Experimental High Frequency Dryer for Granular Materials

This article reports on the results obtained with a high frequency (HF) experimental dryer, which included an electrode system, humidity cabinet, air flow supply, ancillary radiofrequency (RF) and electrical equipment, and a water-cooled, 38.5 MHz RF generator, capable of supplying a maximum of 6 kW output on the load. The dryer and methods were used with five different agricultural products which were used as a vehicle in the investigation. The system was built in such a way that convection, environmental, and HF parameters could be determined for incorporation in the design of drying equipment. The main objective was to analyze the feasibility of different HF drying and heating processes and to arrive at design methods and parameters for future prototypes.