Review of the French Activity in Microwave Control and Processing of Materials
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REVIEW OF THE FRENCH ACTIVITY IN MICROWAVE CONTROL AND PROCESSING OF MATERIALS JEAN-CHARLES BOLOMEY° AND JEAN-PIERRE METAIL° °Universite de Paris-Sud, Ecole Superieure d'Electricitd, Plateau du Moulon, 91192 Gif sur Yvette, France °°Electricite de France, Dept Applications de l'Electricitd, BPl, 77250 Moret sur Loing, France
ABSTRACT Materials or, more generally, industrial products may be processed and/or controlled by means of microwave techniques. This paper presents a brief overview of the recent french activity related to such industrial applications of microwaves. For some of these applications, microwave techniques are already currently used while, for some others, studies are still conducted at a research and development level.
RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY As in other technical fields, microwave research in France is mostly carried out by public technical centers, universities, and the "Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique" (CNRS). It is therefore important to provide a transfer of knowhow to businesses and to involve them to a larger extent in development operations. Electricite de France (EDF), the French national electrical production and distribution company, is participating, in the energy sector, in this policy of transferring research activity towards industry. The "Club Rayonnements" sponsored by EDF provides a convenient structure for contact among the main research teams, equipment manufacturers, and users. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO EDF EDF provides most of the production, transport, and distribution of electricity for France. The company is large : 120,000 employees, a turnover of FF 140 billion, and a production of 370 billion kWh. The oil crisis led to the construction of numerous nuclear plants, which now provide more than three-quarters of the electrical national production at the lowest cost in Europe. EDF can thus export power to neighboring coutries, and is increasing its sales efforts in the development of different possible uses of electricity. This sales effort is aided by a research and development program involving all application techniques of electricity, especially in industry. The efforts made in research are influenced not only by the size of markets, but also by the desire to offer quality services to the customers, even if the direct growth in electrical consumption for a given technique is not very high, as is the case with microwaves.
Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 189. @1991 Materials Research Society
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CLUBS - THE "CLUB RAYONNEMENTS" Since EDF is neither a user nor manufacturer of equipment, it enters into contracts with numerous collaborators to carry out its research. In addition to these specific collaborations for certain specified projects, a need was felt for a structure which would encourage contact among research teams, manufacturers and users. This need was met by the Clubs sponsored by EDF and presided by universities. They organize meetings, preliminary contacts between potential partners, and financing for certain research programs. There are Clubs for el
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