 =
acts on the heating cavity through waveguides. Then the medium in the c0
cavity will see electromagnetic vibration under the action of micro­ →
waves, generating heat. The increase in the temperature of medium can where, ∇ is the Laplace operator, μr is the relative permeability， E is
trigger heat transfer, convection, and radiation. At the same time, the the electric field intensity (V/m), ε0 is the dielectric constant in vac­
porous medium experiences phase transition and mass transfer, uum；εr is the relative dielectric constant, j is the vector coefficient, σ is
( )
affecting the distribution of the temperature field. The system follows the conductivity S • m− 1 , ω is the angular frequency，μ0 is the mag­
the conservation of energy, mass and momentum. The changes in tem­ netic permeability in vacuum, C0 is the speed of light in vacuum(m/s).
perature and humidity can affect the dielectric properties of materials， Energy loss occurs when microwaves pass through a medium with
which leads to the refreshing of electromagnetic field in the cavity. The dielectric loss, and certain electromagnetic energy is converted into
entire process repeats multiple times to complete the fully coupled thermal energy in the medium. The energy generation by microwave,
calculation of multiple physical fields (Fig. 2). Qm (W/m3), given by：
As the raw material of RBB, the physical and chemical properties of
Qm = Qrh + Qml (2)
engineering spoil are similar to the silty loess, but certain differences
remain in particle size and compound content. Besides, engineering where, Qrh is resistive loss (W/m3), and Qml is magnetic loss (W/m3). In
spoil usually contains a small amount of impurities [7]. The sintering of this study, the magnetic loss is negligible, so there are Qml = 0.
RBB involves complex electromagnetic excitation, heat transfer in The resistive loss can be calculated as:
porous media, phase transition and mass transfer. Therefore, reasonable
simplification of the problem is required to reduce computational time. Qrh =
1→ ̅→
J ⋅ E∗ (3)
Based on researches in similar directions [14,18], the following as­ 2
sumptions are made in this study：. → ⇀
where, E∗ is the conjugate of E . J is the current density (A/m2), which
⇀

1. Frequency fluctuations is neglected during the magnetron operation. can be expressed as:
2. All media in the study are non-magnetic materials, ignoring mag­ → →
J = 2πf ε0 ε′ E (4)
netic interactions between materials.
3. The rectangular port is excited by transverse electric (TE) waves,
where, f is the microwave frequency (Hz), ε0 is the dielectric constant
with no electric field components in the direction of transmission.
in vacuum; ε′ is the dielectric loss factor of the medium.
4. Chemical reaction is overlooked during RBB sintering process.
Through Eqs. (2)–(4), it can be known that in this study, the energy
5. The physical properties of RBB and SiC boards are isotropic.
generated by microwaves can be expressed as:
6. The gas flow between the insulation box and the outside is ignored.
Qm = πf ε0 ε′ |E|2 (5)

Fig. 2. Fully coupled electromagnetic, thermal and phase transfer model for microwave sintering of recycled building bricks.

