MICROCHEM is a European funded cooperative research project within the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) whose aim was to develop a multipurpose prototype chemical reactor using microwave chemistry, for the continuous production of bulk chemicals at commercial production rates (kg/hr). This was achieved by combining, for the first time, both the Microwave spinning disc reactor (MSDR) and Microwave continuous flow reactor (MCFR) technologies, as well as microwave sources having all tunable frequencies and power in order to optimise the reaction temperature.

The project succeeded in designing, constructing and testing chemical microwave reactors operating at between 2 and 26 GHz with various microwave powers, and completed theoretical and electromagnetic modelling for the multipurpose microwave chemical reactors.

Other microwave reactors, including a true MCFR, were designed, constructed and tested, with a flow chemistry technique being used to optimise reaction, synthesis and scale-up of chemical reactions. A computer control using multiple sensors was designed and constructed for chemical reactions to be carried out in the MSDR and MCFR systems with optimised parameters.