NQ 78764

MICROWAVE ASSISTED DRYING OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS:
MODELLING AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION
by
Essau C. M. Sanga
Department of Chemical Engineering

McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate

Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
©Essau C. M. Sanga, 2002

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ABSTRACT
ESSAD C. M. SANGA
Ph.D Department of Chemical Engineering
MICROWAVE ASSISTED DRYING OF COMPOSITE MATERiAL: MODELLING

AND EXPERiMENTAL VALIDATION
Model materials with discretely varying loss factors under microwave fields, were
studied with respect to drying characteristics. In the first part numerical simulations were
conducted to study the fluid flow and heat transfer in a rectangular microwave cavity
where cylindrical samples were heated by microwave. The Reynolds numbers studied in
this work were 2800, 5600 and 11200 based on the entrance diameter to the rectangular
microwave cavity. Heat transfer results in terms of Nusselt numbers for the Reynolds
number ranges studied are presented and discussed.
In the second part of the study a mathematical model was developed to describe
heat and mass transfer of a model material under microwave fields. The dynamic
temperature and moisture profiles of cylindrical composite samples subjected to
microwave and convective energy were determined and validated at microwave power
density levels of 0.20 W/g, 0.3 W/g and 0.4 W/g based on initial weight of the sample.
Model results were compared with experimental data and found to agree within 1.0-2.6%.
Predicted temperature profiles at selected locations within the model material were also
showed a good agreement with experimental data. However, a significant discrepancy
between the numerical and experimental temperature results occurred after t > 30
minutes. This might have been due to localized overheating, or to mathematical model
overestimation.
Lastly, a quality evaluation of the dried samples was also performed. Quality
attributes evaluated were surface color, shrinkage and rehydration capacity. Samples
11
dried as a special case of biological material were of better quality when compared to
other samples.
III
RÉSUMÉ
Essau C.M Sanga

Ph.D. Génie Chimique
Le séchage assisté par micro-onde de matériaux composites: modélisation et

validation expérimentale
Des études ont été menées afin d'examiner le champ de propagation, le transfert
de chaleur et les caractéristiques de séchage pour des matériaux types représentant des
matériaux non-homogène possédant un facteur de perte variant sous l'effet du champ
micro-onde. En premier lieu, des simulations numériques ont été élaborées pour étudier
l'écoulement et le transfert de chaleur d'échantillons cylindriques dans une cavité micro-
onde rectangulaire. Les nombres de Reynolds étudiés étaient de 2800, 5600 et 11200
suivant le diamètre d'entrée de la cavité micro-onde rectangulaire. Les résultats de
l'analyse numérique du champ de propagation et du transfert de chaleur en terme de
nombre de Nusselt et du nombre de Reynolds sont présentés.
En deuxième partie de cette étude, un modèle mathématique a été développé pour
décrire les transferts de masse et de chaleur d'un matériau type soumis à un champ
micro-onde. Des travaux expérimentaux ont été ensuite entrepris pour déterminer et
valider la température dynamique et le profil de températures des échantillons de
matériaux composites cylindriques sujet à une combinaison d'énergies micro-onde et
convective. Les tests expérimentaux ont été effectués à des densités de puissance micro-
onde de 0.20 W/g, 0.3 W/g et 0.4 W/g (basé sur la masse initiale de l'échantillon). Les
résultats de la modélisation numérique ont été comparés avec les données expérimentales
et le rapport s'est avéré raisonnable. La différence entre la moyenne prédite pour le taux
d'humidité s'est avérée varier entre 1 et 2.6%. Le profil de température à divers endroits
sur le matériau type s'est également avéré s'approcher du profil de température
expérimental. Il y a eu un important écart entre les valeurs expérimentales et les valeurs
numériques lorsque t > 30 minutes. Ceci peut s'expliquer par une surchauffe localisée et
une possible sur-estimation du modèle mathématique.
iv
En dernier lieu, une étude de la qualité des échantillons séchés a été effectuée.
Les critères de qualité étudiés ont été la couleur de la surface, le rétrécissement, et la
capacité de ré-hydratation. Les résultats indiquent que le séchage des échantillons de
matériaux biologiques ont présenté une meilleure qualité que les autres échantillons.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost 1 would like to acknowledge and express my sincere gratitude
and thanks to my thesis supervisors Drs. A. S. Mujumdar and G. S. V. Raghavan for their
guidance, consistent support, advice, encouragement, patience and help throughout the
course of this study. Without their dedicated professionalism this study would not have
been possible.
1 am very grateful for financial support from both my supervisors, the Fonds pour
la formation de chercheur et l'aide du Quebec (FCAR), The Natural Science and
Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Departments of Chemical
Engineering and of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, McGill University.
1 would like to thank aH staff and students who worked in both Dr. A. S.
Mujumdar's and Dr. G. S. V Raghavan's laboratories during my research work: Dr.
Valerie Orsat for her understanding and patience during my endless requests for Dr.
Raghavan's past papers and other various aspects ofresearch. Dr. Sakamon Devahastin is
thankeed for his assistance in the use of Phoenics software in the early stages of this
research. Mr Yvan Gariepy and Dr. Ana Silveira are thanked for their instructions on how
to use the microwave dryer. Tim Rennie, Meda Venkatesh, Dai, Liao, SosIe Venkatesh,
Claudia Beaudry and many more are thanked for their friendship, help and understanding
during the course ofthis research and preparation ofthe manuscripts. 1 also would like to
thank aH the faculty, staff and students of the Departments of Chemical Engineering and
of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
Last but not least, 1 would like to thank my family, especially Dinna, Nick and
Eric for their love and support during the course ofthis study.
VI
FORMAT OF THE THESIS
(Suggested by the Graduate Studies Office)
In accordance with the regulation of the Faculty of Graduate studies and Research
of McGill University, the following is included in this thesis.
"Candidates have the option, subject ta the approval of their Department, of
including, as part of their thesis, the text ofa paper (s) submitted or ta be submitted for
publication, or the clearly-duplicated text of the published paper(s). These texts must be
bound as integral part ofthe thesis".
If this option is chosen, connecting texts that provide logical bridges between
the different papers are mandatory. The thesis must be written in such a way that it is
more than a mere collection of manuscripts; in other words, results of a series of papers
must be integrated.
The thesis must still confirm to all requirements of the "Guidelines for thesis
Preparation". The thesis must include: A table of Contents, an abstract in English and
French, an introduction which clearly states the rational and objectives of the study, a
comprehensive review of the literature, a final conclusion and summary.
Additional material must be provided where appropriate (e.g., in appendices) and
in sufficient detail to allow a clear and precise judgement to be made of the importance of
the research reported in the thesis.
In the case of manuscripts co-authored by the candidate and others, the candidate
is required to make an explicit statement in the thesis as to who contributed to such
work and to what extent. Supervisors must attest to the accuracy of such statement at
the doctoral oral defense. Since the task of the examiners is made more difficult in these
cases, it is in candidate' s interest to make perfectly clear the responsibilities of all the
authors of the co-authored papers. Under no circumstance can a co-author of any
component of such a thesis serve as an examiner for that thesis.
N.B. When previously published material is presented in a thesis, the candidate must
obtain official copyright waivers from the copyright holder(s) and submit these to the
Thesis office with the final deposition.
VIl
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
This thesis contains four manuscripts co-authored with my co-supervisors, Dr. A.

S. Mujumdar and Dr. G. S. V. Raghavan. l was responsible for data collection, analysis
and manuscript preparations. My supervisors provided financial resources for my study,
laboratory facilities for experimental work, guidance on the research area and the design
of the study, interpretation of the data, correction and preparation of the thesis.
Vlll
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT 11
RÉSUMÉ iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi
FORMAT OF THE THESIS vii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
LIST OF TABLES XlI
LIST OF FIGURES Xlll
NOMENCLATURE XVlll
CHAPTER I: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Aim and Motivation of the Thesis 2
1.3 Objectives and Scope 2
1.4 Outline ofThesis 3
CONNECTING STATEMENT 5
CHAPTER II: GENERAL LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 Microwave Frequency Range 7
2.3 Principles of Microwave Drying 9
2.4 Microwave Equipment and Generators 19
2.5 Microwave (MW) Drying 23
2.6 Mathematical Models and Solution Methods 33
2.7 Closure 44
2.8 Nomenclature 45
2.9 References 47
CHAPTER III: GENERAL MATERIALS AND METHOD 51
3.1 Experimental Apparatus 51

3.1.1 Microwave Drying 52
3.2 Materials 54
3.3 Experimental Procedure 54
3.3.1 Drying kinetics experiment.. 54
3.3.2 Shrinkage and re-hydration capacity 56
3.4 Experimental Uncertainty and Reproducibility 57
3.5 Nomenclature 58
IX
3.6 References .................................................................................................59
CHAPTERIV: NUMERICALANALYSIS OF FLUID FLOW AND HEAT

TRANSFER IN A RECTANGULAR CAVITY WITH
INTERMITTENTL y HEATED CYLINDRICAL SAMPLES
USING MICROWAVES 61
4.1 Introduction 61
4.2 Mathematical Model 62
4.2.1 Flow field 63
4.2.2 Energy equation for cylindrical samples 64
4.2.3 Nusselt number (Nu) 66
4.3 Solution Methodology 67
4.3.1 Evaluation of the source term (Q) 68
4.4 Results and Discussions 70
4.4.1 Flow field 70
4.4.2 Heat Transfer 70
4.5 Conclusions 71
4.6 Nomenclature 71
4.7 References 73
CHAPTER V: SIMULATION OF MICROWAVE-CONVECTION DRYING

FOR A SHRINKING MATERIAL 81
5.1 Introduction 81
5.2 Heat and Mass Transfer Equations 83
5.3 Numerical Analysis 90
5.4 Experimental Set-up, Materials and Methods 91
5.5 Results and Discussions 91
5.6 Conclusions 102
5.7 Acknowledgements 103
5.8 Nomenclature 103
5.9 References 104
CHAPTER VI: ANALYSIS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER UNDER

MICROWAVE FIELDS AND VALIDATION USING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA 108
x
6.1 Introduction 108
6.2 Experimental Set-up, Materials and Methods 109
6.3 Results and Discussion 110
6.4 Conclusions 116
6.6 Nomenclature 117
6.7 References 118
CHAPTER VII: SURFACE COLOR, RE-HYDRATION AND SHRINKAGE

OF A SPECIAL CASE OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
DURING MICROWAVE DRYING 122
7.1. Introduction 122

7.2. Materials and Methods 123
7.3 Results and Discussion 126
7.4 Conclusions 130
7.5 References 131
CHAPTER VIII: GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS,

CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE AND
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK 132
8.1 General Summary and Conc1usion 132

8.2 Contribution to Knowledge 132
8.3 Recommendations for Future Work 133
BIOBLIOGRAPHY 135
APPENDIX 1 140
APPENDIX 2 143
Xl
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1:Commonly used RF and MW frequencies designated by the International

Convention for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical Applications 8
Table 2.2: Dielectric Constant (E'), loss Factor (E") and penetration depth (ô) of
Various Materials at 2450MHz 10
Table 2.3: Dielectric Constant (E'), loss Factor (E") and penetration depth (ô) of
various olvents at 2450MHz 12
Table 2.4: Dielectric constant (E') and loss factor (E") for aqueous solution of sodium
chioride (NaCl) at various concentrations (N) and temperatures
CCC) 18
Table 2.5: Dielectric constant (E') and loss factor (E") dependence on concentration
for non-aqueous solution ofmethanol in acetone 18
Table 2.6: Advantages and disadvantages of different types of

..............microwave generators '" 22
Table 3.1: Estimated uncertainties for different measurements 59
Table 4.1. Data and properties for the fluid and solid body used in computations 71
Table 5.1. Parameter estimates of the model presented 87
Table 5.2: Material properties and dielectric properties of carrot and Teflon 92
Table 6.1: Material properties and dielectric properties ofpotato 110
Table 7.1: Results of color and average microwave energy absorbed 125
Table 7.2: Influence ofmicrowave power density level on evaporation energy per
kg ofwater 132
Xll
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Electromagnetic wave spectrum 7
Figure 2.2: Dielectric constant and loss factor for yellow corn versus moisture
content at 24°C for various frequencies 11
Figure 2.3: Dielectric constant and loss factor ofhard red winter wheat versus
density at the indicated moisture content (%, wet basis) at 24°C and
9400 MHz 13
Figure 2.4: Dielectric properties of Nylon 66 versus temperature at 3000 MHz 15
Figure 2.5: Penetration depth fot corn versus moisture content at 4°C 17
Figure 2.6: Schematic diagram of a) magnetron and b) Klystron 21
Figure 2.7: MIVAC® dryer configuration 28
Figure 2.8: MicroGas dryer configuration 29
Figure 2.9: Experimental set-up for RF heat pump-assisted dryer 31
Figure 2.10: Experimental and numerical results of RF heat pump assisted dryer 31
Figure 2.11: Band type microwave dryer. 32
Figure 2.12: Microwave dryer for particulate materials 32
Figure 2.13: Microwave drying systems 33
Figure 2.14: Temperature profiles 36
Figure 2.15: Numerical results for moisture profiles at surface (-), quarter-depth
(+ +) and center (....) of the food product plotted and compared with
the experimental data , 36
Xlll
Figure 2.16: Temperature values at node 1 and node 19 from numerical results versus
time: - Zhang and Mujumdar [38], - - Thomas et al. [39] and - -
lrudayaraj et al. [40] .38
Figure 2.17: Moisture potential values at node 1 and node 19 versus time: - Zhang
and Mujumdar [38], - - Thomas et al. [39] and - - lrudayaraj et al. ... 39
Figure 2.18: Temperature ofnumerical simulation at various nodes ofZhang

and Mujumdar [38] - compared with previous results of
<l <l Beard et al. [39], - - lrudayaraj et al.................. .. 39
Figure 2.19: Moisture potential at various nodes of Zhang and Mujumdar [38] -
compared with previous results of <l <l Beard et al. [39],
- - lrudayaraj et al 40
Figure 3.1: Schematic diagram ofa laboratory scale microwave and hot air dryer 54
Figure 4.1: Schematic diagram of computation domain in x-z plane 69
Figure 4.2. Predicted Nusselt number distribution in axial direction for Reynolds
number (Re) = 2800 over three samples 78
Figure 4.3: Predicted Nusselt number (Nu) distribution in axial direction for
Reynolds number (Re) = 5600 over three samples 78
Figure 4.4: Predicted Nusselt number (Nu) distribution in axial direction for
Reynolds number (Re) = 11200 over three samples 79
Figure 4.5: Predicted Nusselt number distribution in radial direction for Reynolds
Figure 4.8: Nusselt number for upstream cylindrical sample 1 for Reynolds number
range studied 81
XIV
Figure 5.1: Material geometry and finite element mesh for 12.5 mm x 12.5 mm
quarter section of sample geometry with 13 nodal positions 91
Figure 5.2: Experimental and average predicted moisture content for a special
case of carrot samples embedded with teflon (microwave density
0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air) 94
Figure 5.3: Predicted moisture distribution of carrot samples on horizontal