3
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

3.2. Conversation equations where, vf is the velocity of the fluid relative to the solid matrix (m/s), kf
is the inherent permeability of the fluid (m2), kr,f is the permeability of
The dielectric in the model is RBB that has been preliminarily dried. the fluid relative to the solid matrix, μf is the dynamic viscosity of the
Based on our previous research on the thermal properties of the con­ fluid (Pa⋅s), Pf is the pressure of the fluid (MPa).
struction spoil, it can be determined that there is residual moisture in In the model, the sintering process follows mass conservation, and
RBB [7]. Therefore, the multiphase heating and heat transfer during the volume flow was considered in all phases. In addition, capillary diffu­
sintering process was considered. The solid matrix, residual water, air sion of water and binary diffusion of vapor in air are also considered.
and water vapor inside RBB can be divided into solid phase, liquid The mass balance equations for water in the liquid phase, gas phase and
phase, and gas phase (Fig. 3). vapor components in gas phases are defined as [34,35]:
In this study, the RBB is simplified as two phases of solid and fluid, ( )
∂cw kw kr,w
and the volume ΔV of identity element can be expressed as: + ∇ − ρw ∇P − Dc ∇cw = − I˙ (15)
∂t μw
ΔV = ΔVs + ΔVf (6) ( )
∂cg kw kr,w
− ∇ ρw ∇P = I˙ (16)
where, ΔVs is the volume of the solid phase，ΔVf is the volume of the ∂t μw
fluid phase.
( ) ( )
The apparent porosity ∅ is calculated from the volume fraction of the ∂ cg wv kg kr,g
liquid and gas phases, and can be expressed as: + ∇ − ρg w v ∇P − ϕρg Sg Deffg ∇wv = I˙ (17)
∂t μg
ΔVw + ΔVg
ϕ= (7) where, ωv is the mass fraction of water vapor, Dc is the capillary diffusion
ΔV
rate (m2/s), Deffg is the binary diffusion rate of steam in air (m2/s), İ is
Saturation Sw and Sg of water and gas is defined as the percentage of
phase transition (kg/m3s). The mass balance Eq. (17) of the vapor
the volume of the phase in the total pore volume,
components in gas phase can be adopted to solve ωv . The total pressure P
Sw =
ΔVw
(8) of the gas phase can be solved through the mass balance Eq. (16) of the
ϕΔV gas phase.
The mass flux of the liquid phase, the gas phase and the vapor
ΔVg components relative to the solid matrix can be expressed as [33]：
Sg = (9)
ϕΔV
kw kr,w kw kr,w ( )
nw = − ρw ∇Pw = − ρw ∇ Pg − Pc
Sw + Sg = 1 (10) μw μw
The mass concentration of water, gas and vapor components in the = − ρw
kw kr,w
∇Pg + − ρw
kw kr,w
∇Pc
gas phase can be calculated by the following equation： μw μw
kw kr,w ∂Pc
cw = ϕρw Sw (11) = ρw v w + ρw ∇cw
μw ∂cw
cg = ϕρg Sg (12) kw kr,w ∂Pc
where, the capillary diffusion rate is defined as Dc = − ρw μw ∂cw ,
cv = ϕρv Sg (13) therefore,
nw = ρw vw − Dc ∇cw (18)
where, cw is the mass concentration of water (kg/m3), cg is the mass
concentration of the gas phase (kg/m3), cv is the mass concentration of
kg kr,g
the vapor component in the gas phase (kg/m3), ρw is the density of water ng = − ρg ∇Pg (19)
μg
(kg/m3), ρg is the density of the gas (kg/m3), ρv is the density of vapor
(kg/m3). nv = ρv vv − ϕρg Sg Deffg ∇wv (20)
The mass transfer during the sintering process is driven by the
pressure generated by the transformation of residual moisture into The heat transfer during the sintering process also follows the energy
vapor. The entire process follows the conservation of momentum, which conservation. As the thermal equilibrium existed among the various
can be expressed by Darcy low replacing the Navier Stokes equation as phases of RBB, the energy balance equation is represented as [36]：
[33]:
∂T ∑ ( ( )) ( )
ρeff Cp,eff + ni ∇ Cp,i T = ∇ Keff ∇T − λI˙ + Qmic (21)
kf kr,f ∂t i=w,a,v
vf = − ∇Pf (14)
μf
where, ρeff is the effective density (kg/m3), Cp,eff is the effective heat
capacity (J/kg⋅K), T is the temperature (K)，ni is mass flux(m2/s), Cp,i is
the heat capacity of phase i (J/kg⋅K), Keff is the effective thermal con­
ductivity (W/m⋅K), and λ is the latent heat of evaporation (J/kg).
The thermal physical properties of RBB will change with the volume
fraction of each phase during the sintering process. Therefore, the
effective density, effective heat capacity, and effective thermal con­
ductivity of RBB can be calculated based on the volume and mass frac­
tion of each phase:
⎧ ( )
⎨ ρeff = (1 − ϕ)ρs + ϕ Sw(ρw + Sg ρg )
C = ms Cps + mw Cpw + (mg wv Cpv + w)a Cpa (22)
⎩ p,eff
Keff = (1 − ϕ)Ks + ϕ Sw Kw + Sg Kg

Fig. 3. Multiphase porous model of recycled building brick. where, Cps , Cpw , Cpv , Cpa is the heat capacity of solid matrix, water, vapor

4
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

and air respectively (J/kg⋅K). ms , mw , mg is the mass fraction of solid The dielectric properties of the mixture are represented by the
matrix, water and gas phase, wa is the mass fraction of air in the gas Landau and Lifshitz Looyenga equation (LLLE) as [34]：
phase, which can be determined by wa = 1 − wv . Ks , Kw , Kg , is the heat ∑
ε= ai εi (30)
conductivity coefficient of solid matrix, water and gas phase respectively i=s,w,g

