Environment Canada's patented Microwave-Assisted Processes (MAPTM) is a family of technologies using microwaves to enhance biological, chemical, and physical processes that support sustainable development as they require less energy and solvent than conventional processes, while generating fewer wastes. New MAP?applications and products are being developed on an ongoing basis. The most broadly developed area is liquid-phase extraction. Applications include essential oils from plant material, colouring agents for the food and cosmetic industries, determination of drugs and contaminants in animal and human tissues, oil from oil-seeds, remediation of contaminated sites, and the recovery of valuable products from biomass that would otherwise be regarded as waste products.
MAPTM processes have also been developed for gas-phase extraction that reduces the extraction time to as little as a few seconds and is characterised by the fact that no toxic solvents are used at all. It is an extremely fast process that lends itself to miniaturization and use for field operations and emergency response work.
The technology is finding its way into the chemical synthesis industry where non conventional synthetic pathways are being validated. Targeted applications focus on the absence of solvents and on enhanced selectivity and increased yields, thus reducing the needs associated with the purification steps - the latter being the hardest on the environment.
MAP has analytical and industrial applications in various sectors. Environmental benefits are achieved through "clean" process technology that prevents pollution and saves energy, economic and operational benefits are realized through increased speed and efficiency, and market benefits are realized through innovation and exclusivity.
Currently, several patents related to MAP are issued or pending in several jurisdictions that cover the following five distinct fundamental areas:
• ability to modify, by using microwaves, the physical micro-structure of a variety of complex matrices (e.g., to rupture cells);
• ability to selectively heat one component of a complex system (e.g., to heat a soil over the solvent to remove pollutants or to free fat from proteins);
• ability to apply microwave energy selectively to one phase over another one (e.g., water over steam);
• ability to alter the distribution of chemical species under given temperature and pressure conditions (e.g., to vaporise volatile organic compounds preferentially over water for their quantitative determination); and
• ability to effect entropy-driven chemical processes as opposed to conventional enthalpy-driven ones.
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12.2.4 MAP Licensees
To effectively promote and implement the commercialisation of the MAP applications, and to provide technical support to end-users, Environment Canada has entered into a number of license agreements that reflect the versatility of the technologies. These licensees and their field of operation are as follows:
• Radient Technologies Inc., (formally BC Research Inc.), Vancouver, BC, Canada - pilot facilities for product development and large-scale industrial applications worldwide; also offers toll-processing for small to medium-size productions;
• CanAmera Foods, Oakville, ON, Canada - industrial processing of selected oilseeds worldwide;
• CEM Corporation, Matthews, NC, USA - liquid solvent analytical equipment worldwide;
• Soci閠?PROLABO, Paris, France - liquid solvent analytical equipment worldwide;
• Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, CA, USA - analytical equipment worldwide;
• SAIREM, Lyon, France - engineering, design, and equipment for industrial applications worldwide;
• Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan - solvent-less analytical equipment worldwide; and
• SAIC Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada - environmental applications worldwide.
5NR Award to MAP Team (August, 2001)
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