微波及辐射真空干燥过程中的干燥动力学及能量消耗

The general objective of this work is to analyze energy input in a vacuum process with the incorporation of microwave heating. Thus, necessary criteria for designing an efficient freeze-drying operation are considered through the analysis of strategies based on the combination of different intensities of raxiiant and microwave heating.The other aim of this research topic is to study the kinetics of drying in relation to mass transfer parameters.Five freeze-drying strategies using both heating systems were used. Consequently, energy input could be related to diffusivity coefficients, temperature and pressure profiles during dehydration of the product and analyzed in comparison to a conventional freeze-drying process.     

Studies on the Microwave Freeze Drying Technique and Sterilization Characteristics of Cabbage

The vacuum freeze-drying (FD) technique used in the food industry can yield a high-quality product, but it is very expensive and requires a long processing time. Besides, the quantity of microorganisms in FD products can often exceed the required standard. As a result, it will be important to develop a new freeze-drying technique. In this article, cabbage was used as a model material, and the microwave field was used as a heat source to supply sublimation heat so that the drying time was shortened greatly. The effect of the microwave sterilization during the drying process was evaluated. Effects of the pressure, thickness of material being dried, and the input microwave power on such indices as drying time and the microorganism number were studied. Compared with the method of ordinary freeze drying, microwave freeze drying (MFD) can greatly reduce the drying time and has a notable sterilization effect.     

Studies on the Microwave Freeze Drying Technique and Sterilization Characteristics of Cabbage

The vacuum freeze-drying (FD) technique used in the food industry can yield a high-quality product, but it is very expensive and requires a long processing time. Besides, the quantity of microorganisms in FD products can often exceed the required standard. As a result, it will be important to develop a new freeze-drying technique. In this article, cabbage was used as a model material, and the microwave field was used as a heat source to supply sublimation heat so that the drying time was shortened greatly. The effect of the microwave sterilization during the drying process was evaluated. Effects of the pressure, thickness of material being dried, and the input microwave power on such indices as drying time and the microorganism number were studied. Compared with the method of ordinary freeze drying, microwave freeze drying (MFD) can greatly reduce the drying time and has a notable sterilization effect.     

具有预制孔隙的维生素C水溶液微波冷冻干燥

设计和组装了一套实验室规模的多功能微波冷冻干燥装置，探究了具有初始孔隙的非饱和物料微波冷冻干燥过程。以维生素C为溶质，采用“软冰”冷冻技术制备了初始饱和与非饱和的冷冻样品。结果表明，软冰冷冻制备的样品能够避免崩塌。在35℃和20 Pa条件下，初始非饱和物料的干燥时间比饱和物料缩短了30.4%。SEM表征显示，非饱和物料具有疏松的球状孔隙结构、连通性好，有利于水蒸气的迁移。采用吸波材料碳化硅辅助的微波加热能够进一步强化冷冻干燥过程。在相同条件下，非饱和物料的微波冷冻干燥(5 W功率)时间比常规冷冻干燥(0 W功率)缩短了28.1%，比饱和物料的常规冷冻干燥缩短了50.0%。吸波材料辅助的初始非饱和物料微波冷冻干燥实现了传热传质的同时强化。     

吸湿多孔介质冷冻干燥传质传热模型

本研究在作者提出的吸附—解吸平衡关系的基础上,建立了一个全新的考虑吸湿效应的多孔介质冷冻干燥数学模型。模型用有限差分法进行求解,并带有一个移动边界,以模拟介电材料辅助的微波冷冻干燥过程。介电材料选用碳化硅（SiC）,原料液为脱脂奶。模拟结果表明：介电材料能够有效强化微波冷冻干燥过程。在典型操作条件下,介电材料辅助的微波冷冻干燥所用的时间比普通微波冷冻干燥减少33.1%。当料液中固体含量较低或者固体产品的损耗因子较小时,介电材料对微波加热的效果不明显。基于冰饱和度、温度和水蒸气浓度的分布,本文分析了干燥过程中的传质传热机理,并对干燥速率控制因素进行了讨论。     

How to Meet the Freeze Drying Standard in Combined Drying Processes: Pre and Finish Drying of Carrot Dice