(W/m⋅K).
In this study, the phase transition reflects the evaporation rate of where，ai is the volume fraction of phase i，εi is the dielectric property
water. The non-equilibrium equation proposed by Ni et al.[37] was of phase i.
adopted to explicitly represent the phase transition: According to Halder’s research[33], the capillary diffusion rate
( ) (m2/s) of water in the model is a function of the dry moisture content M,
I˙ = Kevap ρv,eq − ρv Sg ϕ (23) which can be expressed as:

where, Kevap is the evaporation rate constant (1/s), ρv,eq is the equilib­ Dc = 10− 8 × exp( − 2.8 + 2M) (31)
rium vapor density (kg/m3), ρv is the vapor density (kg/m3). According to Halder’s research[40], the binary diffusion rate (m2/s)
According to Gulati’s theory, the equilibrium vapor pressure can be of water vapor in air can be defined as:
expressed as [34]: ( )3− ϕ
( ) 2.6 × 10− 5 Sg ϕ
pv,eq = psat exp − 0.0267M − 1.656 + 0.0107e− 1.287M M − 1.513 ln(psat ) (24) Dva = (32)
ϕ
where, M is the dry moisture content [33], which can be expressed as M According to Bruggeman’s correction, the effective diffusion rate of
= ∅Sw ρw /[(1 − ∅)ρs ]. psat is the saturated vapor pressure (Pa), which the gas phase (m2/s) can be defined as a function of gas saturation and
can be expressed as [38]: porosity[43]:
⎡ ⎤ ( )4
5800.2206
+ 1.3915 − 0.0486T + 0.4176 × 10− 4 T 2 ⎥ Deffg = Dva Sg ϕ 3 (33)
⎢−
psat = exp⎣ T ⎦ (25)
The inherent permeability of the gas phase is calculated from the
− 0.01445 × 10− 7 T 3 + 6.656 ln(T)
inherent permeability of water using the Klinkenberg correction factor
[44,45]:
3.3. Boundary condition ( )
0.15kw − 0.37
kg = kw 1 + (34)
p
The thickness of the inner wall of the heating cavity is much smaller
than the space inside the cavity, which is fully sealed during operation, The relative permeability of the liquid phase and gas phase is related
so microwaves do not penetrate the inner wall of the cavity. Therefore, to their respective saturations, which can be expressed as:
the inner wall is simplified as a surface without thickness [4]. By setting ⎧( )3
the impedance boundary adjustment, the interaction between the inner ⎪
⎨ Sw − 0.09 , S > 0.09
(35)
w
wall and microwave radiation is described with the following equation: kw =
⎪
0.91
⎩
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ 0, Sw < 0.09
μ0 μr → → → (→ →)→ (→ →)→ →
n ×H+E− n ⋅E n = n ⋅E n − Es (26)
ε0 εr − jσ/ω {
1.1Sg − 0.1, Sg > 0.09
kg = (36)
→ 0, Sg < 0.09
where, E s is the intensity of the electric field (V/m).
Port boundary conditions was set at the entrance of the waveguide. According to the theories of Kumar et al. [32] and Gulati et al. [46],
The rectangular waveguide in this study is excited by TE waves, the the dynamic viscosity of the liquid phase and gas phase can be expressed
cutoff frequency (Hz) of different operating modes is defined as: as the function of temperature:
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ ( )
c (m)2 (n)2
fc = + (27) − 19.143+1540
T
2 a b μw = ρ w e (37)

where, m and n are the number of modes. For the TE10 mode in this (
T
)0.65
study, m = 1, n = 0. a and b represent the cross-sectional dimensions of μg = 0.017 × 10− 3
(38)
273
rectangular waveguides (cm), and c represents the speed of light (m/s).
The boundary of the port requires a propagation constant, which is
4. Grid
given by the following equation:
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
2π Grid partitioning is an important factor affecting the accuracy of
β= f 2 − fc 2 (28)
c simulation results. Since tetrahedron is suitable for the division of any 3D
shape, unstructured free tetrahedron grid is accepted to divide the geo­
where, f is the microwave frequency (Hz). metric model. The quality of grid cells is an important parameter that
An insulation box was built in the microwave sintering furnace to determines the size of the grid, with element quality 1 being optimal and
reduce the heat loss during the sintering process. Thus, the thermal 0 being element degradation [39]. In order to reduce computational time
convection with the outside is ignored. During transient calculations, the while ensuring the accurate results, 10 grid partitioning schemes were
outer surface of the insulation box is set as thermal insulation, and the designed by controlling the maximum cell size of the grid. Compare the
boundary equation is: Table 1. calculation error values and evolution of the average temperature on the
n⋅(k∇T) = 0 (29) monitoring surface during the sintering process, as shown in Table2 and
Fig. 4. It can be seen that except for No.III, the temperature evolution
curves of the models are relatively close. When the maximum cell size of
3.4. Parameter input the grid is set to c/f/8, the error value is 8.51%. With the refinement of the
grid, the trend of less error values significantly weakens. Therefore, the
The input parameter required to establish the model are listed in maximum grid cell size adopted in this study is c/f/8. Table 2.
Table1. Other parameters will be discussed later.

