Convective Drying Enhanced with Microwave and Infrared Radiation

The aim of this article is to examine the effectiveness of convective drying enhanced with microwave and infrared radiation. Eight programs of combined convective-microwave, convective-infrared, and convective-microwave-infrared drying processes were realized experimentally to compare the drying time and the quality of dried products. The experimental tests enabled determination of the drying curves, the temperatures of dried bodies, and the drying rates for the individual drying programs. The dried samples were photographed for visualization of the sample quality. The experiments were carried out on kaolin samples in the form of cylinders. It was stated that a proper combination of these three drying methods may result in a very high drying rate and at the same time preserving a very good quality of the dried product.