Complex Dielectric Properties of the Sapwood of Aspen, White Birch, Yellow Birch, and Sugar Maple

The dielectric properties of four Canadian eastern wood species were measured as a function of moisture content and temperature, at frequencies between 0.4 and 2.47 GHz using the cavity perturbation technique. The temperature was varied from - 20 to 58°C and moisture content from 40 to 136%. Dielectric properties varied with moisture content, wood temperature, and microwave frequency. However, the influence of moisture content and microwave frequency overshadowed the influence of wood species and wood temperature. The dependencies were established for the selected species and discrepancies are discussed, namely concerning their implication when used in wood industry (nondestructive testing, heating, and drying).     

Complex Dielectric Properties of the Sapwood of Aspen,White Birch,Yellow Birch,and Sugar Maple

The dielectric properties of four Canadian eastern wood species were measured as a function of moisture content and temperature, at frequencies between 0.4 and 2.47 GHz using the cavity perturbation technique. The temperature was varied from ? 20 to 58°C and moisture content from 40 to 136%. Dielectric properties varied with moisture content, wood temperature, and microwave frequency. However, the influence of moisture content and microwave frequency overshadowed the influence of wood species and wood temperature. The dependencies were established for the selected species and discrepancies are discussed, namely concerning their implication when used in wood industry (nondestructive testing, heating, and drying).     

Moisture conditioning of wood using a continuous microwave dryer

Lower moisture content in wood, preferably 5–6%, is desirable for many chemical modification reactions. Economically, it is not feasible to dry timber to such low moisture content by conventional drying without drying degrades. Microwave heating was evaluated and found to be effective in reducing the moisture content of radiata pine from 13% to 6% in a microwave cycle of two minutes. The energy consumption is about 55 kWh/m³. Moisture distribution profiles demonstrate very uniform drying across the sample thickness. The findings suggest that microwave heating can potentially be applied to condition wood in a very short period of time.     

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.     

Study on drying kinetics of calcium oxide doped zirconia by microwave-assisted drying

Ca–ZrO₂ is an essential structural and functional material, which is commonly used in refractories, electronic ceramics, and functional ceramics. The properties of Ca–ZrO₂ materials are depending on the quality of Ca–ZrO₂ powders. The main factors affecting the quality of powder are sintering temperature and the drying effect. This paper applied modern microwave drying technology to dry Ca–ZrO₂ powder. The impact of initial mass, microwave heating power, and initial moisture content on the drying of Ca–ZrO₂ were explored. The results showed that the average drying rate increased with the rise of initial mass, microwave heating power, and initial moisture content. Wang and Singh, Page, and Quadratic Model were applied to fit Ca–ZrO₂ with an initial moisture content of 5.6%, mass of 30 g, and microwave output power of 400 W. The results displayed that the Page model had a better fitting effect. It was also applicable to other different initial moisture content, original mass, and microwave heating power. The diffusion coefficient calculated by Fick's second law displayed that with the increase of initial mass, initial moisture content, and microwave heating power of Ca–ZrO₂, the effective diffusion coefficient increased first and then declined. When the Ca–ZrO₂ of microwave heating power was 640 W, mass was 30 g, and the moisture content was 5.65%, the effective diffusion coefficients of zirconia were 1.42533 × 10^?13, 2.91806 × 10^?13, 5.652.2471 × 10^?13 m²/s, respectively. To determine the activation energy of microwave dried zirconia, using the relationship between microwave power and activation energy, the activation energy of microwave dried zirconia was calculated to be ?23.39 g/W. This paper aims to rich experimental data for the industrial application of microwaves to strengthen dried zirconia and propose a theoretical basis.     