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J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Table 1
Input parameters for model.
Parameter Value Ref.
2
Dielectric constant of SiC, ε′sic − 0.0002 T + 0.4503 T + 124.26
[39]
Dielectric constant of spoil, ε′s 5.1 measure
Dielectric constant of water, ε′w − 0.2833 T + 80.67
[40]
Dielectric constant of air, ε′a 1
[34]
Dielectric constant of alumina, ε′Al 4.3
[39]
Loss tangent of SiC, tanδsic 5E-10 T3 − 9E-07 T2 + 0.0006 T + 0.2801
[39]
Loss factor of spoil, ε′s 0.07 measure
Loss factor of water, ε′w 0.05 T + 20
[40]
Density of SiC, ρsic 3100 kg/m3
[39]
Density of spoil, ρs 2350 kg/m3 measure
Density of water, ρw 998 kg/m3
[34]
Density of vapor, ρv Idea gas
Density of air, ρa Idea gas
Density of Alumina, ρAl 2770 kg/m3
[39]
Specific heat capacity of SiC, Cpsic 4E-7 T3 − 0.0017 T2 + 2.3729 T + 115.43 J/kg⋅K
[39]
Specific heat capacity of spoil, Cps 900 J/kg⋅K measure
Specific heat capacity of water, Cpw 176.2 − 0.0909(T − 273)+ 5.4731 × 10− 3(T − 273)2 J/kg⋅K
[34]
Specific heat capacity of air, Cpa 1006 J/kg⋅K
[41]
Specific heat capacity of vapor, Cpv 2062 J/kg⋅K
[41]
Specific heat capacity of Alumina, CpAl 885 J/kg⋅K
[39]
Heat conductivity of SiC, Ksic 8E-5 T2 − 0.325 T + 326.69 W/m⋅K
[39]
Heat conductivity of spoil, Ks 0.5 W/m⋅K measure
6
Heat conductivity of water, Kw 0.57109 + 0.0017625 T − 6.7306 × 10− T2 W/m⋅K
[34]
Heat conductivity of air, Ka 0.026 W/m⋅K
[41]
Heat conductivity of vapor, Kv 0.026 W/m⋅K
[41]
Heat conductivity of Alumina, KAl 0.32 W/m⋅K
[39]
Intrinsic permeability of water, kw E-15 m2
[33]
Latent heat of evaporation, λ 2.26E6 J/kg
[31]
Evaporation rate constant, Kevap 1000 1/s
[42]
Porosity, ∅ 0.18 measure
Initial water saturation, Sw 0.087 calculate
Initial mass fraction of vapor, wv Ambient temperature
Initial temperature, T0 273.15 K
Microwave power 1500 W experiment

5. Result and analysis
5.1. Simulation and experimentation comparison
Due to objective conditions, only the surface temperature of the
sample can be monitored during the experiment. To comply with the
actual situation, COMSOL Multiphysics was adopted to calculate the
average temperature evolution on the surface of the RBB with two
water-material ratios over time. After compared with the experimental
values [7], the results were plotted as Fig. 5. It can be seen that the
temperature shows nonlinear growth with parameters that vary with
temperature in the two sets of simulations, and two simulated temper­
ature curves showed the same growth trend as the experimental data.
The sample has a relatively high heating rate in the initial stage, and as
the sintering time increases, the heating rate gradually levels off. The
two curves almost overlap in the first 50 min of the sintering process,
and the final temperatures after 240 min sintering are also close. How­
ever, certain deviation exists within the range of 50 min-200 min. Many
factors may lead to this deviation. Firstly, the measurement of the
experiment involves selecting a limited number of monitoring points
and calculating the average value. However, simulation results are ob­
tained by integrating the surface temperature of the RBB, and temper­
ature gradients can lead to deviation in the experimental results.
Secondly, thermal convection appears between the insulation box and
the outside world in the experiment, while thermal insulation was
defined in the simulation. Finally, due to the unclear relationship be­
tween the dielectric parameters of the construction spoil and tempera­
ture, the samples in the model did not use temperature-dependent
dielectric parameters, and a relatively long sintering time would in­
crease the possibility of errors. For general engineering applications, an
error of less than ± 20% between numerical simulation and experi­
mental data is acceptable [47]. The maximum error between the two
curves is 18.8%, so we believe that the model is accurate enough for
further simulation.
5.2. Electric field redistribution
Fig. 6(a) and (c) show the electric field distribution in the cavity