symmetry plane (z = 0) at different values oftime during MW
convection drying (0.20 W/g and 45°C air, 1.0 mis) 95
Figure 5.4: Predicted moisture distribution for a special case of carrot

embedded with teflon on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0)
for different values of drying time (0.20 W/g, 45°C air, 1.0 mis) 96
Figure 5.5: Predicted moisture distribution of carrot samples on horizontal

symmetry plane (z = 0) at different values oftime during MW
convection drying (0.30 W/g and 45°C air, 1.0 mis) 96
Figure 5.6: Predicted moisture content distribution for a special case of carrot
embedded with teflon on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for
different drying time (0.30 W/g, 45°C air, 1.0 mls) 97
Figure 5.7: Predicted moisture content distribution for carrot samples on the
horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for different values oftime during
MW convection drying (0040 W/g and 45°C air, 1.0 mis) 97
embedded with teflon on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for
different drying time (0040 W/g, 45°C air, 1.0 mis) 98
Figure 5.9: Time-evolution of the average predicted moisture content for special
case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at various microwave
power density and air (45°C air, 1.0 mis) 98
Figure 5.10: Predicted temperature profiles for a special case of carrot

embedded with teflon at various nodal position during
microwave drying (0.20 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air) lOO
Figure 5.11: Predicted temperature distributions along a radius on the horizontal

symmetry plane (z = 0) for special case of carrot samples embedded
with teflon at different values of drying time (0.20 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis
air) 100
xv
Figure 5.12: Predicted temperature distribution along the vertical axis (r = 0) for a
special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at different
values ofdrying time (0.20 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air) 101
Figure 5.13: Predicted temperature profiles for a special case of carrot embedded
with teflon at various nodal position during microwave drying
(0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air) 101

air) 102
special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at different values
of drying time (0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air) 102
Figure 5.16: Predicted temperature profiles for a special case of carrot embedded with
teflon at various nodal positions during microwave drying (0.40 W/g,
45°C, 1.0 mis air) 103

air) 103
special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at different values
of drying time (0.40 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air) 104
Figure 6.1: Comparison ofpredicted and experimental results for microwave and air
drying of special case of carrot 113
Figure 6.2: Comparison of predicted and experimental results for microwave and air
drying for special case of potato 114
Figure 6.3: Drying rate curves for a special of carrot dried by hot air (45°C and
1.0 mis) at various microwave power levels 114
Figure 6.4: Drying rate curves for a special of potato dried by hot air (45°C and
1.0 mis) and at various microwave power levels 115
Figure 6.5: Transient moisture content distributions for a special case of carrot at
microwave power density of 0.20 W/g and hot air (45°C and 1.0 mls) ...... 116
XVi
Figure 6.6: Temperature distribution in a radial direction for a special case of carrot
sample embedded with teflon at microwave power density of 0.20 W Ig
and air (4S0C, 1.0 mis) 117
Figure 6.7: Comparison ofnumerical and experimental temperatures during

microwave drying (0.30 W/g, 4SoC, 1.0 mis air) 117
Figure 7.1: Typical drying curves for carrot samples dried as special case
of biological material embedded with and without teflon at microwave
power density level of 0.20 W/g and hot air (4S0C, 1.0 mis) 129
Figure 7.2: Rehydration capacity behavior of carrot samples dried at microwave

power density of 0.20 W/g and air (4S0C, 1.0 mis) at SO°C ofwater. ...... 130
Figure 7.3: Shrinkage of carrot samples dried at microwave power density of

0.20 W/g and hot air (4S0C, 1.0 mis) 130
Figure 7.4: Correlation between shrinkage ratio and moisture content for two
cases of carrot samples dried as special case with and without
teflon at 0.20 W/g and hot air (4S0C, 1.0 mls) 131
XVll
Nomenclature
Symbol
Cp specifie heat [ k:K]

Cm moisture capacity (kg/kg M)
D moisture diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
Dd Sample diameter (m)
Do diffusion coefficient at X = 0 and temperature T = T r (m2/s)

Di diffusion coefficient at X = 00 and temperature T = Tr (m2/s)
Db bound moisture diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
DI liquid moisture diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
Dv vapor moisture diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
E electric field strength (Vlm)
l
Eo ctivation energy of diffusion in dry material at X = 0 (KJ mor )
l
Ej ctivation energy of diffusion in wet material at X = 00 (KJ mor )
g gravity (rn/s2)
h local heat transfer coefficient [~]

m·K
H height of cylindrical sample [ml
H re height ofrectangular cavity [ml
k thermal conductivity [~]

m·K
K permeability (m2)
XVlll
L length (m)
mg
. (kg)
mass flow rate of dry air --:;-
ms mass of dry solid in the sample (kg)

Nu Nusselt number
p pressure [ ; ]
P non-dimensional pressure [-"-]

p. uoo
~ incident microwave power (W)
Pin incident dielectric power (W)
~ reflected microwave power (W)
Pr Prandtl number -çd]

[PC
q microwave heat flux on surface of sample [ ; ]
ql liquid water flux (kg/m2 s)

qy water vapor flux (kg/m2 s)
qw total moisture flux (kg/m2 s)
Q volumetrie heating per volume ofsample (W/m3)
Qo incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m2)
QOI axial incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m2 )
QOT radial incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m2)
r space dimension in radial direction (m)
R radius of the sample (m)
Re Reynolds number [UPD]

p
Rg gas constant (J/kg mol K)
XiX
S position of receding evaporation front (m)
S2 drying surface (m2 )
S3 drying surface (m2)
t time(s)
T temperature (K)
outlet air temperature (OC)

inlet air temperature (OC)
u relative uncertainty
v inlet air velocity ( 7)

u moisture potential
v volume (m3)
weight of dried sample (kg)

weight of dried sample (kg)
x moisture content (~~ dry basis)
x average sample moisture content (~~ dry basis)
outlet air absolute humidity (-)
inlet air absolute humidity (-)
z space dimension in axial direction (m)
Greek letters
& electric permittivity (F/m)
& dielectric constant (-)
dielectric loss factor (-)

electric permittivity offree space (F/m)
xx
Cs shrinkage caused by moisture loss
<I> dielectric volumetric heating per volume of sample (W/m3 )

/.., microwave wavelength (cm)
/"'0 microwave wavelength in free space (cm)
6 thermal gradient coefficient (l/K)
8E electric field penetration depth (cm)
8p power penetration depth (cm)
e moisture content (kg/kg)
P
, [kg]
density m3
Pb bulk density of material [:~ ]
fJ
ft Ul'd dynamic
" VISCOSlty
. --[kg]
m·s
() dimensionless temperature
v kinem.tic viscosity [ : ]
f microwave frequency
r dimensionless time
~ attenuation constant (-)
Subscripts
o initial
1 layer of material 1
2 layer material 2
o initial conditions
r:tJ,a ambient air conditions
XXI
c cavity
d dried
e oulet
f fluid
g gas phase
i iniet
le incident
l Iiquid
m moisture
ri reflected
s solid
t after re-hydration
v vapor
w water
Wa wall
XXll
CHAPTERI
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The conventional hot air drying process is a relatively slow and energy
consumptive process. This has lead to the research and development of new techniques to
minimize and offset the cost and limitations of conventional hot air drying. Sorne of these
new techniques are impingement drying, superheated steam drying and electromagnetic
drying. In sorne cases these new techniques are employed separately or in a combination
with other existing techniques. One such combination is electromagnetic wave drying in
combination with hot air.
Microwave and RF drying combined with hot air drying has received wide
attention due to various industrial advantages such as volumetrie heating and high heat
flux intensity that can result due to microwave or radio frequency application. The
accurate application of the heat flux to any desired location. Volumetrie heating due to
microwave or RF penetration results in an uniform heating of the product, compared to
conventional heating. The industrial advantages of using microwave or RF in
combination with convection drying translate into improved quality of the final product,
shortened star-up time, increased in drying rates, improved productivity, reduced product
contamination of the product, and flexible and fast process control in general. The
advantages of using microwave or RF in combination with hot air drying has led to
partial or full use ofthese methods in dehydration ofmaterials or products such as paper,
ceramics, paints, pharmaceutical and agricultural products.
Although, there are numerous studies both experimental and numerical on
microwave drying in combination with hot air, this has largely been on homogeneous
products (isotropie material).
1.2 Aim and Motivation of the Thesis
This thesis is primarily concemed with experimental and numerical analysis of
transport processes in composite discretely non-homogeneous materials under microwave
fields. For the purpose of this work a special case of biological material embedded with
low loss factor and high loss factor representing a discretely non-homogeneous under
microwave field were used. The study was done to understand the effect of microwave
field on material with widely different loss factor.
The concept of material with widely varying loss factor is relatively simple,
however no prior studies have been done before. Although the study is basic in nature it
has a potential use in many areas such as material sciences, extraction, chemical reactions
and in food industry. This thesis research work was motivated by lack of knowledge of
detailed effect of microwave fields on the material of widely varying loss factor.
1.3 Objectives and scope

The main objectives and scope of this thesis research work were:
i) To develop a finite element model from heat and mass transport
equations subject to boundary conditions for a discretely non-
homogeneous material under microwave fields. Effects of temperature
and moisture dependent on the dielectric loss factor and diffusivity are
included in the model.
ii) To apply the developed finite element model to predict the drying
characteristic of a special case of biology material representative of
discretely non-homogeneous material and temperature profiles under
microwave fields.
iii) To apply commercially available CFD software (Phoenics 3.3, CHAM
UK) for flow and heat transfer in a rectangular microwave cavity.
iv) To implement the methodology to account for shrinkage of material
during simulation.
v) To design experiments and validate the predicted results of the model
with experimental data.
2
vi) To evaluate the quality attributes (color, shrinkage and re-
hydration) ofbiological materials.
1.4 Outline of Thesis

This thesis is divided into eight chapters. Chapter l has covered a general
introduction, aim and motivation for this thesis, objectives and scope and a short thesis
outline for the study.
Chapter II covers literature review on principles and application of microwave
drying. Recent development on microwave applications, research and various microwave
dryer types are presented. The chapter also covers various mathematical models and
solution methods adoptedlused for various microwave studies.
Chapter III is devoted to thesis experimental part of research. A description of
various experimental apparatus used is given along with the experimental methodology.
Model materials used for experimental work and measurement techniques are presented.
The section also describes the reproducibility and uncertainty in the experimental
measurement of data.
Chapters IV to VII are devoted to the manuscripts published, submitted or
prepared for submission to the refereed journals for publication. The connecting
statement as per the University requirements to justify the published or prepared
manuscript precedes each chapter.
Chapter IV covers the flow and heat transfer characterization of a microwave
rectangular cavity. The chapter describes the governing equations and appropriate
boundary conditions for the boundary layer analysis and the solution methodology
adopted. Results and discussions of the flow, temperature and heat transfer is presented.
Chapter V covers the mathematical model and appropriate boundary conditions
used for finite element model development. The manuscript describes briefly the
discretization technique (Discretization is in Appendix) used for the governing equations,
numerical procedure followed, material properties and data used in the simulation.
Simulation results from mathematical model are then validated against experimental data
and discussed.
3
Chapter VI was prepared to further test the mathematical model and validate
against experimental data at various microwave power density levels. It was extended to
coyer the validation against the second model material of varying loss factor. The chapter
shows that predicted results from the mathematical model to be in close agreement with
experimental data.
Chapter VII is devoted mainly to examine the characteristic of a special case of
model biological materials in terms of shrinkage, re-hydration characteristic and surface
color.
Chapter VIII covers summary and conclusions from the study, contributions to the
knowledge and recommendations for future work.
References in each chapter of this thesis are numbered. The references in
bibliography are in alphabetical order
4
CONNECTING STATEMENT
Material presented in this chapter has been accepted for publication in a peer-
reviewedjoumal (see details for publication).
Sanga, E. C. M, Raghavan, G. S. V and Mujurndar, A. S., Principles and

Applications of Microwave Drying Review. Trends in Heat, Mass and Momentum
Trans/er Journal 2002, (in press).
The contributions made by different authors are as follows: (i) the first author is
the Ph.D student who perforrned the experimental work, modelling analysis and wrote the
manuscript, (ii) the second and third authors are the student's co-supervisors who
contributed in aIl aspects of the research.
5
CHAPTERII
GENERAL LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter focuses on principles of microwave drying and their applications to

biological materials. The theory and data on dielectric properties of biological materials
as well as aqueous and non-aqueous solutions are presented. Factors affecting dielectric
properties and the heating rate of materials are examined. The advantages and limitations
of microwave use in drying of foods and agricultural products are also discussed. A brief
discussion of the types of magnetrons, design considerations and costs is provided. A
survey of sorne of the microwave dryers either in early stage of development or already
in the industrial use is made. This review is motivated by CUITent trend towards hybrid
drying technologies.
2.1 Introduction
The use of microwave energy has been of growing interest over the years. The
interest is dictated by the brief start times, volumetric heating due to microwave
penetration and reduced processing times making microwaves an attractive source of
thermal energy. The shorter processing times can significantly reduce the production
costs of sorne products. So far microwaves have been used as the medium for energy
input in a wide range of applications induding heating, drying, sintering, vulcanizing and
sterilization to mention a few [1, 2, 3, 4]. The unique microwave selective heating
characteristics of materials have lead to many useful and interesting applications that
indude: new ceramic products with refined structures of high quality and initialization of
chemical reactions instead of conventional heating. In drying processes, hybrid heating of
materials using both eonventional surface and volumetrie heating of produee leads to
products ofhigher quality as compared to conventional heating methods [4].
The potential economic, engineering and social benefits of microwave heating
have been recognized for many years. Saltiel and Datta [4] have published an excellent
review that covers heat and mass transfer in microwave processing. There are also
6
vanous books that coyer areas such as electronic hardware, industrial and medical
applications [5]. In this review we focus on principles of microwave drying and their
applications to biological materials. The theory and information on dielectric properties
of materials, aqueous and non-aqueous solutions and microwave-material interactions are
presented. Factors affecting dielectric properties and the heating rate of materials are
examined. A brief discussion of the types of magnetrons, design considerations and costs
will be provided. The advantages and limitations of microwave use in drying of foods
and agricultural products are also discussed.
2.2 Microwave Frequency Range

