Regeneration of a soot-trap ceramic foam by a single-mode microwave cavity

The regeneration of a ceramic foam used as a filter for soot trapping in the exhausts of a gas-oil burner has been performed in a specially designed single-mode microwave cavity. The microwave applicator, of a cylindrical shape, has been designed to be a TM 010 resonant cavity, with a parabolic-like profile of the electromagnetic field that identically repeats itself along the axis. CO, CO 2 , and O 2 concentrations in the flue gas and surface temperature of the filter have been measured online. The effectiveness of regeneration has been followed through a mass balance of the carbon. All the runs have been performed in cold gas. Results in terms of time and completeness of the regeneration under the various experimental conditions are reported and discussed.