Dehydration studies of borax penta- and decahydrate minerals were carr
ied out using a microwave (MW) heating system. A 650 W microwave oven
(2450 MHz) as well as a 1600 W convective heating unit was used. It wa
s possible to produce 97.5% Na2B4O7 anhydrous borax products. Preheati
ng affected both the quality and dehydration time of the end products.
The dehydration was found to be very fast up to 2 mol of water after
which its speed dropped progressively. Overall microwave heating produ
ced cleaner products and was much faster than the conventional heating
system.