Soybean drying characteristics in microwave rotary dryer with forced convection

A new hybrid drying technique by combining microwave and forced convection drying within a rotary drum, i.e., microwave rotary drying, was developed with the purpose to improve the uniformity of microwave drying. In a laboratory microwave rotary dryer, rewetted soybean was utilized as experimental material to study the effects of drum rotating speed, ventilation flow rate, and specific microwave power on the drying kinetics and cracking ratio of soybean. It was found that, with rotation, the cracking ratio can be lowered but without distinct improvement in the drying rate. Increasing ventilation flow rate and specific microwave power can improve the drying rate, but the cracking ratio also increases as a negative result. The cracking ratio lower than 10% can be attained for ventilation flow rate lower than 2.0 m³·h⁻¹ or specific microwave energy lower than 0.4 kW·kg⁻¹ in the present experiments.