Freeze-drying (FD) processes are well known to produce high-quality consumer products. Major problems are long drying times, high investment costs, and resulting maintenance and operating costs that make FD a very costly process. In this study, the potential of air drying (AD) and microwave vacuum drying (MVD) is tested to reduce freeze-drying times and make better utilization of the investment by combining FD with alternative lower cost drying processes using a pre or finish drying step while preserving the qualwity of the final product. Using carrot dice as a sample product, predrying did not lead to the desired qualities and reduction in drying time, whereas finish drying produced promising results. FD/MVD was 40% faster than pure FD and achieved freeze-drying standards regarding volume retention, shape, color, and rehydration. The good performance of microwave vacuum finish drying can directly be traced back to a time effect that is possibly linked to a characteristic collapse time of the cellular matrix. In order to use this effect, a stable skeleton must have developed at the point of process changeover, changeover has to be immediate, and finish drying has to be quick.     

MOISTURE DIFFUSIVITY BEHAVIOR DURING FREEZE DRYING UNDER MICROWAVE HEATING POWER APPLICATION

The necessary criteria for the design of a freeze-drying operation, where radiant and microwave heating are combined, are analyzed in this work. Microwave heating presents indubitable advantages for enhancing drying kinetics. Modifications of different value characteristics must be also considered. Different freeze-drying strategies using MW heating are analyzed taking into account kinetics and diffusivity behavior compared to a constant diffusivity model. A microwave on-off cycled strategy with simultaneous up-down modification of pressure was found an acceptable power regulation system when magnetrons, whose field strength exceeds the breakdown voltage of gas, are used. In this case, chamber pressure becomes a convenient control parameter to avoid plasma discharge and subsequent melting of product. Different evolutions of specific power inputs per gram were proposed depending on the size and disposition of the product.     

MOISTURE DIFFUSIVITY BEHAVIOR DURING FREEZE DRYING UNDER MICROWAVE HEATING POWER APPLICATION

The necessary criteria for the design of a freeze-drying operation, where radiant and microwave heating are combined, are analyzed in this work. Microwave heating presents indubitable advantages for enhancing drying kinetics. Modifications of different value characteristics must be also considered. Different freeze-drying strategies using MW heating are analyzed taking into account kinetics and diffusivity behavior compared to a constant diffusivity model. A microwave on-off cycled strategy with simultaneous up-down modification of pressure was found an acceptable power regulation system when magnetrons, whose field strength exceeds the breakdown voltage of gas, are used. In this case, chamber pressure becomes a convenient control parameter to avoid plasma discharge and subsequent melting of product. Different evolutions of specific power inputs per gram were proposed depending on the size and disposition of the product.     

吸波材料辅助的液体物料微波冷冻干燥多物理场耦合模型

为了研究吸波材料辅助微波加热对传统冷冻干燥过程的强化作用,建立了多孔介质温度、浓度和电磁场耦合的多相传递模型;以烧结的碳化硅(SiC)为吸波材料、以甘露醇水溶液为待干料液进行了微波冷冻干燥实验,并测定了甘露醇固体的介电特性。模拟和实验结果均表明,吸波材料对初始非饱和多孔物料微波冷冻干燥具有显著的强化作用。初始非饱和样品微波冷冻干燥时间比传统冷冻干燥缩短了18%,比常规饱和样品传统冷冻干燥缩短了30%。模拟结果与实验数据吻合良好。这表明提出的新型干燥方法确实能够实现过程传热传质的同时强化。通过考察样品内部温度、饱和度和电场强度的实时分布,分析了微波冷冻干燥过程的传热传质和电磁波传播与耗散机理。在微波冷冻干燥过程中,初始非饱和样品累计吸收的辐射能和微波能的总和与传统冷冻干燥相当。这说明,该干燥方法只是提高了能量效率,从而大幅缩短了冷冻干燥时间。     

Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in Freeze Drying

The main objective of this work is to build a mathematical model that describes heat and mass transfer in freeze-drying when both plate heating and radiation heating are applied and also to provide further understanding of the mechanism of the drying process. The model, unlike other models, may be used for situations in which sublimation occurs within a temperature range, i.e., the non-existence of a sharp interface and also for cases in which more than one interface may form. The developed model has been tested against experimental measurements of freeze-drying of milk under different operating conditions. Measurements were done using Virtis BT3.3ES freeze dryer with vertical manifolds. The milk was contained in a glassware, specially designed for this project. Four thermocouples were fixed at different positions to track the drying progress. The experimental measurements show no significant shrinkage in the frozen milk when dried, leaving the milk highly porous in structure. In this experimental work, the low thermal conductivity of the dried layer was found to control the process without any significant mass transfer resistance. This includes plate heating where drying was found to progress from the heating surface similar to radiation heating. This is unlike what has been reported in some of literature that drying starts always from the top surface. The model, which was based on heat transfer control, showed a reasonable agreement with the experimental measurements of both plate heating and radiation heating.     