Modeling Microwave Heating and Moisture Redistribution in Wood

A finite element model was developed to describe and explain microwave heating of wood and the following moisture redistribution in wood. Dielectric and thermal properties are of great importance, since they are continuously affected during the process by moisture content, density, grain direction, temperature, and more. Computer tomography was used to detect wood density and moisture content. Heat distribution was verified by fiber-optic temperature sensors. The tests were performed in a designed microwave dryer based on 1-kW generators, 2.45 GHz. The results show that finite element modeling is a powerful tool to simulate heat and mass transfer in wood, providing the material is well described.     

Modeling Microwave Heating and Moisture Redistribution in Wood

A finite element model was developed to describe and explain microwave heating of wood and the following moisture redistribution in wood. Dielectric and thermal properties are of great importance, since they are continuously affected during the process by moisture content, density, grain direction, temperature, and more. Computer tomography was used to detect wood density and moisture content. Heat distribution was verified by fiber-optic temperature sensors. The tests were performed in a designed microwave dryer based on 1-kW generators, 2.45 GHz. The results show that finite element modeling is a powerful tool to simulate heat and mass transfer in wood, providing the material is well described.     

我国木材干燥技术与研究动态

阐述了我国木材干燥技术应用状况及面临的问题,介绍了我国木材干燥学术活动的情况和理论研究动态。指出以蒸汽为热源的常规干燥仍将占木材干燥的主导地位,约在80％以上;真空干燥、热泵除湿干燥、微波与高频干燥、高温干燥、加压干燥等其它干燥方法都在各自适用的范围内有一定的发展。木材的渗透性、木材干燥过程的水分迁移机理等有关木材干燥的传热传质方面的基础理论研究正在加强;高效节能的木材干燥技术是目前研究的重点课题。我国木材干燥技术正由经验型转向以干燥理论为基础的科学型方向发展。     

Drying behavior of lignite under microwave heating

Because of lignite’s high moisture content, it must be dried before most applications. Microwave radiation may be suitable for efficient drying because of its special heating properties. This study investigated the drying behavior of lignite samples from eastern Inner Mongolia by microwave thermogravimetric analysis. Three stages of microwave drying were observed: preheating, fast weight loss, and falling rate drying periods. Samples’ surface temperatures increased dramatically during preheating, dropped slightly in the second period, and rose again in the final period. The measured surface temperature was <95°C during microwave heating. The overall moisture content decreased more rapidly under higher microwave power. Fine lignite particles (diameter <0.2?mm) and lump samples (particle size 10?mm) dried better than granular lignite (particle size 1–2?mm). The samples also underwent slight natural drying (1–2% point reduction in moisture content) after microwave treatment. The critical moisture content of lignite (11–15% under experimental conditions) was redefined. Energy consumption was analyzed to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed drying process.     

多孔介质微波加热厚度的确定

简述了微波加热的机理，以湿木材为研究对象，通过理论计算确定了微波在木材中的穿透深度。计算表明：随着木材含水率和微波工作频率的增加，微波在木材中的穿透深度减小；当用频率为915MHz和2450MHz的微波加热或干燥具有高含水率的多孔介质时，多孔介质的最大厚度应分别控制在16cm和6cm以内。     

MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION IN SPHERICAL FOODS IN MICROWAVE DRYING

Abstract

Moisture distribution in spheres of potato (Solanum tuberosum) and yam (Dioscorea japonica) tubers during microwave drying was investigated. Moisture variation at various locations within the samples was experimentally determined for different drying times. A numerical simulation model was developed based on a modified form of Lambert's law for microwave penetration in spheres and on moisture transfer in both liquid and vapor phases. This model was used to study various factors influencing moisture distribution. Moisture profile during microwave drying was strongly influenced by non-uniform microwave energy distribution within the foods. The core moisture contents were lower than other parts of potato and yam spheres of the various sizes tested in this study (2.6 cm to 6.0 cm diameter). The sphere radius to microwave penetration ratio (2αr_o) was an important parameter affecting the moisture profile in spherical foods. For 2αr_o of less than 2.0, the moisture content in the center of potato and yam spheres was markedly lower than the rest of the food, but for 2αr_o between 2.5 and 4, moisture contents at the center and close to the surface were lower than the average moisture content.     