6
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

(b)), significant gradient change appears among different regions with

alternating high and low energy regions. The maximum value of the
electric field is 23.1 kV/m, and the minimum value is 1.24 kV/m. After
adding RBB (Fig. 6(c)), a portion of the energy emitted by the micro­
wave is absorbed by RBB and energy conversion starts inside the ma­
terial through ion conduction and dipole rotation, generating heat. Thus
the electric field redistributes in both the cavity and the sample space.
The shape, area and size of the high and low energy regions of the
electric field changed, and the electric field gradient decreases. The
maximum value of electric field in the resonant cavity and waveguide
has decreased from 122 kV/m to 106 kV/m. This distribution pattern is
more reasonable and conducive to long-term sintering of multiple
samples, thus effectively reduce the electric field gradient among sam­
ples. In addition, the high-energy and low-energy regions of the electric
field within the sample space (Fig. 6(d)) become more concentrated
after adding RBB, with a maximum value of 24 kV/m and a minimum
value of 2.02 kV/m. This electric field distribution pattern contributes to
energy conversion efficiency, but local hot spots are prone to appear for
individual specimens with larger geometric dimensions.
To further understand the impact of RBB on the electric field, a
Fig. 4. Grid error verification. monitoring line (Fig. 7) is introduced in the Y-axis centerline direction of
RBB, with both ends extending to the inner wall of the insulation box to
Table 2 observe the distribution of the electric field within RBB. The results are
Grid independence analysis. plotted as Fig. 8. It can be seen that microwave oscillate significantly at
No. Maximum Element Grid element quality Sintering the adjacent boundaries of different substances, resulting in errors, such
grid size number
Minimum Average
temperature error as insulation box - air (areas 1–4). Similarly, this phenomenon can also
(%) be observed in Fig. 6(a) and (c). In the unloaded state, the electric field
I c/fa 42231 0.1928 0.6623 - inside the RBB (0.09 m-0.33 m) is basically flat, showing a weak double
II c/f/2 43553 0.1908 0.6693 - peak. The minimum value of the electric field on the monitoring line
III c/f/3 43730 0.2337 0.671 0.141
appears inside the RBB, at 6.53 kV/m. After adding RBB, its electro­
IV c/f/4 53407 0.2231 0.667 0.1546
V c/f/5 77529 0.2136 0.6673 0.1355 magnetic disturbance induces changes in the electric field, generating
VI c/f/6 115947 0.2224 0.6709 0.1316 multiple high-energy regions within RBB. At this point, both the
VII c/f/7 172012 0.1854 0.6726 0.0942 maximum and minimum values of the electric field on the monitoring
VIII c/f/8 247020 0.1811 0.627 0.0851 line appear inside the RBB, with a maximum value of 17.9 kV/m and a
IX c/f/9 345487 0.214 0.6714 0.0838
X c/f/10 485423 0.2 0.6684 0.0837
minimum value of 3.1 kV/m. The feature of selective heating is bene­
ficial for the sintering of RBB. Since the simulation includes changes in
a
c is the speed of light (m/s), and f is the frequency of microwave (Hz). the internal phase field and the dielectric loss of the brick varies with
temperature, it should be noted that the electric field distribution inside
the space is also constantly evolving.

5.3. Effect of phase transition on temperature field

Compared to microwave treatment of general materials, RBB re­

Fig. 5. Comparison of experiment and simulation temperature curves.
without and with the brick. Fig. 6(b) and (d) show the distribution of
electric field in the sample area without and with the brick, where the
direction and magnitude of the electric field are represented by red
vector arrows. Fig. 6(a) shows that after multiple reflections of the mi­
crowave in the inner wall of cavity without brick, a fluctuating electric
field with high and low energy areas is formed. In the sample area (Fig. 6
quires a longer sintering time and a higher sintering temperature. The
green body is dried before sintering to obtain a more stable structure,
which will avoid excessive vapor pressure generated by the selective
heating of microwave on saturated green bodies, resulting in cracking of
the RBB in the process. However, the vapor was also emitted by dried
green body during sintering in the experiment. Research [10] also
proves that green bodies retain some residual water after initial drying
(Fig. 9). At present, numerical simulations of microwave sintering RBB
are scarce, and numerical models in similar directions rarely consider
the effects of moisture evaporation and mass transfer on the evolution of
the temperature field. However, these two factors can affect the evolu­
tion of the temperature field of the RBB, especially during the initial
sintering stage before all the moisture completes the phase transition.
The thermal evolution during the initial stage of RBB microwave
sintering is shown in Fig. 10. Within 0 s to 20 s, due to the short irra­
diation time and the much lower dielectric loss of the solid matrix
compared to water, the temperature increase is dominated by residual
water, and the RBB temperature shows an upward trend, resulting in a
uniform distribution of temperature field. After 40 s of microwave
irradiation, RBB will absorb electromagnetic energy and convert it into
thermal energy, increasing temperature at different rates in the high-
energy and low-energy regions of the electric field. At this point, due
to the low saturation of residual moisture and insufficient heat