Radio frequency (RF) and microwaves (MW) are forms of electromagnetic wave
energy that have a wide range of industrial applications. Drying is one of the industrial
applications of RF and MW that has been used for the last 40 years to dry foodstuffs,
wood products, papers, textiles, mineraI products, and chemicals. Several commercial
systems of MW drying are in use. However, the earliest development of practical
microwave conveyor systems for industrial application took place in 1952 [6]. In 1962
there was another breakthrough in the development of large cavity openings for
microwave systems. These early developments have been the foundation of many
industrial applications to date.
There are several of distinct forms of electromagnetic waves that can be used for
drying. The electromagnetic waves in descending order of frequency are ultra-violet
(UV), infrared (IR), microwave (MW) and radio frequency (RF). Figure 2.1 shows the
electromagnetic wave spectrum showing the frequency range for each wave and its
wavelength. The energy transfer mechanism for each form of electromagnetic radiation is
different. Ultra-violet and infrared heating effects are on the surface of the product. Radio
frequency and microwave have a penetrating effect on the product that causes volumetrie
heating. These differences play an important part when selecting electromagnetic waves
for drying.
7
Radiation with frequencies that range from 300 MHz to 300 GHz (wavelengths
ranging from 1 mm to 1 m) are normally referred to as microwaves, and the heat effect
that occur in this frequency range is known as microwave (MW) heating. Radio
frequency (RF) heating refers to processes using radiation in the 10-100 MHz frequency
range. RF and MW frequencies are close to the frequencies of radio waves and over-Iap
the radar range. Thus, they can interfere with telecommunication, defense and maritime
applications. For this reason there are specific frequencies that have been allocated for
industrial, scientific and medical uses (Table 2.1). An electric property of a material
dictates the nature of microwave-material interactions. Electrical conductors such as
metals are reflectors of microwaves and are not heated. Dielectric materials are better
absorbers and transmitters of microwaves. Heat is generated through the material
absorbing microwaves; the extent of heating depends on material characteristics such as
composition, structure and temperature as weIl as microwave heating frequency.
WAVEiSrGTH. m FREOUENCY• .MHz
CI
3 .5
10
10 êii
2 0- 13.56
AM broad-casting ::r:::
10
..2
... -- 27.12
40.69
f!fN broad-easting 1 0
10 li>
2 ëD
FM broad-castlng 10
E
TV broad-easting 3 915
10
la -1
4. c
~- 2450
a - 5850
MW
la
-2
lO
5 :>
D
::r:::
li>
- 22125
ca
10 :t
10
-3 0
6 u ...
la :à
-4
IR
la 7
-5' 10
10
a
-s 10
UGHT 10
9
10
·7
10 la
UV 10
Figure 2.1: Electromagnetic wave spectrum [7]
8
Table 2.1: Commonly used RF and MW frequencies designated by International
Convention for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical Applications [8, 9]:
Frequency (± tolerance) MHz Country
Radio frequency 13.56 & 40.68 ± .005%, 27.12 ± 0.6% World wide
42,49,56,61 & 66 ± 0.2% Great Britain
84 & 168 ± 0.005% Great Britain
433.92 ± 0.2% Australia, Yugoslavia,
Netherlands, Gennan
Switzerland, Portugal
Microwave 896 ± 10 United Kingdom

915 ± 13 North/South America
2375 ± 50 Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary
Romania, Czechoslovakia
2450 ± 50 Worldwide except countries
that use 2375 MHz
3390 & 6780 ±0.6% Netherlands
5800 ± 75 & 24150 ± 125 Worldwide
40680 Worldwide
United Kingdom
2.3 Principles of Microwave Drying

Both MW and RF heating and drying are distinctly different from conventional
drying methods. The conventional methods are governed by the temperature gradient that
exists between the outside temperature and the interior temperature of the materia1. The
heating mechanisms of RF and MW frequencies are different from the conventional
9
methods, as they are not governed by the temperature gradient. The heating with MW and
RF sources arises from the oscillation of molecular dipoles and the movement of ionic
constituents respectively in response to alternating e1ectric fields of high frequency. The
resulting energy is absorbed throughout the volume of the wet materia1. The increase in
internaI pressure drives out the moisture from the interior of a material to the surface
where evaporation takes place. In the absence of any other means to drive the moisture
from the surface ofmaterial, moisture may re-condense on the surface [10]. For this, RF
and MW heating is applied in conjunction with conventional drying to enhance and
produce effects that influence drying rate.
2.3.1 Dielectric properties

The properties that indicate and govern the success of a material being heated by
RF or MW field are the dielectric properties: die1ectric constant (8') and loss factor (8")
which are related to electric permittivity (E) complex and loss tangent (tan8) expressed as:
E = E'-jE" (2.1)
E"
tano =- (2.2)
E'
The dielectric constant (8') governs the electromagnetic field distribution within
the material and provides a measure ofhow easily energy can be stored in a materia1. The
loss factor (E") describes the loss interactions and determines how easily energy can be
dissipated into the materia1.
The 10ss tangent (or dissipation factor) is the ratio of die1ectric 10ss to the
die1ectric constant. The terms loss factor and 10ss tangent are used to indicate the
microwave energy lost as they pass through or when they are absorbed by materia1.
Materials that highly absorb microwaves are termed "lossy". High-loss materials absorb
and are heated rapid1y by microwaves. Die1ectric properties of various materials are
given in Table 2.2.
In the microwave frequency range for low salty products dipole rotation of water
molecu1es dominates other heating effects. Changing polarity of the electric field causes
10
dipole rotation of water molecules. Water molecules are normally randomly oriented but
the electric fields pull them into alignment when microwaves are applied. As the electric
fields decay to zero the dipoles retum to their random orientation and immediately
thereafter are pulled towards alignment again by the electric fields as they build up to the
opposite polarity. Such altemating action of the electric fields, are in several million
times per second and they cause sorne friction and thus heating.
Table 2.2: Dielectric constant (E'), loss factor (E") and penetration depth (D) ofvarious
materials at 2450MHz
Product Temperature CCC) E' E" D (cm)
Beef (Bottom round cooked)l 30 12 0.7

Ham (precooked) 1 20 23 0.4
Potato raw 1 20 65 16 0.66
Potato mashed 1 30 24 0.48
Paper (royal grey)2 82 2.94 0.235
Marble dri 25 9.0 0.22
Sandy soil, dri 25 2.55 0.016
Poyethylene 1 25 2.3 0.003
Source: 1. [11],2. [5] (at 3000 MHz)
The 10ss factor of materials of interest in RF fields is usually dominated by

contribution of ionic conduction. The dielectric effect of pure water is reduced at radio
frequencies but the loss factor increases significantly if it contains dissolved salts [12].
The heating is therefore different compared to MW heating. The ions will move in the
opposite direction to their own polarity in the presence of electric field. This movement
cause collision with unionized water molecules, as a result they gain kinetic energy and
accelerate causing further water molecules collision. This action is immediately repeated
11
when electric fields decay to zero and again build up to opposite polarity several times.
Such large number of collisions results into electric field being converted to heat.
2.2.1.1 Moisture content

Water at 25°C has a high dielectric constant of about 78 [11]. The high dielectric
constant of water therefore greatly affects the dielectric constant of moist material to be
dried. The higher the moisture content of a material, the higher is the dielectric constant.
Figure 2.2 shows the values for dielectric constant and loss factor of shelled yellow dent
field corn versus moisture content at various frequencies. Both the dielectric constant and
loss factor increase with moisture content.
IMHz
5MHz
20 "'Hz
,~~~§!§f§~~~~;8100MH
JOO"'Hzz
11 GHz
20 30 40 50
M (dry basis. '1.)
50 MHz
100 "'Hz
2'45GHz
Figure 2.2: Dielectric constant and loss factor for yellow

corn versus moisture content at 24°C for various
frequencies [5]
12
As mentioned earlier, the direct effect of dielectric heating is volumetric heating
that quickly raise the interior temperature and change the temperature profile depending
on the moisture distribution in the drying materia1. In drying, the moisture content can be
in two forms: free water and bound water. Free water that exists in the void space of
porous materials exerts the equilibrium vapor pressure while bound water exert less than
its equilibrium vapor pressure at the prevailing temperature. The dielectric loss factor of
bound water is 0.003 compared to 12 for free water at 2450 MHz (Table 2.3). This is due
to the fact that the bound water responds to rotation by electromagnetic fields differently
from free water. Therefore, material with moisture content in the bound form will be less
susceptible to microwave-induced moisture levelling effect than a material with moisture
content in the free form in its void space. Moisture levelling effect refers to evenly
distributed moisture in the product.
Microwave-induced moisture levelling occurs due to the microwave energy being
selectively absorbed in areas where moisture content or local loss factor is higher.
According to Turner and Jolly [13] and Lefeuvre [14], a phenomenon called "microwave
pumping" may result due to the selective microwave energy absorption characterized by
pressure driven flow of liquid to the surface of materia1. Microwave heating effect on
moisture transport mechanisms is a result of different dielectric responses of free water
and bound water to rotation, internaI heating and material itself induced by
electromagnetic energy [48].
The dielectric constant of a material with multi component solvents normally lies
between those of its component constituents [5, 9]. Table 2.3 shows the dielectric
properties ofvarious solvents.
2.3.1.2 Density
The manner in which density affects the dielectric properties of materials lies on
dielectric loss factor of air, which is very low compared to water/solvent. For less dense
materials, the air presence in void space of material reduces the dielectric properties of
material and therefore the heating rate is reduced for a given microwave field. Figure 2.3
shows the relationship between the dielectric constant and loss factor of hard red winter
wheat and their density
13
Table 2.3: Die1ectric constant (E'), 10ss factor (E fI ) and penetration depth (8) ofvarious
solvents at 2450MHz
Solvents Temperature (OC) E' EfI 8 (cm)
Water (distilled) 1, 2 25 78 12.0 1.0

Water (distilled) 1, 2 95 52 2.44
Water + 0.5 M NaC1 1, 2 25 32 0.26
Pure Ice3,4 -12 3.2 0.003 800
Dich10romethane (CH 2 Ch)3 25 8.93
Ethanol (C 2H 60)3 20 25.3 2.25
Acetone (C3H60)3 20 24.1
Hexane (C 6H I4 )3 20 1.886 0.0006
Iso-octane (C SH I s)3 20 1.98
Source: 1,3 and 4. [11]; Source: 2. [5] (at 3000 MHz)
~ 6 Ll---+--+---+---j----r--z
...
~
<Il
<Il
o..J
o
%
'"
...z
...'"
<Il
%
8
u
2 LI---l---l--+--+--t----t------=:H;;;l%j
ë<
l-
U
~ 1
"'
;;
, :3:~~:::=~:--~;;-----f1
OlL.c, Il-~I2~--'1~3-""'ïI~.4--'-~
0.9 -1.0 .,
OENS1TY (pl, G/CM'
Figure 2.3: Die1ectric constant and 10ss factor ofhard

red winter wheat versus density at the indicated
moisture content (%, wet basis) at 24°C and 9400 MHz
14
2.3.1.3 Ten1perature
Dielectric properties of materials below freezing point are generally lower than
those at ambient condition [5]. Above the freezing point, both moisture and temperature
play important roles in influencing the temperature effect on dielectric properties
depending on the type of materia1. Apparently the dielectric constant of liquids is not
significantly affected by temperature. However, the dielectric loss factor is affected by
increase in temperature [5]. For example, dielectric loss factor ofwater at 25°C is 12 and
is reduced to 2.44 at 95°C (Table 3).
For sorne solid materials such as nylon and acrylics, there is an increase in loss
factor at elevated temperatures that result in thermal run-away. These materials have
what is called a positive temperature coefficient at low moisture, which means dielectric
properties increase with an increase in temperature [9, 12]. Figure 2.4 shows the effect of
temperature on dielectric loss factor and dielectric constant of nylon 66 at 3000 MHz.
2.3.1.4 Specifie heat capacity

The specific heat capacity of material does not have direct relationship with
dielectric properties but explains the reason why sorne materials heat much faster than
others. The specifie heat capacity indicates the amount of energy required to raise the
temperature by a degree of a unit mass of materia1. Thus, material that has lower heat
capacity will heat up faster than a material with higher specifie heat capacity for the same
amount of microwave energy applied.
2.2.1.5 Thern1a/ conductivity

The thermal conductivity together with the dielectric constant and loss factor
determine how efficiently microwaves could heat material such as food. Thermal
conductivity does not therefore affect the dielectric properties of materials, but is
important in transferring the dissipated energy through the materia1. This is especially
important when microwave energy heating create non-uniform temperature distribution.
To even out the temperature distribution in the material, it is important to apply
15
microwave power pulsing (on and off) to allow transfer of dissipated energy throughout
the material by conduction. The intermittent heating or drying cannot be effective if the
material being heated does not have good thermal conductivity to distribute the energy
through the rnaterial being heated. The pulsing of rnicrowave energy not only allow for
even ternperature distribution but also results in even drying of the product. This way, it
is possible to avoid overheating of products that do not have even rnicrowave absorption
properties due to uneven dielectric properties within the product.
3.5
3.4
_ 3.3
c:
.sIII
8 3.2
(j
·C
tî
(1)
3.1
]j
0
3
2.9
2.8
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Temperature (oC)
0.6
0.5
0.4
~
il
-;0.3
III
0
...J
0.2
0.1
0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Temperature (oC)
Figure 2.4: Dielectric properties of Nylon 66

versus ternperature at 3000 MHz [5]
16
2.3.1.6 Penetration depth
The ability of the microwave field to penetrate a material is described in terms of
its penetration depth. This is the depth at which the incident power level is reduced to
37% [9]. The wavelength, the dielectric constant (E') and the dielectric loss factor (El!) aU
affect the penetration depth. Figure 2.5 shows penetration depth of corn at various
moistures. The power penetration depths is re1ated to the dielectric property of materials
by the foUowing expression [15]:
1
2
2
(2.3)
where 0 is the penetration depth of material and À o is the wavelength in free space
(12.24cm at 2450MHz). Penetration depths of various materials and solvents are shown
in Tables 2 and 3. Penetration depth for corn versus moisture content (at 24°C and 2450
MHz) is shown in Figure 2.5.
2.3.2 Dielectric properties for non-aqueous and aqueous solutions

The dielectric constants and loss factors for some selected aqueous and non-
aqueous solutions are presented in Tables 2.4 and 2.5 respectively. GeneraUy the dielectric
constant and loss factor for aqueous salt solution decrease with increase in concentration
solutes. The dielectric loss factor decrease is significantly sharp as compared to the
die1ectric constant for the same concentration as temperature increases. The same trend is
not observed for non-aqueous solutions (Table 2.5). The dielectric constant decreases with
increase in concentration and the decrease is relative1y small compared to that for aqueous
solutions. The loss factor increases as the concentration of methanol increases.
17
12
Corn
f= 2.45 GHz
a
10
S
()
.ci'
....
p.
Q)
"Cl 8
~
0 a
:::l
\o'-----o~o/
<â
....1-0
Q)
~
Q)
0.-
6 °
4L.......-'----l--->._.L.--'---.l-----'-_1.---'----'-----'-------'
a 10 20 30 40 50 60
Moisture content, 70 (dry basis)
Figure 2.5: Penetration depth of corn

versus moisture content at 24°C
Table 2.4: Dielectric constant (E') and loss factor (E") for aqueous solution of sodium
chloride (NaCl) at various concentration (N) and temperature (OC) [16]
N TeC) 1.,=9.95 cm 1.,= 3.22 cm
E' E" E" E"
0.125 3 78.4 22.3 47.6 39.8

