Modeling the Heat and Mass Transfer in Microwave Drying of White Oak

Abstract

A 2D comprehensive heat and mass transfer model was developed to simulate the free liquid, vapor, and bound water movement in microwave drying of white oak specimens. The experimental and model results showed that, for white oak, moisture movement was easily impeded and high gradient of internal vapor pressure occurred. The internal vapor pressure was affected by sample dimension (length and thickness). At the same input power density, the internal pressure generated in the core increased with the sample length and thickness. However, as compared with sample length, sample thickness has less effect on the pressure gradient because of the high ratio of permeability between longitudinal and transverse directions.

Keywords:

• Heat transfer
• Mass transfer
• Microwave drying
• Modeling
• White oak