7
J. Cheng et al.
Fig. 6. The influence of the sample on the electric field distribution.
Fig. 7. Electric field distribution monitoring line.
conduction between the solid and fluid phases, the maximum temper­
ature of the brick surface reached 54.3 ℃, while the minimum tem­
perature remains at 20 ℃. During the 40 s to 60 s, the heating rate of
RBB gradually increases, and the temperature field begins to show a
temperature gradient centered on the high-energy region of the electric
field, with the highest temperature reaching 70.3 ℃. During the 60 s-
80 s, the temperature in the high-energy area of the internal electric
field of RBB begins to increase and form hot spots, while the low-energy
area of the electric field gradually appears as cool spots. The distribution
of temperature field is basically consistent with the distribution of
electric field. At this stage, the phase transition of residual water and the
transfer of dilute substances within RBB are relatively weak, with little
impact on the distribution of temperature field. As the temperature
further increases and exceeds 100 ℃, the residual water absorbs a large
amount of heat and begins to evaporate, generating a large pressure
gradient inside the RBB. With the combined effects of thermal conduc­
tion, thermal convection, mass transfer and microwave irradiation, the
8
Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956
hot spots gradually diffuse. At this stage, the maximum temperature of
the RBB reaches 125 ℃. The phase transition is completed after the
temperature of the cool spot exceeds 100 ℃, and residual moisture ex­
ists in the system in the form of vapor. In summary, the dielectric loss of
materials under microwave irradiation is an important heat source for
sintering, and the phase transition of residual moisture will affect the
temperature increasing of RBB.
Fig. 11, Fig. 12, and Fig. 13 shows the evolution of phase transition
heat loss power, temperature, and temperature gradient between
0–120 s on the six monitoring lines of RBB, respectively. It can be seen
that the evolution of phase transition heat loss power, temperature, and
temperature gradient of the six monitoring lines are completely
different, and differences also exists in these at different positions on the
same monitoring line at the same time. The distribution of phase tran­
sition heat loss power and temperature is continuous, while transient of
the temperature gradient distribution appears in multiple locations.
Temperature is an important factor affecting phase transition, and the
residual moisture in the hot spot area begins to evaporate and diffuse at
an early stage. These characteristics reflect the non-uniformity of mi­
crowave heating and the heterogeneity of RBB.
As mentioned earlier, in the initial stage of microwave sintering, the
increase in temperature is dominated by internal residual moisture. Due
to the non-uniformity of the electric field distribution, the phase tran­
sition among different regions are not synchronized. Combining with
Fig. 10, it can be found that phase transition starts from monitoring lines
1, 2, and 3 as near the hot spot, and delayed on monitoring lines 4, 5, and
6 near the cold point. During phase change, the pressure generated by
residual moisture evaporation and temperature gradients can trigger
mass transfer between the liquid and gas phases, slowing down the rapid
increase of temperature gradients in adjacent areas. As shown in Fig. 11
(b), Fig. 12 (b), and Fig. 13 (b), the temperature gradient grow slowly
before 80 s. After the phase transition in the area on monitoring line 2,
the temperature and temperature gradient in that area spike due to the
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Fig. 8. Electric field intensity of Y axis center line in sample space before and after adding brick.

microwave sintering mechanism cause asynchronous phase transition

reactions within RBB. For example, the area near monitoring line 2
gradually completes the phase transition at 120 s, while the cold point
area not yet reaches the phase transition temperature. Non-synchronous
phase transition can lead to increasing temperature gradient between
cold and hot spots. In summary, the working principle of microwave
sintering is different from traditional sintering. The phase change of
residual moisture and mass transfer are conducive to the homogeniza­
tion of the temperature field, while the cold and hot spots generated by
the microwave sintering mechanism can cause large temperature gra­
dients between the cold and hot spots inside the RBB. Temperature and
moisture interact in the initial stage of sintering, and the saturation of
vapor depends on temperature, while the latent heat effect of evapora­
tion changes the temperature. The entire process follows the rule of
"fast-slow-fast" [48]. Phase transition and mass transfer play an impor­
tant role in the evolution of the temperature field at this stage, affecting
the temperature field distribution of RBB.

Fig. 9. Thermogravimetric analysis of preliminarily dried green bodies[7].

