Microwave-assisted processing has shown tremendous promise in accelerating chemical reactions and reducing energy consumption through targeted dielectric heating. This study develops MOF-derived Mn-Co and Ce-Co oxide catalysts for energy-efficient benzene oxidation via microwave catalysis. The MnCo spinel oxides (particularly MnCo11-400) exhibit superior microwave absorption and catalytic activity due to enhanced oxygen mobility and tailored dielectric properties. Microwave irradiation enables rapid benzene mineralization over the MnCo11-400 catalyst, achieving 78% conversion at 30 W and complete conversion at 50 W, demonstrating exceptional energy efficiency at low power inputs. Microwaves significantly lower the reaction temperature compared to conventional thermal catalysis (ΔT = 100–250 °C). Stability tests confirm robustness over repeated power cycling (80% conversion retained after 3 × 1 h on/off cycles). Furthermore, an adsorption–microwave oxidation synergistic strategy is demonstrated: pre-adsorbed low-concentration benzene (1.15 mmol) at ambient temperature undergoes complete mineralization within 20 min under 30 W microwave irradiation. The intermittent microwave operation achieves equivalent benzene removal to continuous thermal processing while significantly reducing energy demand. This work establishes MOF-derived spinel oxides as high-performance microwave catalysts for low-temperature VOC abatement.

As industrial modernization advances rapidly, the need for energy becomes increasingly urgent. This paper aims to enhance the current burner design by optimizing the combustion calorific value, minimizing pollutant emissions, and validating the accuracy of the burner model using experimental data from previous studies. The enhanced porous medium burner model is used to investigate the burner’s combustion and pollutant emission characteristics at various flow rates, equivalence ratios, combustion orifice sizes, and porosity of porous media. In comparison with the previous model, the combustion traits during ethylene combustion and the emission properties of pollutants under various operational circumstances have been enhanced with the enhanced porous medium burner model. The maximum temperature of ethylene combustion in the enhanced model is 174 k higher than that before the improvement, and the CO emissions are reduced by 31.9%. It is believed that the findings will serve as a guide for the practical implementation of porous media combustion devices.

The efficient use of energy is an important strategic issue concerning our energy security and double carbon goals. Many industrial waste gases, such as oil refineries, contain a lot of ethylene, which is a gas that is harmful to people and the environment. The use of high-efficiency burners to reduce ethylene emissions is a proven and convenient way, so the improvement and optimization of high-efficiency burners has become a hot research issue nowadays. In this paper, a new porous media burner is designed, and a numerical model of the structure is established based on finite element software. The porous media burner is used to treat low calorific value ethylene and effectively reduce the direct emission of low calorific value ethylene in wastewater treatment and chemical industries. Based on the model, the combustion characteristics and pollutant emission characteristics of premixed gas at different equivalence ratios and different flow rates were investigated. The results show that the maximum combustion temperature can reach 1757K with a constant inlet flow rate of premixed gas and a full combustion at an equivalent ratio of 0.85; the maximum temperature increases rapidly with the increase of flow rate at an inlet flow rate of 0.65-0.85 m/s with a constant equivalent ratio, and the temperature rise effect increases slowly when the flow rate is higher than 0.85 m/s; the new porous media The maximum reduction of pollutant emissions of the new porous media burner reaches 37.9%. This study has a guiding effect on the design and engineering application of porous media combustion devices.