25 75.3 11.0 63.7 27.6
40 70.6 7.3 64.3 19.5
0.33 3 75.3 20.4 46.6 37.2
25 60.3 26.0
40 68.2 7.3 61.7 19.9
0.66 3 71.8 18.8 45.7 35.5
25 67.5 8.8
40 65.8 7.2 59.7 19.1
18
Table 2.5: Dielectric constant (E') and loss factor (E") dependence on concentration for
non-aqueous solution of methanol in acetone solvent [16]
N Temperature = ooe Temperature = 20°C Temperature = 40°C

E' E" E' E" E"
o 22.46 4.69 20.92 3.54 18.61 2.65

31.2 20.14 7.05 19.44 6.22 18.73 4.90
54.5 17.04 8.43 16.81 7.97 17.22 6.93
73.2 13.68 8.69 14.00 9.02 15.26 8.45

100 7.41 6.52 8.37 8.25 10.15 9.66
2.4 Microwave Equipment and Generators

Microwave equipment for industrial applications consist of three major
components: a microwave generator, a waveguide and an applicator. Other components
such as a transformer, a rectifier and a device to control microwave energy supply are
also necessary for smooth operation of the equipment. Magnetrons use De voltage to
produce microwaves. The approved microwave frequencies for industrial applications in
North America are 915 and 2450 MHz. Typical power output of as low as 500W to as
high as 10kW for 2450 MHz microwave frequency generators [17]. For 915 MHz
frequency power generators have output of up to 75 kW. The waveguides are used to
transport the produced microwave from the microwave generator to the applicator. The
waveguides are hollow rectangular metallic conduit. Applicators are constructed of metal
and are of different types, of which cavity applicator is common for industrial
applications. However, application normally dictates the design and the type of
applicators. Microwave energy overall conversion efficiency from electricity is between
19
45 and 50%, which include losses in converting AC to DC, from DC to microwave and
losses associated with waveguide and applicators [9].
Current microwave systems with a complete processmg line (i.e. generator,
applicator) cost $2000 to $3000 per kW [18]. However, much higher costs associated
with microwave systems ($4000 to $7000 per kW) have been reported [9]. The difference
in the costs from the two reports may be due to the difference in degrees of sophistication
and automation of the systems.
2.4.1 Microwave Generators

The early microwave generators were solid-state devices that were not able to
produce high power required by most heating applications. Sorne large industrial plants
using microwave energy require up to 100 kW, requiring microwave generators to have
high efficiency to limit energy wastage. To meet international regulations on frequency,
microwave generators are also required to generate microwaves stable in frequency and
free of harmonies. Microwave generators that are currently used for generation of
microwaves are vacuum tubes classified by the trajectory of e1ectron beam path, linear
(type 0) and crossfield (type M) [4]. There are three types of microwave generators
namely magnetron, klystron and traveling wave tubes (TWT).
2.4.1.1 Magnetrons
Magnetrons are high vacuum electronic valve symmetrically circular consisting of
hollow cylindrical anode (usually copper) with an e1ectron emitting cathode at the center
(Figure 2.6a). The anode contains the resonant cavities serving as tuned circuits that
determine the output frequency. The anode is connected to the waveguide by antenna that
transmits microwave energy from the magnetron to the waveguide. There are two main
types of magnetrons, those that operate at low frequency and those that operate at high
frequency. Negative-resistance and cyclotron-frequency magnetrons operate at high
frequencies and the multicavity magnetrons first designed by Randall J. T and Boot H. A.
H operate at low frequencies [4,5].
20
2.3.1.2 Klystron
The main features of klystron and its operating components are shown in Figure
2.6b. Similar to magnetron, in klystron the movement of e1ectrons are modulated by the
resonant cavities but the difference is in the arrangement of the resonant cavities. The
resonant cavities in klystron are arranged in linear fashion while in magnetron they are
arranged in a cycle. Essentially klystron acts as amplifier of low power microwave signal
injected into resonant cavities to high power level of microwave. The output from
klystron (over 100 kW) is very high compared to magnetrons and they are useful for high
power requirements.
OUlpul
woveguide
(a)
Microwove Mic.rowove
Electron
emiller J
1 ..::-r-~-=--- - z = :::: - - - _M
Resonant tavilies
(b)
Figure 2.6: Schematic diagram of a) magnetron and b)

Klystron
2.3.1.3 Travelling Wave Tubes
These are similar to Klystron in that electrons are employed to amplify the low
power microwave signal. The travelling wave tubes (TWT) do not have resonant cavities.
Instead, the low power microwave signal is attenuated within a periodic resonant
structure (helix or series of cavities). The advantage of TWT is that they transmit a range
of frequencies. Therefore they are used as a source in variable-frequency microwave
fumaces. For this reason most of the TWT are used mainly for electronic warfare and
transmission [4]. Table 2.6 below lists sorne of the advantages and disadvantages of the
three types of microwave generators that are most common in practice.
Table 2.6: Advantage and disadvantage of different types ofmicrowave generators [17].
Generator Advantage Disadvantage

Magnetrons - Relatively low cost - Operates at lower efficiency
- More compact of about 60-65%
- Useful for low power devices - Limited operational power
especially domestic ovens
- Stable microwave frequency
Klystron - Ras excellent frequency - Less compact
stability
- Ras high efficiency above 65% - Expensive than magnetron
- Righ power output «100 kW)
Travelling Wave - Operates at variable-frequency - Very expensive for most

applications
Tubes (TWT) - Broad band of MW signaIs can - Less compact
be amplified
- Used as a source for microwave
fumaces with variable-frequency
22
2.5 Microwave (MW) Drying
There are many examples of MW use in drying applications where microwave has
brought significant advantages. Most microwave drying systems combine MW and
conventional heating. There are several drying systems in industries ranging from food
industries, chemical industries, automotive, etc. In each case the microwave drying
systems have reduced the drying time significantly without affecting the quality of the
product. In microwave drying, heat is converted from microwave energy to thermal
energy within moist materials creating favourable pressure and temperature gradients for
rapid drying of materials. Microwave drying process may be regarded as having three
periods:
1) Heating period in which microwave energy is converted into thermal energy within
moist materials and during which material's temperature increases with time. The
moisture loss at this stage is relatively small.
2) At this stage the moisture loss is high due to high temperature profiles and internaI
pressure. As a number of studies have shown that this is the period where the internaI
pressure could reach as high as 100 kPa above atmospheric pressure [14, 19] This
internaI pressure significantly speeds up the drying process.
3) This is the period where the local moisture is reduced such that the energy required
for vaporization is less than thermal energy converted from microwaves. The net
thermal energy results in product overheating [5].
2.5.1 MW drying offoods and agricultural products: advantages and limitations

2.5.1.1 Advantages
Microwave drying offoods and agricultural products is a drying method that takes
advantage of the special heating behaviour of the microwave energy to the commodity.
The followings are sorne of the advantages of the microwave heating for drying of foods
and agricultural products over the conventional drying methods:
i) Fast and volumetrie heating
The volumetric microwave heating mechanism makes the heating a much faster
process as compared to conventional heating methods, such as convective heating or
conductive heating. Furthermore, the heat is generated from within the commodity rather
23
than from the outside surface of product through a diffusion or conduction process. This
is particularly important in finish drying of biological materials when surface portion of
the material is dried and becomes porous, which sharply reduce heat conduction.
ii) Higher drying rate
During conventional heated air drying, moisture is initially removed from the
surface and water from interior of the product moves to the drying surface through
diffusion. Microwave drying is associated with the volumetric heat generation leading to
higher internaI temperatures and an increased internaI vapour pressure which helps to
push liquid flow towards the surface, making it possible for higher drying rates.
Microwave drying is reported to provide very high specific drying capacity of up to 50
W/cm3 [20]. Additionally, various researchers report that it is efficient to use microwave
energy than conventional drying in the falling drying rate period especially when
microwave dryer is used in combination with systems such as heat pumps [21].
iii) Short drying time

The higher drying rates that are realised by using microwave substantially shorten
drying time period. Research on microwave drying over the years has shown that there is
a significant reduction in drying time [18, 22, 23, 24]. Drying time can be shortened by
more than 50% depending on the product and the drying conditions. Schiffmann [6],
Feng et al., [50] and Feng and Tang [51] reports a reduction of drying time of almost
75% in microwave drying of pasta from the 8 hour traditional drying process to only 1.5
hour by microwave drying.
iv) Quality ofthe products

Microwave drying research over the years have shown an improvement in the
quality of final products when microwave is used in combination with other conventional
drying processes such as convective, vacuum or freeze drying. Literature reports final
products of similar or better quality when compared to those produced by conventional
drying methods. In sorne cases it is reported that microwave dtying eliminates case
hardening, internaI stresses and give higher yield and reduces the loss of vitamin C and
aroma compared to the conventional methods [25]. Quality of dried mushrooms under
24
microwave energy was found to be of superior quality to those dried under conventional
methods. Microwave dried mushrooms were found to have better flavour, aroma and
water uptake [22]. Also it was possible to obtain good quality dried strawberries by using
microwave in combination with convection drying [26].
v) Reduced energy consumption
Although there are no comprehensive literature on energy savings that can be
realised in microwave drying, microwaves are absorbed only by dielectric materials
especially for a fine tuned dryer set-up. Microwave energy loss through or transferred to
the air, walls of the oyen, conveyor or other parts, is negligible due to their lower ability
to absorb microwaves as a result of their lower dielectric properties. This can
significantly lead to energy savings. Moreover, in microwave drying, there is great
potential for energy savings due to the fast drying rate, reduction in drying time,
uniformity and selective heating.
vi) Cast savings

The operational cost savings may be realised through energy savings, reduction in
drying time, increased throughput, labour reduction, reduced heat load in the plant, less
space to set up drying equipment, reduced handling time, increased efficiency and
reduced maintenance costs.
2.5.1.2 Microwave drying limitations

As with any type of drying method, microwave drying has its limitations. The
limitations range from operational problems, costs and the quality changes in food and
agricultural products. Sorne of the limitations associated with microwave drying
compared to conventional methods are discussed below:
i) Although numerous microwave drying of foods and agricultural products have
been reported in the literature, yet microwave drying has not been employed
extensively on an industrial scale. Sorne of the lirniting factors are high initial
costs associated with the purchase and installation of industrial scale microwave
dryer. There is also a lack of documented energy savings and weIl established
production operations of microwave dryer.
25
ii) There is sorne evidence to the loss of aroma and negative sensory changes of
microwave dried juice powder when compared to fresh juice [25]. This is due
to lower temperature of the air surrounding the product, which makes it
impossible to dehydrate the surface and produce a crust that protects the food
from loss of moisture and volatile aromas. Also short-time exposures in the
microwave oyen does not help in the completion of slow and/or multi-step
maillard reactions responsible for browning and generation of specific aromas.
There are reported cases of food and agricu1tural products being of
unacceptable colour or flavour to consumers due to charring or being scotched
[27,28,29].
iii) There are also physical damages resu1ting from local temperatures increase
continuously even though the loss factor of material being dried decreases
with the reduction in moisture content during the process [5]. The composition
of biological material itself can sometime lead to variations in the moisture
content and thereby contribute to uneven local temperature distributions or
non-uniform heating [30, 31].
iv) Specific sample sizes and shapes may be required. For industrial applications,
it is difficu1t to dry large size food and agricultural products in the flow
process because of microwave penetration and microwave leaking. The shape
and size of objects heated by microwave irradiation have much greater and
completely different impact on temperature distribution than classical means
of heating. Microwave energy is deposited directly in the heated material, so
the interior of the object can be heated without the mediation of conductive
heating and usually temperatures inside heated materials are much higher than
near the surface, especially for solids such as frozen meat with low thermal
conductivity. Spherically and cylindrically shaped foods tend to concentrate
microwave energy in the centre when the diameter is in the range of 20 to 60
mm (0.8 to 3.0 in). For larger diameter biological materials conduction will
play a role, and time and power must be adjusted to permit completion of
conduction heating.
26
2.5.2 Microwave freeze drying
Microwave heating shows great potential in accelerating freeze-drying processes
as early as late 50's by supplying energy for sublimation volumetrically [32]. The main
reason for this is that the microwave heat energy is effective throughout the material
being treated rather than at the surface, which is the case with conduction and radiant
heating. The most common problem that is normally encountered in freeze-drying is that
material become harder to dry due to reduced thermal conductivity as the moisture front
recedes [9]. Microwave freeze-drying process is not affected by the hardening of a
material since microwave energy passes through dry hard material without heating the
outer layer and absorbed by the ice layer for effective sublimation.
The use of microwave in freeze-drying is reported to decrease the drying time
substantially and increase the drying rate. Various studies reported a decrease in drying
time by a factor of 3 to 13 [32, 33]. Although there have been few industrial MW freeze
drying applications as reported, there are sorne successful use of MW freeze drying in
coffee processing [9].
2.5.3 Microwave vacuum drying

Microwave vacuum drying systems are normally used for materials that can be
damaged or decomposed at low temperatures. Drying takes place at reduced boiling
points that is achieved at low pressures. Rate of heat transfer is significantly increased
when microwave energy is used compared to conventional heating where thermal
convection is very low [17]. Microwaves are used instead of RF because of the low
electric fields required to produce power. Higher electric field strengths normally would
give rise to glow discharges or electrical arcing in the cavity. Materials to be dried are in
the paste form spread on a conveyer belt and passed through a special applicator at a
vacuum of between 1 to 20 tOIT. The microwave vacuum dryers are already in
commercial use for production of fruit juice concentrates, tea powder and enzymes [9].
27
Most phannaceutical products are heat sensitive. The products are of high
moisture content and sometime contain a mixture of solvents and demands intensive
drying. To avoid damage and degradation of product quality, local overheating and
irreversible changes that might occur, phannaceutical industries use microwave vacuum
drying process. Microwave vacuum drying is employed in the manufacture of tablet
granulation [9, 17]. The systems are employed in the drying mixture ofwater, ethanol, or
acetone and at relatively low temperatures as compared to conventional drying.
A microwave vacuum drying (MN AC R) system was developed by McDonnell
Company me. (Figure 2.7) aimed at drying grain by combining microwaves and vacuum
[34].
1. Wet Grain In
2. Upper Hopper
3. Drying Chamber
4. Dry Grain Out
5. Vacuum Pump
6. Condensate Tank
7. Power Supp1y
8. Waveguide
Figure 2.7: MNAC® dryer configuration [34]
28
The vacuum pressure for the dryer ranged from 3.4 to 6.6 kPa. Within this range
the moisture in grain can be evaporated at temperatures of 26 to 52°C. A dryer has the
advantage of drying the grain at low temperatures, uses less energy and dries crops
quickly while maintaining product quality. Probably due to cost considerations it was not
commercially successful despite extremely fast drying rates.
2.5.4 Microgas dryer
This is a dryer system that has been deve10ped by MicroGas Corporation and
combine microwave and convective heating [35]. The system uses natural gas to generate
electricity from a generator. The electricity generated is used to generate microwave and
used to fUll other units associated with the dryer such as air blower, conveyor belts, etc.
The thermal energy used for convective heating is recovered from waste heat that is
generated by the generator, which is 50% of natural gas fed to the electricity generator.
Electricity generated is about 30% of the gas consumption. The MicroGas dryer has been
recommended for applications for which product unit value is high and where large
decrease in equipment space is crucial. Figure 2.8 shows a schematic diagram of the
MicroGas dryer configuration.
Natural Prime Mover/Generator

