Experimental and numerical study of microwave drying in unsaturated porous material

Abstract The drying of unsaturated porous material due to microwave drying (2.45GHz) has been investigated numerically and experimentally. Most importantly, this work focuses on the influence of moisture content on each mechanism (vapor diffusion and capillary flow) during microwave drying process. Based on a model combining the electric field and heat-mass transport equations show that the variation of initial moisture content and particle size changes the degree of penetration and rate of absorbed energy within the material. The small bead size leads to much higher capillary forces resulting in a faster drying time.