黑加仑真空冷冻与微波真空联合干燥工艺研究

以黑加仑为原料,对其进行了真空冷冻与微波真空联合干燥工艺的研究。结果表明：先真空冷冻后微波真空干燥（FDMV）的组合方式是可行的;联合干燥合理工艺参数为：微波功率1．34kW。绝对压力11kPa,转换含水率为20％（wb）;通过试验验证,联合干燥生产的脱水黑加仑的感官品质和营养成分接近真空冷冻干燥,联合干燥方式对节省干燥时间和降低能耗是有效的。     

Heat and mass transfer model of dielectric-material-assisted microwave freeze-drying of skim milk with hygroscopic effect

A new porous media mathematical model for freeze-drying was developed based on the adsorption-desorption relationship proposed in this paper. A finite difference solution was obtained from a moving boundary problem for the dielectric-material-assisted microwave freeze-drying process. Silicon carbide (SiC) was selected as the dielectric material; and frozen skim milk was used as the aqueous solution to be dried. Simulation results showed that the dielectric material can significantly enhance the microwave freeze-drying process. The drying time was 33.1% shorter than that of ordinary microwave freeze-drying under typical operating conditions. When the solid content of the solution to be freeze-dried was very low, or the solid product had a very small loss factor, microwave heating was less effective without the assistance of dielectric material. The mechanisms of heat and mass transfer during drying were analyzed based on profiles of ice saturation, temperature and vapor concentration. Drying rate-controlling factors were discussed. A comparison was made between the model predictions and the reported experimental data.     

微波冷冻干燥技术的发展及关键技术研究

微波冷冻干燥是将高效的微波辐射加热技术和真空冷冻干燥技术相结合的极具应用价值的一项新技术。文章综述了国内外微波冻干研究的进展情况,并对其中辉光放电、加热均匀性、控制策略优化以及干燥终点判别等问题进行分析并提出解决这些问题相应的技术方法和手段,为改进和优化微波真空冷冻干燥设备提供了理论依据和技术支持。     

Uniformity Issue in Microwave Drying

Microwave drying is an advanced drying technique in which heat is generated inside the material due to transformation of high-frequency electromagnetic energy so the liquid moisture is intensively evaporated and transported toward the material surface. However, an inherent problem in microwave drying is nonuniform heat generation, which leads to uneven drying. In this article, the factors causing nonuniform microwave heating were identified, and feasible approaches to solving the nonuniformity problem were analyzed in terms of improving the uniformity of the electromagnetic field distribution and random or organized dislocation of the processed material in virtually nonuniform microwave field. The R&D trends in microwave drying toward reducing uneven heating were pointed out and discussed.     

A Study of the Power Density Distribution generated during the Combined Microwave and Convective Drying of Softwood

ABSTRACT

Investigations into new and innovative drying strategies can lead to the development of more efficient and effective drying processes. The commercialisation of these processes would prove invaluable to the drying industry as a whole and the associated technology would generate worldwide interest. Combined microwave and convective drying is one such process which offers great potential, with benefits that include : reduced drying times and increased drying rates; volumetric heating; higher fluxes of liquid to the drying surface; high temperature and internal pressure buildup within the material which enhances the overall moisture migration rate; and preferential heating of wetter areas. Numerical simulation can elucidate on the intricate details of the heat and mass transfer henomena that occur during the drying process, thus eliminating the need for performing numerous time consuming and expensive experiments. The simulations can predict the evolutionary behaviour of the moisture, temperature and pressure distributions, and can provide a detailed analysis of how microwaves interact with materials during drying and heating operations at a fundamental level. The research presented in this paper uses a comprehensive mathematical model to study the behaviour of the iniernal microwave power density distribution that is generated during the microwave enhanced convective drying of softwood. The configuration understudy concerns a plane wave microwave source irradiating the wood in the transverse direction.     