Gas I\rlfc::rowave Generatoc
Dlelectrlc
Power
Waveguldes
Figure 2.8: MicroGas dryer configuration [35]
29
2.5.5 Microwave and Radio frequency heat pump dryers
Microwave and radio frequency heat pump assisted dyer is another hybrid drying
system. The hybrid drying system utilizes the known performance characteristic of heat
pump to reclaim the enthalpy of evaporation from air stream that exits from the drying
chamber and recycle. The heat pump is effective in reclaiming the energy since it
provides refrigerant at sufficiently low temperature to condense the exiting saturated air
thus absorbing heat from the air. The compressor is then used to raise the reclaimed heat
to higher temperatures. The limitations that are encountered towards the falling drying
rate period can be overcome with the use of microwave or radio frequency that generates
heat volumetrically within the material. Marshall and Metaxas [8] have developed
(Figure 2.9) and studied the use of the radio frequency heat pump assisted batch
particulate dryer. The experimental study for the radio frequency heat pump assisted
dryer was done for both continuous and pulsed mode.
The study also involved development of mathematical drying model with the
internaI heat source generated by the radio frequency. The study was able to characterize
the RF heat pump assisted dryer and also conventional radio frequency (RF) heating
systems. The numerical results were found to be in good agreement with experimental
data (Figure 2.10). Their results also showed the hybrid drying system to have improved
dryer performance. The most significant improved performance reported was that of
drying rate. In general the designed and studied RF assisted heat pump dryer system was
found to be efficient and economically viable.
2.5.6 Other types ofmicrowave dryers

There are already several other types of microwave-convection dryers in operation
to date. These dryers are for various operations including drying of particulate materials.
The schematic diagram for these dryers is as shown in Figures 2.11 & 2.12 below [37].
The band type microwave dyer is a conveyor type with mode stirrer attached at the top for
uniform distribution of microwave field through the product. The second dryer is a
fluidized bed dryer connected with the waveguide for microwave energy input for
particulate materials. The microwave generator is attached with the heat exchanger to heat
the inlet air.
30
LoadcelJ
e
Ambient Air _
-
-:;r..
"i
~
Evaporators /Re
~-=m1i=
- - I~i
<-.1-.
S-1-
:::: lu. /
!
w
Condensets ~L- _ _.--J
ca
~
'--v--' ~
Heat Pump Class 'c' 27.12 MHz
~ Drying Chamber RF Generator
13
"
iii
Figure 2.9: RF assisted heat pump dryer [36].
0.6 60
0.5 1\ 50
Û
Mode! Temperature
t-
40 e
=
..e-
~
30 ai
:;..
'i
;::;
r:
.S
.al
~
0.1
j Experimental Moisture Content .7

o ....---,---~---+----;----+----;----+-I - - -1. 0
o 5 10 15 20 25 JO 35 40
Timo (minutes)
Figure 2.10: Experimental and numerical results of RF heat

pump assisted dryer [36]
31
EXHAUST AIR MICROWAVE
~UT
MODEsnAAER
i---~ . cnOWAVE <'<mY
PRODUCT
~o
LOSSY MATERIAL
Figure 2.11: Band type microwave dryer [37]
EXHAUST AIR
DRYEil CHAMBER
MlCROWAVE
GENERATOR
HEAT EXCHANGER HEATER
Figure 2.12: Microwave dryer for particulate materials [37]
32
The CUITent microwave drying systems in commercial applications, research and
development stages are outlined in Figure 2.13.
MWDRYING
\li
MWHEAT- 1 MWFREEZE
_PUM_~
1
DRYING
\/ \/
COMBINED MW AND MW VACUUM DRYING

CONVECTIVE DRYING - MN AC®- Fruits &
- Pulsed on and off vegetables drying system
- Osmotic pre-dehydration - Microwave vacuum dryer
(Several commercial dryers are in for fruit juice concentrate,
operation for food applications, tea powder etc.
e.g. Pasta drying) - Pharmaceutical microwave
-MicroGas Dryer vacuum dryer.
Figure 2.13: Microwave drying systems
2.6 Mathematical Models and Solution Methods

For microwave heating and drying, prediction of the heat and moisture transfer is
essential for process optimization, equipment design and product quality improvement. To
achieve this, many studies have formulated mathematical models for microwave drying.
Early formulation of models on microwave drying used Lambert's law to describe electric
field distribution. However, Lambert's law is valid for semi-infinite materials. An accurate
description of the electric field distribution in materials exposed to microwave is obtained
by solving Maxwell's equations [1]. Number of approaches have been employed to
33
numerically solve the coupled heat and mass transfer equations. Different mathematical
models for microwave drying are presented and reviewed. The review highlights on the
coupled heat and mass equations, types of materials used, solution methods employed and
conclusions drawn from the study.
2.6.1 Mathematical modelfor microwave vacuum drying

The model of Lian et al. [15] coupled heat and moisture transfer to describe
microwave assisted drying of porous materials. Their model considers the moisture
transfer as a combination of liquid water and vapor water transfer that takes place
simultaneously. Moisture transfer during the drying process was assumed to involve both
the liquid water (qJ) and vapor water (qv). The net moisture flux (qw) was expressed as
the sum of q\ and qv:
(2.4)
The liquid flow through porous pores is by conduction of capillary liquid water.
The driving force is the energy potential gradient law established by Darcy. By using
Darcy's law and other assumptions Lian et al., [15] established the goveming equation for
moisture transfer as:
(2.5)
The second term on the right hand side of the Equation 2.5 accounts for the coupling of
moisture transfer with the heat transfer.
The heat transfer equation was derived based on the energy balance between the
microwave power absorbed, latent heat of evaporation and sensible heat changes by
conduction and convection:
34
where <P is the tenn accounting for heat generated by microwave power dissipation per
volume. The energy and moisture transfer equations are coup1ed. The microwave power
dissipation within the materia1 is re1ated to the e1ectric field E and the die1ectric properties
ofthe materia1 by equation (2.7).
(2.7)
where f is the microwave frequency, Co is the pennittivity of the free space (8.854e-
12F/m) and 8" is the die1ectric 10ss factor of the materiaL
The mode1 was app1ied to simu1ate the MW-vacuum drying of concentrated water-
soluble food paste. By assuming the e1ectric field around the product to be uniform but
decaying exponentially with increasing depth z from the surface of materia1 into the bulk
materia1 according to Lambert's attenuation equation:
(2.8)
From Lambert's attenuation equation, the power absorbed by a materia1 per unit volume
IS:
(2.9)
Where E o and <Po are e1ectric field strength and power flux to the surface, bE and bp are
the penetration depth of the e1ectric field and microwave power respective1y. Both
penetration depths are re1ated to the die1ectric properties of materiaL The study used food
paste to predict the moisture and temperature during MW-vacuum drying. Figure 2.14
shows numerica1 results for temperature profiles at the surface, quarter-depth and center
of the food product as it moves through the MW cavity.
35
340 r--------------.,.-------,
Baffle
290 ' - - L _........_ _;J".- -..J._ _...... ..I-J..-_--J
a 1 2 3 .. 5 6
Distance (m)
Figure 2.14: Numerical results for temperature at surface (-), quarter-depth (++) and
center (....) ofproduct [15]
0.4 r---------------_
0.3
.....
=
Sc
8
e 0.2
li
l:I:I
~
0.1
•
• •
1 234 5 6
Distance (m)
Figure 2.15: Numerical results for moisture profiles at
surface (-), quarter-depth (+ +) and center (....) of the
food product plotted and compared with the
experimental data [15]
36
Figure 2.15 shows the numerical results for moisture profiles at surface, quarter-
depth and center of the food product plotted and compared with the experimental data.
The predicted moisture content at quarter-depth and the center agrees well with the
experimental data. Figure 15 shows that the paste dried very fast at the beginning and as
the load moved along the conveyor belt the drying rate decreased. Below 10% moisture
content the drying rate became very slow. Also, as the moisture content decreased the
power dissipated in the material also decreased due to the decrease of loss factor.
2.6.2 Intermittent MW drying

Zhang and Mujumdar [38] used the finite element method to optimize intermittent
drying parameters. The authors used the finite element method and Luikov's theory to
determine the temperature, moisture and stress distributions at different instances during
intermittent heating.
Governing equations
The derivation of the goveming equations for heat and mass transfer by the
authors was based on the principles of irreversible thermodynamics and sorne
assumptions.
(2.10)
(2.11)
Initial and boundary conditions are
To = To(x,y,z) (2.12)
U o = Uo(x,y,z) (2.13)
Tw = TAt,x,y,z) on SI (2.14)
U w = Uw(t,x,y,z) on S3 (2.15)
37
ô'T
k On + hAT - Ta ) + (1- E.}Àh m(U - U J =0 (2.16)
OU ô'T
km -at+ k m6k On +hm(U - Ua) = 0 (2.17)
where T0 and Uo are initial values, T w and U w are boundary values, Ta and Ua are ambient
temperature and moisture values, and h is convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
and hm is the convective mass transfer.
The numerical results for temperature and moisture (% dry basis) were compared
with priOf experimental and theoretical results. Below are sorne of the results obtained in
their study and compared with experimental values (Figure 2.16,2.17,2.18 and 2.19).
They conc1uded that intermittent heating yields lower thermal and moisture gradients and
hence reduced thermal and mechanical damage to biological materia1.
. ::
Q:
rode 23
~j
: : 1 /
'/,/'/ 1
r ~ J /
.
: 1/
$O! ;' - - - M..lfvlellCAL RESU.TS OF THIS PAPm
- - - - - Nl.tIERlCAL RE5U.lS OF THOMAS et q. (19130)
- - - M.JYfRICAl.. RESlLTS OF R..OAYAAAJ 81 à.('19SO}
o~_-=-_-:::_~::----::~_*_~.
o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ro
Tme(mh)
Figure 2.16: Temperature values at node 1 and node

19 from numerical results versus time: - Zhang and
Mujumdar [38], - - Thomas et al. [39] and - -
Irudayaraj et al. [40]
38
i:---..L_ _.....L-_ _...L-_-=:.:s
o 50 '00 200
ïme{trs)
Figure 2.17: Moisture potential values at node 1 and

node 19 versus time: - Zhang and Mujumdar [38],
__ Thomas et al. [39] and - - Irudayaraj et al.
r401
Figure 2.18: Temperature of numerical simulation at

various nodes of Zhang and Mujumdar [38] -
compared with previous results of <l <l Beard et al.
f391, - - Irudayaraj et al. f401
39
NODE 1
Figure 2.19: Moisture potential at various nodes ofZhang

and Mujumdar [38] - compared with previous results of
<l <l Beard et al. [39], - - Irudayaraj et al. [40]
2.6.3 Solution methods