CONTROL OF THE DRYING PROCESS THROUGH THE RELATIONSHIP OF WOOD AND WET-BULB TEMPERATURES

The ratio of wood temperature to wet-bulb temperature (WT/ WBT) with the wood moisture, aiming at its use in the control of the drying process in drying kilns, were correlated. Slash pine boards measuring 25 mm thick and 750 mm length were dried in an electric forced convection kiln, using four temperatures and two air velocities. The process was controlled through a computerized system comprising a microcomputer and data acquisition unit. The analyses indicated a good correlation (0.97 < r < 0.99) between the coefficient WT/WBT and the moisture content of the wood. The adjustment of polynomial models was satisfactory in the range from green condition to 10% moisture content, at the temperature range and air velocity studied. These results, variables, together with the ease and speed of measurement of the suggest that the coefficient WT/WBT can be used as an alternative for the control of the drying process. However, the practical application of this system still depends on further research and development.     

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.     

Microwave-Vacuum Drying of Wood: Model Formulation and Verification

Based on the mechanism of moisture and heat transfer in wood during microwave-vacuum drying (MVD), a one-dimensional mathematical model to describe the process of wood MVD was established and verified by experiments in this research. The results showed that the process of MVD of wood experienced three distinct periods: (1) accelerating rate with rapid warming-up drying period, (2) a constant temperature and constant rate drying period, and (3) a heating-up with falling rate drying period. Compared with conventional hot air drying, the total drying process is almost governed by a constant rate period in vacuum-microwave drying of wood. The predicted temperature and moisture content in wood match well with the experimental data, the square of the relevant coefficient of the values of simulation and test is above 0.9, and the simulation precision of the change rule of the moisture is higher than that of the temperature.     

Optimization of Rubber Wood Drying by Response Surface Method and Multiple Contour Plots

By adopting the central-composite experiment design, the response surface methodology was used to optimize operating conditions of rubber wood drying. The independent variables are initial moisture content of rubber wood, and three drying environment parameters namely, temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity. The investigating responses are final moisture content, drying time, and energy consumption. The restriction of the optimization is the designated final moisture content, which is not greater than 16%. The third-order polynomial models with transformed responses were developed from experiment data to generate 3-D response surfaces and contour plots. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to identify the significant parameters affecting the rubber wood drying. Drying temperature and holding relative humidity are those two influential operating parameters that significantly control the final moisture of rubber wood and affect the drying time and energy. The multiple contour plots of drying responses show that the optimum operating regions are located mainly at high temperature drying zone. The high temperature drying practice can save energy and drying time by 44 and 25% respectively, in comparison to the conventional temperature drying.     

Variation in Drying Behavior and Final Moisture Content of Wood during Conventional Low Temperature Drying and Vacuum Drying of Betula pendula Timber

Conventional and vacuum drying experiments were conducted on Betula pendula timber, which was sawn from trees felled during three different seasons. The influence of the wood procurement season on drying behavior differed, on the one hand, between the drying phases above and below 30% moisture content in the conventional drying, and, on the other hand, between the conventional and vacuum drying methods. During the first steps of the conventional drying process, relative humidity in the kiln, as well as drying time and drying rate, varied according to the felling season. Variations in environmental conditions outside the kiln and the seasonal variation in the physical properties of the wood were presumed to be the reasons for differences in drying behavior. The difference in moisture content gradient, i.e., the difference in final moisture content between the inner wood and the surface layer of boards, was greater in conventionally dried timber than in vacuum-dried timber. In conventionally dried timber there was a clear seasonal variation in the gradient of final moisture content, which was greatest for winter-felled wood. The premature drying of the surface layer during the first steps of the conventional drying process of winter-felled wood was the reason for the higher gradient of moisture content. Storage of wood as logs decreased the standard deviation of the final moisture content.     