Drying Enhancement of Clay Slab by Microwave Heating

The effect of internal heating by microwave on the drying behavior of a slab was studied. A wet sample of kaolin pressed into a slab was subjected in microwave irradiation of 2.45 GHz. The absorption of microwave energy into a wet slab can be expressed by a function of the moisture content and the pathway length, which is a similar form to Lambert-Beer's law. The drying behavior was compared among three modes: microwave irradiation, hot air heating and radiation heating in an oven. Microwave heating with a constant power resulted in breaking the sample when the internal temperature achieves at 373 K. However, if the power was controlled to maintain the temperature less than the boiling point of water, the drying succeeded without any crack generation until the completion with a significantly faster drying rate than in convective heating or in the oven. It is also noted that the transient behavior of the temperature is quite different from the conventional drying.     

Trends in Microwave-Assisted Freeze Drying of Foods

Microwave-assisted freeze drying (MFD) can be accomplished in two distinct ways: freeze drying assisted concurrently with microwave application (MFD-1) and freeze drying and assisted microwave/vacuum microwave drying in two consecutive separate drying stages (MFD-2). MFD is a rapid dehydration technique that can be applied to certain foods, particularly to seafoods, solid soup, and fruits and vegetables. MFD involves much less drying time and energy consumption than conventional freeze-drying methods. Currently, this technology has been successfully used to dry many food materials and has potential in the food industry. Increasing concerns over product quality, energy savings, and production costs have motivated researchers and the industry to adopt MFD technologies. The advantages of MFD include shorter drying time, energy savings, improved product quality, and flexibility in producing a wide variety of dried products. However, current applications are limited to small categories of foods due to high startup costs and relatively complex technology compared to conventional freeze drying. This article presents a concise review of recent progress in MFD R&D and makes recommendations for future research to bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications.     

Kinetic and Quality Study of Mushroom Drying under Microwave and Vacuum

Abstract

The aim of this work is to model the drying kinetics of mushrooms under several operational conditions, to evaluate the effective diffusivity coefficient of moisture removing by a drying model and inverse calculus method in finite differences and to study the effect on the final quality of dehydrated mushrooms. Different ways of microwave vacuum drying were compared to freeze-drying. Results show that a decrement of the applied pressure produces a certain increase in the drying rate together with a lower moisture in the dehydrated product at the end. Temperature control inside the sample helps to ensure a better quality in the dehydrated product, than when controlled at the surface. Diffusivity coefficients show a correspondence with product temperature during drying. The microwave dried samples obtained with moderate power and temperature control of product shown an important degree of quality similar to that obtained by freeze-drying.     

Enhancing the Energy Efficiency of Domestic Dryer by Drying Process Optimization

The domestic tumble dryers are becoming indispensable household appliances and responsible for up to 10% of the total residential energy use in developed countries. However, their energy efficiency is low. In this paper, the development of a multi-sensor computer-controlled prototype platform for fabric drying is described for improving the efficiency of dryers. The prototype platform enables the real-time control and recording of key drying parameters including heater power, air flow velocity, rotating speed of drying drum, and drying cycle time. These parameters are automatically adjusted according to the exhaust air humidity instead of the temperature which is used traditionally. Additionally, a new drying model of dividing the drying process into four stages based on the humidity of the exhaust air has been investigated to further increase the energy saving. The performance of this staged drying model is experimentally evaluated in respect to energy consumption, drying time, and the smoothness of fabric after drying. The results clearly indicate that the staged controlling of heating power input not only decreases energy consumption by 21.5%, but also improves the fabric smoothness by 0.9 grade compared to using a single heating power input for the whole drying process. The research outcome can enable the design and production of new dryers that are more energy efficient and lead to dried clothes that require less ironing, which in turn further reduces energy consumption.     

微波真空组合干燥技术的研究

微波真空干燥是综合微波干燥和真空干燥各自优点的一项新技术,将微波干燥的快速高效性和真空干燥的低温高质相结合,在真空条件下利用微波对物料进行干燥处理,从而实现物料的快速低温干燥。着重阐述了微波真空组合干燥技术的机理、特点、干燥动力学以及影响微波真空干燥的重要因素,并对微波真空组合干燥的应用研究进行了介绍。