A detailed study of the microwave pyrolysis of the Moroccan (Youssoufia) rock phosphate

The oil yield is on the order of that obtained by conventional pyrolysis. The percentage of asphaltenes produced under microwave irradiation was found to be half of that produced by conventional heating, while the oils obtained by microwave pyrolysis are more paraffinic as shown by gas chromatography as well as IR and NMR spectroscopies. Structural and micro-structural studies performed on the pyrolysis residues obtained by both techniques revealed that they were well crystallized in the case of microwave heating as a result of the higher temperatures encountered in this case.