Numerous numerical techniques have been employed to model microwave drying
problems. A selection of sorne ofthese techniques is listed below.
Finite difference method: Ni et al. [41] developed a multiphase porous media
model to predict moisture transport during intensive microwave heating of biomaterials.
In developing the model, it was assumed that: 1) Three phases of solid, liquid, and gas
were assumed to be continuous. 2) Local thermal equilibrium was valid. 3) Physio-
chemical forces between the liquid and solid matrix were strong. 4) Liquid movement was
the sum of convective and capillary flow due to gradient in total gas pressure and gradient
of capillary force respectively. 5) To simplify the solution procedure, the contribution of
convection to energy transport was initially ignored, but was later added back. 6) As
biomaterials lose water, the material shrinks and the gas porosity increases. The model
40
was developed for MW heating of moist biomaterials which has internaI moisture
distribution which are different from those resulting from surface convective heating. The
application area for the model is to food products that aIlow rapid heating in domestic
ovens. The model (I-Dimensional slab) was used to examine moisture transport during
intensive microwave heating.
Ni et al. [41] also used a finite difference method to solve the coupled heat and
mass equations. AIl equations were assembled in one matrix and were solved
simultaneously using LAPACK library on an IBM SP2 supercomputer. From this study
it was possible to develop a multiphase transport model of hygroscopie porous media
that inc1uded spatially varying and intense internaI heat generation, evaporation and
pressure driven flow. In addition, the moisture level on the surface increased
significantly due to the rate oftransport from interior, exceeding the rate of removal from
the surface and making the surface soggy. For high moisture materials, rates of heating
were found to be higher and moisture loss was even higher due to liquid water escaping
from the surface without undergoing a vapor phase stage. However, the contribution
from the convection terms in the energy equation appeared to be relatively minor.
Finite difference time domain (FD-TD): Zhang et al. [42], developed a numerical
simulation of a hybrid MW heating process that can produce high heating rates for warm
biological tissues. The model developed is two-dimensional based on small dimensions
of the biological tissue to be studied combined with low loss factor and dielectric
constant.
A finite-difference time-domain technique was used to model the electric field
strength distribution within a single-mode MW cavity. Field strength data was used to
compute the power dissipated and the control volume method was used to solve the
energy equation. The aim of the hybrid heating is to warm the biological tissue (cryo-
preserved) fast enough by rapidly increasing the temperature and possibly to outrun the
crystallization process and thereby avoid the cell damage induced by ice.
The numerical simulation used in this study showed that by moving the biological
tissue through the resonant cavity at an appropriate velocity, the occurrence of thermal
runaway might be avoided. This was attributed to the warmest central region of the
41
biological material being moved continuously towards regions of lower electric field
strength.
Finite difference method: Adu and Otto [43] developed a model that predicts the
MW heating behavior of granular hygroscopic solids with low spatial dimensions to
penetration depth ratio. The model consisted of an energy transport equation based on a
macroscopic application of the law of energy conservation, solution of the Fick's
diffusion equation and a modified Gallaher's equation. Heating characteristic of white
beans was used to test the model's accuracy in predicting MW heating and drying rate.
The finite difference method was used to solve the energy conservation equation,
mass transfer and diffusion coefficient equations as well as modified Gallaher's equation.
The predicted values and experimental data compared well except for predicted
temperature, which deviated by soc.
Finite difference time domain (FD-TD): Maxwell's electromagnetic equations
were coupled to the heat transfer equation and solved numerically in order to simulate
MW heating of polymer material inside a waveguide. Liu et al. [44] used a three-
dimensional finite-difference time-domain method to predict the electromagnetic fields
and power distribution inside the ridge waveguide loaded with polymer material (Nylon
6). For temperature distribution of polymer inside the ridge waveguide was assumed to be
a two-dimensional heat transfer model in z and x directions since by inspection
temperature in y-direction was found to be uniform.
FD-TD method was used to determine magnetic and electric fields, and power in
the polymer materia1. The temperature rise in each cell of the polymer material was then
predicted over a short period of time. The new temperature was then used to caIculate the
dielectric constant and 10ss factor, which were then used to re-calculate magnetic and
electric fields, power density and then temperature. The procedure was repeated until the
required heating time was reached. Predicted values by FD-TD method were found to be
in good agreement with experimental data up to IS0 a C. Comparison beyond IS0 a C was
not done in the study because dielectric properties of Nylon 6 used are only known within
the range of20-1S0 a C.
Control-Volume Finite Difference: Turner and Jolly [14] solved the governing
equations for microwave drying of a brick slab by considering moisture-dependence of
42
the dielectric loss factor by including a mlcrowave source term, based on a one-
dimensional plane wave using the control volume finite difference method developed by
Patankar [45]. A fully implicit finite-difference time-domain was used. The authors
checked for errors associated with the mass and energy balances to ensure accuracy. The
model was able to describe the temperature and moisture evolution and power
distribution during the drying process. The sample thickness influence on drying kinetics
was included in the model and was found to be important. The model revealed several
interesting results:
a) A receding evaporation front was evident.
b) The presence of the microwave-pumping phenomenon not known earlier was
evident.
c) Airflow was negligible within the material.
d) Oscillations occurred at the evaporation front as it receded from the surface.
The authors attributed this to evaporation and re-condensation effect.
e) For thick materials (10 cm), several microwave power absorption peaks
appeared within the material, which resulted from a standing waves set up by
the interaction of the forward and reflected microwaves.
t) The presence of standing waves appears to have a substantial effeet on the
moisture profiles, whereas the temperature profiles do not have a similar shape
to the power density profiles. The authors did not discuss the reason for this
phenomenon.
Integral Method: Chen and Schmidt [46] considered the effeets of the elevated
temperatures and temperature gradients produced by dielectric heating in drying based on
the model developed by Chen and Pei [47]. The authors applied an integral technique to
obtain the solutions for the governing heat and mass transfer equations. The integral
method reduces the problem to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations.
The predieted drying rate and internaI temperature distribution by the model fitted
well with the observed data. The model was tested for non-hygroscopie (polymer pellets
and glass beads) and hygroscopic (activated alumina spheres) materials. The integral
model was rapid and inexpensive for the estimation of drying curves and temperature
43
distribution. The accuracy of the integral method depends on the assumed forms for
temperature and moisture profiles representing the real situation.
Moving Finite Element: Differences in the dielectric properties and
thermophysical properties in the wet region and the sorption region of material and the
presence ofreceding evaporation front observed experimentally led Chen and Pei (1989)
to propose a two region model and considered both hygroscopie and non-hygroscopie
materia1. Capillary flow of free water is the main mechanism of moisture transfer in wet
region and in the sorption region bound water and vapor predominates. The authors
included the following assumptions in the model: 1) convective heat and mass transfer
coefficients vary with surface moisture content; 2) air flow is negligible; 3) gravity force
is negligib1e; and 4) the heat source term for die1ectric heating was assumed to be
proportional to the moisture content.
Chen and Pei solved the goveming equations using the moving finite element
method. The model was used to generate drying curves for several materials with
different hygroscopie properties (wool, brick and kemel). Predicted drying curves and
temperature and moisture distributions compared weIl with reported experimental results.
Orthogonal-Collocation: Wei and Davis (1985) solved the goveming equations to
model the fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena in microwave heated, water-Iaden
sandstone using the orthogonal-collocation method. Using Lambert's law, the absorbed
microwave power per unit volume was approximated. A backward difference implicit
method was used in the time domain. Their results showed a rapid pressure buildup in the
sample, then a decline to nearly atmospheric pressure; airflow towards the center was
very slow during most of the drying period. The model was a valid representation for
non-hygroscopie materials. The study was done at temperatures less than 70°C and
therefore it is not clear if drying could be done at higher temperatures.
2.7 Closure
There are many types of drying processes and technologies using various forms of
energy sources from fossil fuels to electricity. Unlike other forms of heating microwave
heats a polar compound volumetrically thus energy supplied at the surface does not have
44
to be conducted into the interior. This type of heating provides a unique advantage over
conventional drying methods in terms of reduced drying time especially in the final
drying stage, improved quality of products and higher output. However, the main
limitation of MW drying is that the method is highly capital-intensive. The method
consumes electricity, which is an expensive energy and the conversion of electricity to
microwave is in the order of 50%. This has contributed to limited introduction and
application of microwave drying method. It is under these circumstances that MW drying
method has been adopted for high value products and to reduce extremely long drying
time to remove traces of moisture. Aiso it is used to increase the drying capacity.
However there are commercially available hybrid drying systems such as microwave
vacuum drying.
Further development ofhybrid systems that combine the advantage ofmicrowave
and other conventional methods while minimizing the costs and improve the quality of
the final product is worth exploring. Microwave or Radio frequencies in combination
with heat pump assisted dryers are such hybrid drying system that have been studied and
reported. Microwave drying method in combination with osmotic dehydration have also
been studied and reported. Although all these methods have shown to increase drying
rates and significantly reduce drying time, the initial and operating costs are such that the
benefit obtained does not offset the added cost.
2.8 Nomenclature
Cp specific heat capacity (J/kg K)
Cm moisture capacity (kg/kg)
Db bound moisture diffusion coefficient (m 2/s)
DE electric field penetration depth (cm)
Dp power penetration depth (cm)
DI liquid moisture diffusion coefficient (m 2/s)
Dv vapor moisture diffusion coefficient (m 2 /s)
E electric field strength (Vlm)
45
g gravity (mls 2 )
h surface heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
hm surface mass transfer coefficient (mis)
K permeability (m2)
k thermal conductivity (W/m K)
P pressure (N/m2)
Pin incident dielectric power (W)
ql liquid water flux (kg/m2 s)
qy water vapor flux (kg/m2 s)
qw total moisture flux (kg/m2 s)
R gas constant (J/kg mol K)
S position ofreceding evaporation front (m)
T temperature (K)
t time (s)
U moisture potential
V volume (m3)
2.8.1 Greek letters

E e1ectric permittivity (F/m)
E' dielectric constant (-)
E" die1ectric loss factor (-)
Eo electric permittivity of free space (F/m)
Es shrinkage caused by moisture loss
<1> dielectric volumetrie heating per volume of sample (W/m 3)
À microwave wavelength (cm)
() thermal gradient coefficient (l/K)
8 moisture content (kg/kg)
p density (kg/m3)
46
2.8.2 Subscripts
0 initial value
a ambient
g gas phase
l liquid
m moisture
v vapor
w water
Wa wall
2.9 References
[1] Ayappa, K.G., 1997, Modeling transport processes during microwave heating: A
review, Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 13(2): 1-68.
[2] Stem, C.H, 1998, International Microwave Power Institute, Vol. 33 No. 4, 207-215
[3] Lehne, M., Barton, G.W, and Langrish, T.AG., 1999, Drying Technology, 17(10)
2219-2235
[4] Saltiel, C and Datta, A.S, 1999, Heat and mass transfer in microwave processing,
Advances in Heat Transfer, Vol. 33, 1-94
[5] Metaxas, AC., and Meredith, R.J., 1983, Industrial Microwave Heating, Peter
Peregrinus, London.
[6] Schiffinann, R.F., 1992, Food Technology, 46(12),50-56.
[7] Schiffinann, R. F., 1987, Microwave and die1ectric drying, Handbook of Industrial
Drying, A.S. Mujumdar ed., Marcel Dekker, NY.
[8] Metaxas, A.C. 1988, IEE Review, 185-187
[9] Schiffinann, R. F., 1995, Handbook of Industrial Drying Vol. 1, AS. Mujumdar ed.,
Marcel Dekker, NY.
47
[10] Stuchly, S. Sand Hamid, M.AK., 1972, Journal ofMicrowave Power, 7, 117-137.
[11] Potter, N.N., and Hotchkiss, J.H., 1995, Food Science, Chapman and Hall, NY.
[12] Chen, P and Schmidt, P.S., 1996, Mathematical Modeling and Numerical
Techniques in Drying Technology, edited by 1. Turner and A.S Mujumdar, Marcel
Dekker, Inc., 439-480.
[13] Turner, LW. and Jolly, P.G., 1991, Drying Technology, 9(5), 1209-1269.
[14] Lefeuvre, P.S., Mangin, B. and Rezvan, Y., 1978, IMPI Microwave Power
Symposium, Ottawa, Ontario, June 28-30,897-905.
[15] Lian, G., Harris, C.S., Evans, R., and Warboys, M., 1997, J. Microwave Power
Electromagnetic Energy. 32:34-44.
[16] Akhadov, Y.Y., 1980, Dielectric Properties of Binary Solutions, Nauka and
Pergamon Press Ud. Oxford.
[17] Jones, P.L., and Rowley, AT., 1996, Drying Technology, 14(5), 1063-1098.
[18] Raghavan, G.S.V., and Orsat, V., 1998, Drying'98, A.S. Mujumdar ed., Printed in
Greece by Ziti Editions.
[19] Constant T., Moyne C., and Perre P., 1996, AIChE J; 42(2) 359-368.
[20] Zagrouba, F, Rogiues, M.A, Szentmarjay, T and Szalay, A, 1992, Hungarian Journal
of Industrial Chemistry, Vol. 21 65-74.
[21] Marshall, M.G and Metaxas, AC, 1999, App1ied Thermal Engineering, 19375-388.
[22] Decareau, R.V., 1985, Microwave in the Food Processing Industry, Academie Press
Inc., New York.
[23] Giese, J., 1992, Food Science Journal 46(9) 118-123.
[24] Tulasidas, T.N., Raghavan, G.S.V and Mujumdar, Drying Technology, 13(8-9):
1949-1992.
48
[25] Rosenberg, D., and Bogl, W., 1987, Food Technology, 41(6) 85-91.
[26] Venkatachalapathy, K and Raghavan, G.S.V., 1998, J Microwave and

Electromagnetic Energy 33(2) 95-102.
[27] Ikan, R.,1994, The Maillard Reaction. John Wiley & Sons.
[28] Yongsawatdigul, J and Gunasekaran, S. 1996, Journal of Food Processing and

Preservation, 20, 121-143
[29] Abhayawick, L, Laguerre, J.C and Duquenoy, A, IDS2000
[30] Khraisheh, M.A.M, Cooper, T,J.R and Magee, T.R.A 1997, Journal of Food
Engineering, 33,207-219
[31] Khraisheh, M.AM, McMinn, W.A.M and Magee, T.R.A. 2000, Journal of Food
Engineering, 43, 243-250
[32] Peltre, R.P., Arsem, H.B. and Ma, Y.H., 1977, AIChE Symposium Series 73(163):
131-133.
[33] Ma, Y.H., and Arsem, H., 1982, Drying 82: 196-200.
[34] Gardner, D.R. and Butler, lL., 1982, Drying'82, A.S. Mujumdar ed., Elsevier
Science Publishers, Amsterdam, 248-251.
[35] Kudra, T., and Mujumdar, AS., 1995, Handbook of Industrial Drying, AS.
Mujumdar ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1087-1149.
[37] Mujumdar, AS., and Kudra, T., 2000, Advanced Drying Technologies, Marcel
Dekker Ine., New York.
[38] Zhang, D., and Mujumdar, AS., 1992, Drying Technology, 10(2),421-443.
[41] Ni, H, Datta, A.K, and Torrance, K.E., 1999, Int. J heat and Mass Transfer 42, 1501-
1512.
[43] Adu, B and Otten, L., 1996, J. Mierowave Power and Electromagnetic Energy 31:
35-42
49
[45] Patankar, S.V., 1980, Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow,
Hemisphere/McGraw Hil1.
[46] Chen, P., and Schmidt, P.S., 1990, Drying Technology, 8(5),907-930.
[47] Chen, P and Pei, D.C.T, 1989, International Journal of heat and mass transfer (32)
297-310.
[48] Wei, C.K., Davis, H.T., Davis, RA. and Gordon, J., 1985 AIChE Journal
[49] Feng et al., 2001, Heat and Mass transport in microwave drying of porous materials
in a spouted bed, AIChE 47(7).
[50] Feng et a1., 1999, Drying Technology 17(10): 1981-1998.
[51] Feng and Tang, 1998 Journal of Food Science, 63(4):679-683.
50
CHAPTERIII
EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS, MATERIALS AND
PROCEDURE
This chapter provides details about the experimental apparatus set-up, materials
used, experimental procedure and techniques employed in drying kinetics experiments,
re-hydration and shrinkage experiments. The chapter is also devoted to the experimental
uncertainty and reproducibility of the results.
3.1 Experimental Apparatus

The experimental apparatus used for this study was a batch type microwave dryer
(Figure 3.1). The dryer consists ofa microwave generator (750 W and 2450 MHz), 3-port
re-circulator, a cavity (40 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm), hot air system, a data acquisition and
control system (Agilent No. 34970A). The microwave generator has the capacity to vary
power, allowing that pennits control of microwave power output in a continuous mode.
The microwave dryer set-up for this research allowed for the control of the following
variables:
• Inlet air temperature ( Too )
• Inlet air velocity ( v00 )
• Incident microwave power ( ~)
• Reflected microwave power ( p, )

The experimental apparatus was also able to record the following variables instantly
during each experimental mn:
• Mass of sample and sample holder (m)
• Sample temperature at any location (7;)
• Inlet and outlet air temperature ( Too , ~UI )
• Inlet air velocity ( v 00 )
• Incident microwave power ( ~)
51
• Reflected microwave power ( P,)
3.1.1 Microwave drying