5.4. Uniformity of temperature field
loss of homogenization effect brought by the latent heat of evaporation
The subsequent thermal evolution of RBB is shown in Fig. 14. After
and material transfer. In this study, the small residual moisture content
the residual moisture is evaporated, the dielectric parameters of the
and the large geometric size of RBB results in a modest homogenization
mixed gas in the system also changes, affecting the temperature field
effect caused by phase transformation. The reduction of phase change
evolution of the subsequent sintering process. It should be noted that the
heat loss power to zero at monitoring lines 1, 2, and 3 can be attributed
evolution of the temperature field at this stage is dominated by the
to the complete evaporation of residual water at this location caused by
dielectric loss of the material. It can be seen that on the basis of the
phase change and material transfer. With the extension of sintering time,
initial temperature field distribution, the hot spots in RBB further diffuse
the temperature and temperature gradient distribution on each moni­
and fuse, forming hot and cold regions with obvious temperature gra­
toring line show a gradually increasing trend, which is caused by the
dients. As the dielectric parameters varies with temperature, and ther­
delaying mass transfer, the thermal convection and heat conduction to
mal conductivity of engineering spoil is low in this study, the speed of
the heat accumulation, reflecting the high efficiency of microwave sin­
heat conduction is much lower than that of energy accumulation. With
tering comparing to the conventional sintering. The evolution law of
the extension of sintering time, the dielectric loss in the hot zone of RBB
temperature and temperature gradient proves different working mech­
increases, leading to the further increase of the temperature gradient
anism between microwave and traditional sintering. The low tempera­
within RBB. At 240 min, the temperature of most areas of RBB reached
ture and smooth temperature gradient appear at different positions of
above 900 ℃, with the highest reaches 1940 ℃, far exceeding the sin­
RBB due to the lower temperature of the cold point and the weak phase
tering temperature required for RBB. Although the proportion of cold
transition, mass transfer, and thermal convection. On the contrary, the
areas is small, the minimum temperature is only 249 ℃. The thermal
high temperature and large temperature gradient appears in the hot
evolution process indicates that the equipment and parameters used in
spot. Besides, the temperature of each monitoring line in the RBB is
the experiment are sufficient to achieve the temperature required for
usually higher than that on surface, which confirms the "volume heat­
sintering in most areas of RBB. However, the unique mechanism of
ing" of microwave sintering. The cold and hot spots generated by the
microwave sintering brings about delayed temperature monitoring

9
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Fig. 10. Thermal evolution of microwave sintering of recycled building bricks in the initial stage.

caused by excessive temperature gradients[17]，resulting in energy evaluate uniformity of the temperature field of RBB:
waste. Meanwhile, excessive temperature gradient is not conducive to √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
the control of the sintering process. Premature melting of hot spot areas 1 1 ∑N ( )2
COV − T = Tj − T (39)
and huge steam pressure may damage the internal structure of RBB and T N n=1

affect the mechanical properties of the material (Fig. 15). Therefore,

Where Ti is the temperature of a certain point of RBB and T is the
more in-depth research is required on the factors affecting the unifor­
average temperature.
mity of RBB temperature field.
The thermal conductivity of engineering spoil and its the thermal
Quantitative indicators are unreachable as isotherm tends to
conductivity efficiency are low, so the geometric size of RBB can affect
describe the temperature field distribution from a visual perspective.
the uniformity of the temperature field. Fig. 16 considers the evolution
Therefore, the temperature field variation coefficient is accepted to

10
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Fig. 11. Evolution of evaporative heat dissipation during phase transition.

11
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Fig. 12. Evolution of temperature during phase transition.

12
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Fig. 13. Evolution of temperature gradient during phase transition.

13
J. Cheng et al. Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956

Fig. 14. Thermal evolution of RBB during sintering.

