Combined microwave–hot-air drying of burdock slices with feedback temperature control at surface and core

ABSTRACT

During combined microwave–hot-air drying, the surface and the core temperatures of the sample have great influence on the process. To investigate the influence systematically, drying system with feedback control strategy of the two temperatures was proposed. Then various pairs of the two temperatures were applied in the drying mode 1. However, it was found difficulty to achieve both short drying time and high product quality with fixed temperature pair, because the interaction between microwave and the sample changes as the moisture content decreases in the drying process. Different temperature pairs were applied during the three drying stages in drying mode 2, so that better product can be obtained in shorter drying time. To further improve the product quality, the drying rate was controlled by a feedback loop within a desired range in drying mode 3. The change of drying rate was realized by adjusting the two temperatures continuously. To omit the weighing scale, a feedforward control strategy for the drying rate was put forward in drying mode 4, where the temperatures were controlled along with preset lines. The results showed that the product quality and the drying time were similar to those in drying mode 3.

KEYWORDS:

• Burdock
• drying
• drying rate control
• temperature control