Experimental work was carried out using a custom designed laboratory scale
variable microwave power generator and hot air dryer (Figure 3.1). The dryer was
equipped with a 750 W, 2450 MHz microwave generator (item 1). The microwaves
generated traveled through a series of rectangular waveguides to the main rectangular
cavity (45 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm) (item 6). A 3-Port circulator (item 2) ensured that the
microwaves reflected from the cavity were directed to the dummy load where absorption
of reflected microwaves took place. Incident and reflected microwave powers were
monitored by power meters (item 3) attached on waveguide just after the 3-Port
circulator. Reflected microwave power was maintained at a near zero value during each
experimental run by manually adjusting a three-stub tuner inserted in the top of the
waveguide assembly (item 4). Heated air was continually blown on the samples placed as
a single layer on the perforated sample holder (item 7). Hot air was passed into the cavity
through a circular opening at the bottom. Air was heated using three 2 kW electrical
heaters (item 9) and a 0.25 kW blower (item 8) forced air over the sample placed on the
perforated holder (item 7). The moisture-Iaden exhaust was discharged through the
opening at the corner of the back wall of the cavity (item 10). The velocity and
temperature of air were maintained constant through experimental runs at 1.0 mis and
45°C respectively. T~e initial mass of the sample was approximately 100 g was
continuously monitored during each drying run, as the sample holder was attached with a
strain gauge (item 5). The inlet and outlet air temperature was measured using Type-K
thermocouples and the temperature of the sample at various locations was measured
using a digital fiber optie thermometer (Nortech Fibronic Inc., Quebec, Canada) immune
to microwave fields. AlI temperature, microwave power and instantaneous mass data
were recorded by a data acquisition unit (HP34970A - Data Acquisition/Switch Unit,
Hewlett-Packard, USA). A computer program was written in HPVEE to monitor the
drying process. The samples for each experimental run were removed once a pre-
determined weight was reached
52
1
2 4
1. Microwave Generator
2. 3-Port circulator
3. Power Meters
4. Tuning Screws
5. Strain Gauge
6. Microwave cavity
7. Perforated sample holder
8. Variable speed Blower
9. Heaters
10. Exhaust vent
Figure 3.1: Schematic diagram of a laboratory scale microwave and hot air dryer
Figure 3.2: A photograph of the experimental set-up used
53
3.2 Materials
The model materials chosen for this experimental work were carrot and patata
cultivar unknown, polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon) and alumina (Alz0 3 ). Carrot and
patata represents biological materials of high loss factor, teflon represents a low loss
factor and alumina represents a loss factor material with thermal runaway effect.
Sample's length (L) and diameter were measured with a digital caliper (Digimatic
Calliper, Mitutoyo Corporation, Japan) ta within 0.01 mm. An electronic balance with an
accuracy of ±O.O 1 was used ta measure the mass of samples for each experimental run.
3.3 Experimental Procedure
3.3.1 Drying kinetics experiments

The drying kinetics were measured in a batch mode using carrot, patata and
Teflon as model materials. A special case of biological material embedded with Teflon
was used ta study the effect of microwave fields on materials of discretely varying
dielectric properties. Carrots of unknown cultivar were bought from a supermarket and
stored in a cold storage (approximately at 4°C). Before each experiment, the carrots were
removed from the cold storage and kept at ambient temperature for about 24 hours for
reaching thermal equilibrium. The carrots were then trimmed and cut into cylinders of
25.4 mm and 25.4 mm diameter using a stainless steel core borer. Another 12.7 mm
stainless steel mold was then used ta remove a core at the center of the carrots sa that the
teflon samples of 12.7 mm in diameter could be inserted at the center of the carrot. The
procedure was repeated until the number of samples (required) for each experimental run
was achieved. The following experimental procedure was then followed:
a) The data acquisition system, blower, heaters and Nortech fiber optical sensor
unit were switched on.
b) The hot air, at pre-detennined temperature and flow rate, was passed through
the empty microwave rectangular cavity for thermal stabilization for 15
minutes.
c) The water in the teflon container was then placed in the cavity and the
microwave generator was switched on. This was done ta fine tune reflected
54
microwaves to a zero value. After fine tuning the reflected microwaves to
zero the water in teflon container was removed from the cavity before the
start of the experimental mns.
d) A sample weighing 100 grams was used for each experimental mn. The
change in sample mass during the experimental mn was continuously
recorded. Two replicates were used for each microwave power density.
e) The changes of inlet and outlet air temperature overtime were recorded
continuously using thermocouples.
f) Sample temperature profiles were measured using fiber optic sensors using a
Nortec 4-Channel unit (Nortech Fibronic Inc., Quebec, Canada). The
temperature measurement was done on one sample at 3/4R and 3 mm on
horizontal plane at z = O.
The initial moisture content of samples was determined gravimetrically in an oyen
maintained at a temperature of 105°C for 24 hours following the ASAE standards [1].
Throughout the thesis, the moisture content values are expressed on dry mass basis (d.b.).
The ranges of operating parameters were:
i) Inlet air temperature (T(0): 45 - 60°C.
ii) Inlet air velocity (v oo): 0.5, 1.0 rn/s.
iii)Microwave power density (Pi): 0.20,0.30,0.40 W/g; based on the initial mass
of the sample.
iv)Sample mass for each experimental mn: 100 grams.
v) Intermittent microwave heating (on/off): 45 seconds/45 seconds.
The dependent and calculated variables from measured data.

i) Sample moisture content (X).
ii) Sample temperature at various locations (T).
iii)Exit air temperature (Te).
iv)Exit air humidity (Ye).
v) Drying rate. This was determined using the gravimetrically obtained X, as
weIl as from the moisture loss monitored according to the following moisture
balance:
55
(3.1)
For this work a drying rate based on moisture content measured by the gravimetric
method was adopted. This is due to the error associated with Equation 3.1. The raw
moisture content data were processed to smooth them out before being presented in the
final form that appears in the thesis.
3.3.2 Shrinkage and re-hydration capacity

For shrinkage, similar drying studies as described in Chapter III were conducted
separately but using the same drying conditions. At the start of the experiment and at pre-
determined time thereafter sample volume was measured. Volume changes due to sample
shrinkage were measured by a water displacement method as described by Sjoholm and
Gekas [2]. Measurement was made as quickly as possible to eliminate the possibility of
water uptake by samples. The shrinkage in terms of volume change of samples during
microwave drying was expressed as a bulk shrinkage ratio of sample volume at any time
to initial volume.
(3.2)
Using samples from experimental mns described in Chapter III, above re-
hydration capacity experiments were performed. Dried samples from drying kinetics
experimental fUllS were weighed (30 grams) and immersed in hot water for 50 minutes.
After every 10 minutes samples were removed from water and drained over a mesh and
quickly blotted gently with paper towel to remove surface water and then re-weighed.
The re-hydration capacity was described as a percentage of water gained calculated from
the difference in sample weight from before to after re-hydration.
(~- ~)
Weight gain (%) = x 100 (3.3)
~
56
3.4 Experimental Uncertainty and Reproducibility
Measurement uncertainty values due to random errors are thus supplied by the
manufacturers or are estimated from an experiment [3, 4, 5]. The mIe of thumb in the
latter case is that the maximum possible error is equal to plus or minus half the smallest
scale division (the least count) of the instrument. The probability of the readings lying
between this error bound is 95 %. Based on this method, the propagation ofuncertainty in
calculating sorne result R from measured values Xl, X2, ... , X n is given by:
UR = ±[ Ln (X_,-.
iJR U
Xj
)] (3.4)
1=1 R (}X,
where UR and U x, are the relative uncertainties in R and Xi respectively. Table 3.1 lists
the estimated maximum experimental uncertainty values for both measured and
calculated variables from measurements.
Table 3.1: Estimated uncertainties for different measurements.

Measured property Uncertainty Range
Moisture content (Weight scale transducer) ±0.5% oto 300
Product temperature (Fiber optic probes: ± 1.0% oto 200°C
calibrated by manufacturer)
Microwave power (Power meter) ±5.5% oto 600 W
Inlet and outlet temperature (T-type) ±2.5% oto 100°C
Color
± 1.5% Can not be used for
-100<L * > 100
and
a * or b * > 500
To investigate the reproducibility of the results from the experiments, two

replicates were made for drying experiments. From these tests the reproducibility of
incident microwave power ( ~), sample temperature, inlet air temperature and the drying
curves were at 8%, 5%, 2% and 6% respectively. The relatively high non-reproducibility
of incident microwave power is due to the standing wave in the waveguide and the
57
difficulty of controlling the disturbance arising from microwave generator itself. In this
case it is suggested that future work can be on working to identify and correct the source
of errors causing the incident microwave power interruptions.
3.5 Nomenclature
Symbols
D Sample diameter (m)
L length (m)
mg mass flow rate of dry air ( ~)

ms mass of dry solid in the sample (kg)
~ incident microwave power (W)
~ reflected microwave power (W)

R result
t time (s)
T sample temperature at various locations ( °C)
1; outlet air temperature (OC)

Too inlet air temperature (OC)
u relative uncertainty
v inlet air velocity ( 7)

~ mass of dried sample (kg)
JiV; mass of dried sample (kg)
X moisture content (~~ dry basis)
X average sample moisture content (~~ dry basis)
J: outlet air absolute humidity (-)
58
r,; inlet air absolute humidity (-)
Subscripts and Superscripts

0 initial
e oulet
d dried
i inlet
.
le incident
ri reflected
s solid
t after re-hydration
3.6 References
[1] ASAE, standards, American Society ofAgricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, MI (1991).
[2] Kraishesh, M. A. M., Cooper, T. J. R and Magee, T. R. A., 1997, "Shrinkage

characteristics of potatoes dehydrated under combined microwave and convective air
conditions", Drying Technology, 15, 1003-10022.
[3] Kline S. J. and McClintock F. A., "Describing uncertainty III single-sample

experiments", Mechanical Engineering, 75, 3-9 (1953).
[4] Moffat R. J., "Describing uncertainties in experimental results", Experimental

Thermal and Fluid Science, 1,3-17 (1988).
[5] Schneck H., Theories of Engineering Experimentation, 2 nd • Ed., McGraw-Hill, New

York (1968).
59
This chapter is concemed with the numerical analysis of forced fluid flow and
heat transfer characterization of a rectangular microwave cavity with porous cylindrical
samples intermittently heated with microwaves. The numerical analysis of the boundary
layer of drying air and drying solids was necessary in order to obtain realistic values of
heat transfer coefficients for use in the heat and mass transfer analysis inside the solid
material during microwave assisted drying. The aim of this chapter is to obtain the heat
transfer coefficient as a multiparticle system rather than as a single particle analysis. The
heat and mass transfer rates are greatly affected by the interactions of closely spaced
particles, hence the need to treat the problem as multiparticle analysis.
The material presented in this chapter will be submitted for publication in a peer-
Sanga, E. C. M, Raghavan, G. S. V and Mujumdar, A. S., 2002. Numerical analysis

of fluid flow and heat transfer in a rectangular cavity with intermittently heated
cylindrical samples using microwaves. Journal of Applied Thermal Science (to be
submitted).
The contributions made by different authors are as foUows: (i) the first author is
the Ph.D student who performed the experimental work, modelling analysis and wrote the
contributed in aU aspects of the research.
60
CHAPTERIV
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF FLUID FLOW AND HEAT

TRANSFER IN A RECTANGULAR CAVITY WITH
INTERMITTENTLY HEATED CYLINDRICAL SAMPLES
USING MICROWAVES
This chapter is concemed with the nurnerical analysis of forced fluid flow and
heat transfer characterization of a rectangular microwave cavity with porous cylindrical
samples interrnittently heated with microwaves. The goveming equations of continuity,
momentum and energy as weIl as the appropriate boundary conditions are given. The
methodology to solve these equations is described. The aim of this chapter is to describe
the heat transfer coefficient in a manner more realistic to the experimental conditions.
Instead of assuming the load as a single particle, a multiparticle analysis is carried out
incorporating three samples, since the heat and mass transfer rates are greatly affected by
the interactions of closely placed particle
4.1 Introduction
There are many areas of interest in heat and mass transfer that have been studied
over the years. The interest is due to its fundamental importance in wide areas of practical
applications such as cooling of micro-electronic components, spreading of chemical
pollutants in fluids or saturated soil, drying, etc [1, 2, 3, 4]. The conjugate heat transfer in
a rectangular cavity can be due to natural convection, forced convection or mixed
convection. Drying is a complex phenomena which consists of heat and mass transfer
inside the material during drying linked, to the fluid flow around the material [1, 5]. The
coupled non-linear equations of heat and mass transfer under transient conditions can be
solved with knowledge of conjugate heat transfer and mass transfer of fluid flow over the
material. Thus, understanding the interfacial phenomena between the wet material and
the drying medium is important.
61
There are may studies that have been done to study conjugate heat and mass
transfer in cavites of various configurations for different applications. Several forced
convection studies in parallel plate channels with solid or porous materials mounted on
one of the walls have been conducted. Kelkar and Patankar [6] have studied numerically
the flow and heat transfer in a channel with staggered fins. The introduction of porous
materials in a channel has also been subject of a few studies. Koh and Colony [7] have
done a numerical work and showed that the presence of porous material in a cooling
passage of a heat exchanger produces a decrease of the wall temperature. Several other
researches have been done mainly with a channel or cavity containing heat source on one
of the walls [7, 8]. Oliveira and Haghighi [1] have studied heat and mass transfer in
convection drying. In their research they divided the problem into two parts, the
boundary layer analysis and the solid drying analysis.
In the present study, we consider a rectangular microwave cavity with equally
spaced cylindrical samples placed on a perforated plastic plate. A numerical simulation of
flow and heat transfer in a rectangular cavity with internaI heat generation cylindrical
samples due to intermittent microwave heating is carried out. The three cylindrical
sarnples are interrnittently heated by microwave fields and subjected to forced air drying
at constant air temperature. The governing equations for the flow problem are written
with appropriate boundary conditions. The flow fields and heat transfer in terrns of
Nusselt number are then computed and presented.
4.2 Mathematical Model for fluid flow analysis

Three cylindrical shaped sarnples were exposed to volumetric heating in an
intermittent microwave field in a rectangular cavity. A schematic diagram of the
rectangular microwave cavity and the volumetrically heated cylindrical samples is shown
in Figure 3.1. The three cylindrical shaped bodies were aIl assumed to be initially at
constant temperature and moisture. The air was considered to be Newtonian. The
rectangular cavity had an inlet on the x-y plane and outlet on the x-z plane. The flow
analysis was complex and assumptions were made to simplifying the solution, while
retaining the main characteristic of the flow problem. Air entered the cavity from the
62
bottom and was discharged at the back. The change of plane, the perforated plates at the
openings and the other solid obstructions created a turbulent airflow pattern that was too
complex to describe. However, for simplification it was not appropriate to consider
merely a co-axial flow pattern of air over the samples. Based on the orientation of the
exhaust vent, a radial airflow was assumed. The other main assumptions considered for
this study were:
• The fluid was incompressible
• The flow was assumed to be a single-phase fluid flow
• Conduction and convection were considered
• The rectangular cavity was not insulated, however the heat loss through the
walls was assumed to be very low and hence adiabatic conditions applied
• No-slip condition applied on the rectangular cavity and cylindrical samples
walls
• Cylindrical shaped bodies were assumed to be saturated with a single phase
fluid
4.2.1 Flow field

Thus, for the flow problem in the domain of interest, the governing equations for
the fluid flow were the continuity, momentum, and energy equations. These equations
can be represented in Cartesian-tensor form as:
ap a
-+-(pu)=o (4.1)
at aX j
}
(4.2)
The first equation is the continuity equation and the second equation is a general
form for the momentum and the energy equation, where the equation is rendered specifie
63
by inserting the appropriate diffusion coefficient, r, and property, $. The S is a source
term that is used to add anything to the equation that does not fit into the general
formulation. Pressure gradient along a pipe is often inserted into the equations by setting
the source term equal to the pressure gradient. The source term also is important in
specifying boundary conditions, in particular when dealing with heat transfer boundaries.
The above equations are discretized in PHOENICS as each grid point in the solution
domain and is characterized by an algebraic expression for each of the variables to be
solved.
The PHOENICS software requires inputs such as the geometry of the object being
modeled, properties of the solid objects and the fluids, boundary conditions (for both heat
and mass transfer). Models to use for turbulence, relaxation factors, and false time step
inputs are required. The PHOENICS VR interactive environment allows for aIl the inputs
to be entered. It also has special features with built-in geometry data files that can be used
for any type of geometry.
The grid size was entered to fit the solution domain. Different mesh sizes were
tested, from coarse to fine. The objective of selecting the grid size was to maximize the
accuracy (given by a fine mesh) and minimize the computational time (given by coarse
mesh). This choice was not easy and had to be done by trial and error as there were other
factors that affect the convergence of the solution as weIl, induding relaxation factors
and false time steps. Convergence and realistic solutions were obtained with the grid size
selected and simulations began on different flow rates. A realistic solution was
determined by comparing the results to available data in the literature. It should be noted
that for any modifications to the grid size, flow rate, fluid temperatures will effect the
false time steps that should be used, and they would need to be refined again.
4.2.2 Energy equation for cylindrical samples
or k-+
tir k--+
1 or tir
k-+ Q= 0
Pcp -+
ôt ôr 2
r ôr ÔZ2
(4.3)
64
Q is the microwave source term per unit volume. The energy equation in the salid
cylindrical samples was necessary as the samples were entered into PHOENICS as a
source term due to microwave heating. Details are in the Solution methodology section of
this chapter.
4.2.3 Boundary conditions

The boundary conditions consisted of adiabatic cavity walls with no-slip and
impermeable wall conditions for the velocity components and temperature. There was
heat flux continuity at the solid-fluid interface. Thus the boundary conditions of the
goveming equatians were:
At the inlet to the rectangular cavity
P= Po
u= Uo
v= w= 0
T= Ta
At the rectangular microwave cavity walls no-slip condition
u=v=w=O
At the solid-fluid interface the temperature and heat flux must be continuous. To
satisfy this condition we express:
where n is the unit vector in x , y or z direction normal to the surface.