14
J. Cheng et al.
Fig. 15. The destruction and damage leads by excessive temperature gradient.
Fig. 16. The coefficient of variance of RBB under different sample size.
of temperature field variation coefficients of the five different sizes of
RBBs during microwave sintering. It can be seen that in the initial stage
of sintering, there is a significant downward trend in the variation co­
efficient of all RBBs, which can be explained that the phase transition
and mass transfer effectively promote the uniformity of the temperature
field in the region. After completing phase transitions in different re­
gions of RBB, the variation coefficient began to grow. The results show
that RBB with a geometric size 0.8 times that of standard bricks has the
lowest coefficient of variation and the most uniform temperature field
distribution. Especially, RBB with a geometric size 1.2 times that of
standard bricks also has a lower temperature variation coefficient,
which can be attributed to the close distance between the cold zone of
the sample and the inner wall of the insulation box, resulting in low heat
loss.
The non-uniformity of the electric field distribution in the cavity
determines that the position is an important factor affecting the uni­
formity of the RBB temperature field distribution. Fig. 17 describes the
evolution of the coefficient of variation of RBB temperature field at four
different positions. Position–I rotates the sample 90 degrees, while po­
sition-II and position-III move the sample 50 mm in both positive and
negative directions along the X-axis. The evolution of the coefficient of
15
Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956
Fig. 17. The coefficient of variance of RBB under different sintering position.
variation in the four position is the same as that in Fig. 16, showing a
tendency to decrease and then increase. With the microwave sintering
equipment used in this study, it can be seen that although the RBB in its
original position has the smallest coefficient of variation during the
initial sintering stage, its coefficient of variation remains high at the
most of the time. For the entire sintering process, position-II is the best
for RBB to maintain thermal uniformity.
In response to the problem of non-uniformity temperature field dis­
tribution in the microwave sintering process of RBB, SiC boards with
high dielectric loss is used as accessories and placed on both sides of
RBB. To prevent local surface overheating caused by full contact be­
tween SiC board and RBB, certain distance was maintained. The tem­
perature of the cavity and RBB surface was increased through thermal
radiation. The results are showed in Fig. 18, both curves show the pat­
terns described before because of phase transition and mass transfer.
Meanwhile, SiC boards promote the uniformity of RBB temperature field
distribution, resulting in the flat curve of coefficient of variation, with a
maximum value less than 0.3. This confirms that this scheme is effective
to improve the uniformity of RBB temperature field.
J. Cheng et al.
Fig. 18. The influence of SiC board on the coefficient of variation of RBB.
6. Conclusion and discussion
6.1. Conclusion
This study establishes a fully coupled numerical model for micro­
wave sintering of RBB with the consideration of the phase transition and
mass transfer of solid, gas, and liquid phase porous media. The results
are as follows:
1. With existing microwave sintering equipment, the electric field in
the cavity exists non-uniformly with high and low energy regions
intersect. After adding RBB, the electric field in the cavity re­
distributes. The high and low energy regions of the electric field
become more concentrated within the sample;
2. The non-uniformity of electric field distribution and the selective
heating of microwaves result in the appearance of hot and cold re­
gions inside RBB. The hot area will gradually expand from the center
with heat conduction and convection. The temperature gradient
between the two regions increases with the extension of sintering
time.
3. Phase transition and material transfer can affect the evolution of RBB
temperature field. Residual moisture absorbs a large amount of en­
ergy, and evaporation latent heat and material transfer can smooth
the temperature gradient within RBB, which contributes to the uni­
formity of the temperature field.
4. The geometric size and position affect the uniformity of RBB tem­
perature field distribution. 0.8 times that of the standard brick size
and position-II can smooth the temperature gradient inside RBB.
Adding SiC boards can improve the uniformity of RBB sintering.
6.2. Discussion
This study established a porous medium model considering residual
moisture evaporation and migration, analyzed the evolution of the
temperature field of RBB under microwave radiation using the visuali­
zation and quantification advantages of numerical simulation, discussed
the influencing factors and improvement measures of temperature field
uniformity, and provided explanations for some experimental phe­
nomena. Although the simulation and experimental results can be
coupled, there are still areas for improvement in the research. Firstly,
RBB undergoes phase transformation during the sintering process, with
a series of physical and chemical changes that may lead to changes in the
dielectric parameters of the material. Secondly, due to limitations in
16
Construction and Building Materials 414 (2024) 134956
experimental conditions and research status, the relationship between
the dielectric parameters of the construction spoil and temperature is
difficult to describe. The above two points have a certain impact on the
research results, but they have not been taken into account in the model.
In addition, there are some factors that may affect the uniformity of the
temperature field distribution of RBB under microwave radiation that
have not been discussed, such as microwave frequency, power, etc. The
above issues need to be gradually improved in our subsequent work, in
order to make the numerical model more practical and better guide
actual production.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yuan Yuan: Methodology, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization.
Wang Yan: Investigation. Wei Wei: Methodology, Conceptualization.
Cheng Junxi: Writing – original draft, Validation, Methodology,
Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Shao
Zhushan: Writing – review & editing, Validation, Project administra­
tion, Funding acquisition.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data Availability
The authors do not have permission to share data.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 12202333), the Natural Science Basic Research Program of
Shaanxi (No. 2023-JC-QN-0451) and the Found of Shaanxi Key Research
and Development China Postdoctoral Foundation Project
(2021MD703868).
Appendix A. Supporting information
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the
online version at doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2024.134956.
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