褐煤微波干燥提质生产线的多级功率控制系统研究

与传统的蒸发干燥工艺相比,微波干燥技术采用微波辐射的方式,具有内外同时加热、加热速度快等特点,使得褐煤干燥提质的过程耗能小、效率高、无污染。但是,在微波干燥褐煤的过程中易出现热过度和热失控的情况,会导致褐煤自燃,甚至爆炸,给生产线带来极大损失。为了实现微波干燥过程中褐煤温度的最佳控制,提出了一种基于褐煤含水率的目标温度范围动态调节方法。在该方法的基础上结合微波干燥腔的建模仿真及现场取样数据的分析,构建了一套生产线中多级微波腔的微波功率主动协调控制系统,以温度和反射系数作为输入参数,通过PID控制模型来动态调节微波源的输出功率。将该系统安装于南京三乐公司在内蒙古海拉尔建立的微波干燥褐煤生产线上进行测试,结果表明,该系统能够对各级微波腔内褐煤的温度范围精准控制,保证生产的安全性,并且将褐煤的含水率控制在10%以内。     

Microwave Drying of Wood Strands

Characteristics of microwave drying of wood strands with different initial moisture contents and geometries were investigated using a commercial small microwave oven under different power inputs. Temperature and moisture changes along with the drying efficiency were examined at different drying scenarios. Extractives were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results showed that the microwave drying process consisted of three distinct periods (warm-up period, evaporation period, and heating-up period) during which the temperature, moisture change, and drying efficiency could vary. Most of the extractives were remnant during microwave drying. It was observed that with proper selections of power input, weight of drying material, and drying time, microwave drying could increase the drying rate, save up to 50% of energy consumption, and decrease volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions when compared with the conventional drying method.     

Variation in Drying Behavior and Final Moisture Content of Wood during Conventional Low Temperature Drying and Vacuum Drying of Betula pendula Timber

Conventional and vacuum drying experiments were conducted on Betula pendula timber, which was sawn from trees felled during three different seasons. The influence of the wood procurement season on drying behavior differed, on the one hand, between the drying phases above and below 30% moisture content in the conventional drying, and, on the other hand, between the conventional and vacuum drying methods. During the first steps of the conventional drying process, relative humidity in the kiln, as well as drying time and drying rate, varied according to the felling season. Variations in environmental conditions outside the kiln and the seasonal variation in the physical properties of the wood were presumed to be the reasons for differences in drying behavior. The difference in moisture content gradient, i.e., the difference in final moisture content between the inner wood and the surface layer of boards, was greater in conventionally dried timber than in vacuum-dried timber. In conventionally dried timber there was a clear seasonal variation in the gradient of final moisture content, which was greatest for winter-felled wood. The premature drying of the surface layer during the first steps of the conventional drying process of winter-felled wood was the reason for the higher gradient of moisture content. Storage of wood as logs decreased the standard deviation of the final moisture content.     

Optimization of Rubber Wood Drying by Response Surface Method and Multiple Contour Plots

Abstract

By adopting the central-composite experiment design, the response surface methodology was used to optimize operating conditions of rubber wood drying. The independent variables are initial moisture content of rubber wood, and three drying environment parameters namely, temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity. The investigating responses are final moisture content, drying time, and energy consumption. The restriction of the optimization is the designated final moisture content, which is not greater than 16%. The third-order polynomial models with transformed responses were developed from experiment data to generate 3-D response surfaces and contour plots. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to identify the significant parameters affecting the rubber wood drying. Drying temperature and holding relative humidity are those two influential operating parameters that significantly control the final moisture of rubber wood and affect the drying time and energy. The multiple contour plots of drying responses show that the optimum operating regions are located mainly at high temperature drying zone. The high temperature drying practice can save energy and drying time by 44 and 25% respectively, in comparison to the conventional temperature drying.