At the exit
65
P= Poo
v= w= 0
The PHOENICS editor environment allows for the boundary conditions to be

entered and changed. For this study the fluid was assumed to be a single-phase fluid flow
and Newtonian.
4.2.4 Nusselt number (Nu)

In addition to the flow field and temperature distribution, the physical quantity of
primary interest is local Nusselt number around the cylindrical samples at constant or
intermittent heat flux due to microwave heating:
Integrating the result of the local Nusselt number along a given wall yields the
result for the average Nusselt number for that wall. Thus average Nusselt number is
evaluated as follows:
For an isothermal solid wall, the heat flux over each surface can be expressed as
follows:
where hx IS the local heat transfer coefficient based on the temperature difference
66
The value of local heat transfer hx can be normalized in the form of a Nusselt
number Nux as follows:
where Dx is the characteristic length and kf is thermal conductivity of the fluid. In this
case heat flux (qsx) is due to microwave heating on the walls of the cylindrical samples.
t outlet
a
Around the walls no slip condition; u = v = w = 0
and Ks(8T/8n) = Krt:8Trl8n)
cylindrical samples intermittently heated
T
1<
Inlet _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _---1
>1
7 x l
Figure 4.1: Schematic diagram of computation domain in x-z plane.
4.3 Solution Methodology
The goveming equations of continuity, momentum, and energy equations for fluid
flow were discretized by PHOENICS as each grid point in the solution domain and is
characterized by an algebraic expression for each of the variables to be solved. The
goveming equations were then solved using the CFD software package PHOENICS
Version 3.3 [9]. The flow, momentum and energy equations were Elliptic-Staggered.
67
This aUowed for re-circulation in the flow and the pressure and temperature stored at the
ceU center and velocities stored at ceU face centers. PHOENICS software uses the control
volume method for discretization of equations. The detailed procedure can be found in
Patankar [10].
The Reynolds number ranges used for boundary layer analysis were 2800, 5600
and 11200. The values of Reynolds number were based on the entrance diameter to
rectangular microwave cavity. It is weU known that the error of the computed result can
be reduced by grid refinement. However, too fine a grid result in an increased
computation time without necessarily increasing the accuracy of predictions. Thus, the
grid independent test was carried out to secure accurate predictions within a reasonable
time. A grid of 100 x 100 x 100 was selected to save computation time. The selected
differencing scheme used to solve aU variables was HYBRID [9].
LVEL turbulence model (Generalized length-scale model) was selected and used
for this analysis. The choice and use of this model was dictated by being simple while at
the same time producing realistic results. The LVEL mode! is also a suitable turbulence
model for cases where there are many obstacles in the flow domain when compared to
other types of turbulence models such as the K-8 model [9].
4.3.1 Evaluation of the source term (0)

The microwave source term (0) is important to be evaluated in the solution
procedure to take into account its intermittent heating effect on the surface temperature of
cylindrical samples. The Phoenics 3.3 environment offers the capacity for a user defined
heat source. The heat is evaluated from the expression:
S = vol *c(v- Tp )
where vol is the cell volume, Tp is the local cell-center temperature, c and v are values
calculated from user's open-source GROUND routine.
The GROUND routine aUows the microwave source term (0) to be defined in
terms of dielectric properties of the material to be entered. Then values c and v are
calculated and then the above heat source expression is evaluated.
68
To account for intermittent microwave heating additional settings were required
on the PHOENICS editor dialog box. In our case the stepwise setting was used where the
start and end times were entered. For the Earth run, the source start time and end time
were selected in such a way that constant time intervals were used. The constant time
interval for this work was 0.30 seconds for the microwave source term. The time interval
selected corresponds to the actual time interval used for experimental runs. The variation
of heating time duration could not be set as each time error was retumed once the
PHOENICS was run.
Table 4.1. Data and properties for the fluid and solid body used in computations
(i) Flow conditions

T00 = 45°C, Uoo = 1.0 mis, poo = atmospheric pressure
(ii) Initial condition for the solid body

Ta = 25°C, Xo = 5.6 kg/kg dry basis
(iii) Dimensions
Computation domain (cavity): Le = 0.45 m, He = 0.35 m, We = 0.25 m
Cylindrical shaped body: R = 0.0125 m, H =0.025 m
(iv) Properties
Solid Fluid (hot air)
p(kg/m3) 1080 1.21
Cp (J/kgK) 3900 1005.0
k(W/mK) 0.577 2.565 x 10-2
v(p/p) (m 2/s) 1.544 x 10-5
4.4 Results and discussions

The numerical results of flow field and heat transfer in the rectangular microwave
cavity are presented and discussed. The computation domain in the x-z plane is as shown
69
in Figure 4.1. The physical measurements of the cavity and samples, and properties of the
fluid used in the computation are as shown in Table 4.1. The results obtained from this
study are presented under sub-titles of flow field and heat transfer.
4.4.1 Heat Transfer

The heat transfer results are presented through the Nusselt number. The effect of
Reynolds number on the Nusselt number distribution as predicted by the LVEL turbulent
model is shown in Figures 4.3 to 4.8. The Nusselt number increased rapidly with increase
in Reynolds number over the upstream cylindrical sample 1. Over the downstream
cylindrical samples 1 & 2, there is marginal change in Nusselt number with an increase in
Reynolds number. The Reynolds number studied in this work were 2800, 5600 and
11200, based on the entrance diameter to the rectangular microwave cavity. The
Reynolds number represents the 0.5 mis, 1.0 mis and 2.0 mis entrance velocity of drying
mr.
The maximum Nusselt number in the axial direction for the first cylindrical
sample (upstream sample 1) occurs at node 3 that is at the top for all the Reynolds
number studied. The minimum Nusselt number is at Node 1, that is, at the bottom.
Similar observations were made for the downstream cylindrical samples 2 & 3. However,
the maximum value of Nusselt number over the first cylindrical sample is larger than the
maximum value of Nusselt number over the rest of the cylindrical samples (downstream
samples 2 & 3).
The maximum value ofNusselt on the upstream sample in the radial direction was
larger than the maximum value of the Nusselt number in the radial direction for the
downstream samples. However, the maximum value of the Nusselt number in the radial
direction over all cylindrical samples is less than the maximum value of Nusselt number
in the axial direction for each range of Reynolds number studied. In general, increasing
the Reynolds number caused an increase in Nusselt numbers in both axial and radial
directions. The increase in Nusselt number is more significant on the upstream cylindrical
samples than over the downstream samples. This can be attributed to the generation of
70
higher turbulent energy at a high Reynolds number, which causes an increase in mixing
and hence heat transfer between the fluid and waHs of the cylindrical samples.
4.5 Conclusions
A detailed analysis of forced convection in a rectangular microwave cavity with
heated cylindrical samples using intermittent microwave application was performed. The
samples were equaHy spaced in the microwave cavity. The effect of Reynolds number on
the flow field and heat transfer has been presented and discussed. The local Nusselt
number increased with an increase in Reynolds number. The increase in Nusselt number
was more pronounced on the upstream samples than over the downstream samples. The
maximum values of Nusslet numbers were found to occur in the axial direction rather
than in the radial direction over aH samples, with maximum values of Nusselt number
occuring on the upstream samples.
4.6 Nomenclature
Symbols
cp specifie he.! [ k:K]

D diameter of the cylindrical sample [ml
h local heat transfer coefficient [ ~
m·K
]
H height of cylindrical sample [ml

H re height ofrectangular cavity [ml
k thermal conductivity [m~K]

L length of the rectangular cavity [ml
Nu Nusselt number
71
p pressure [ ; ]
p non-dimensional pressure [--.L]

p. Uoo
Pr pePf ]
Prandtl number [ ~
q microwave heat flux on surface of sample [ ; ]
Re Reynolds muuber [ U:D]

T temperature [K]
U dimensionless velocity in x direction
U velocity in x direction [ : ]
v dimensionless velocity in y direction
v velocity in y direction [ : ]
w dimensionless velocity in z direction
w velocity in z direction [ : ]
x dimensionless x coordinate
x x coordinate [m]
y dimensionless y coordinate
y y coordinate [m]
W dimensionless z coordinate
w z coordinate [m]
Greek symbols
72
v kinematic viscosity [ :']
fi Ul'd dynamlc
.. . [kg]
VlSCOSlty --
m·s
B dimensionless temperature
dimensionless time
p . [kg]
denslty m 3
Subscripts and superscripts

0 initial conditions
c cavity
f fluid
s solid
00 inlet conditions
4.7 References
[1] Olivera, L. Sand Haghighi, K., "Conjugate heat and mass transfer in convective
drying of multiparticle systems. Part 1: Theorectical Considerations", Drying
Technology, 16(3-5),433-461 (1998).
[2] Sathe S. S and Joshi Y., "Natural convection liquid cooling of substrate-mounted
portrusion in a square enclosure: a parametric study", ASME J. Heat Trans 114: 401-
409 (1992).
[3] Andersen 8., "Optimal paths for minimizing entropy generation in a common class of
finite-time heating and cooling processes", Int. J. Heat and Fluid Flow 13(3): 294-
299 (1992).
[4] Armfield S. and Janseen R., "A direct boundary-Iayer stability analysis of steady state
cavity convection flow", Int. J. Heat and Fluid Flow 17: 539-546 (1996).
73
[5] Bera, P., Eswaran, V. and Singh, P., "Numerical study ofheat and mass transfer in an
anisotropic porous enclosure due to constant heating and cooling", Journal
Numerical Heat Transfer - Part A - Applications, 34: 887-905 (1998).
[6] Kelkar K. M and Pantakar S. V, "Numerical prediction of flow and heat transfer in
parallel plate channel with staggered fins", ASME J. Heat Trans 109: 25-30 (1987).
[7] Koh J. Y. and Stevens R. L., "Enhancement of cooling effectiveness by porous

material in coolant passage", ASME J. Heat Trans 97: 309-311 (1975).
[8] Hadim A., "Forced convection in porous channel with localized heat sources", ASME
J. Heat Trans 116: 465-472 (1994).
[9] Spalding, D. 8., Ludwig, J. C., Smith, J. M and Wu, J. Z., "Documentation for
Phoenics 3.3", CHAM, London, UK (2001).
[10]. Patankar, S. V., "Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow", McGraw-Hill, New York
(1980).
[11] Wei, C. K., Davis, H. T., Davis, E. A. and Gordon, J., 1980, Heat and Mass transfer
in water-Iaden sandstone: Microwave heating, AIChE Journal (Vol. 31, No.5), 842-
847
74
30...--------------------------,
2 3
~ 20
25
Hot air -----+: E1Elu-__:
--- --- ---
t
,J::;i -- --- ---
§ 15 --- --13- _
Z
.... ---- ---- ----
~
CIl
.-.-._----.- ~-.-.
CIl
;:l 10 -Samplel
Z
- 6 - sampIe 2
- -1>- - SampIe 3
5
0+..J.....l....J......l...f...l....J....l....J.+_'...l....J._'_I~~+_'...l....J._'_I~~+_'~_'_I~~_+_'-'-'_'__If--'-J'-'-L.j
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Axial distance (mm)
number (Re) = 2800 over three samples
35 -.--------------------------~
30 L---------------------,
,-... 25
;:l
6....
~ 20 ------------------------&-----------------------
._._-_._._._._._-_._---_._----_.~---------_._._._._._.--------_.
§
I=i
~ 15
CIl -Samplel
::g
Z 10 -6- SampIe 2
- -Ir- - Sample 3
5
0+..J.....L.J.--'--l-'-'-I.....J'--t-L-J.....L-J.....l-'-.L-J-~.L-J-.L-J....+-'-.J..J..""'"--+....L-J.....l....J.-t-'-...L.J.--'--l-'-'-'-''--t-L-J.....'---'-i
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Axial distance (mm)
number (Re) = 5600 over three samples
75
90 . , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
80
---Sample 1
-~- SampIe 2
- -b- • Sample 3
------------------------~------------------------
.-.---._--._-_._._-_._--._------~-_.-._._-_._._----.-.-----'----
20
10
O-j--L-'--'~-1.-J'-'-L..t-.L...J-.l...J-+-'--'--'--'-t--'--'-..L.-L.+-,-...l.-L.-'-t..1-J....1-J..-t-'-....L..l.-'-t-'--'-1.-J---t-JL...L-L....l-.j
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Axiallength (mm)
Figure 4.4: Predicted Nusselt number (Nu) distribution in axial direction for Reynolds
number (Re) = 11200 over three samples.
30.,--------------------------,
UuL~l_~~
2 3
25 Hot air
~~
... --- ---- --
<lJ
-- --- ---
~c 15 --6- _
---
...
v
CIl
CIl
-'2 10 ---Sample 1
-~- SampIe 2
5 - -Ir - SampIe 3
0+-'-..1-J..-'-t....L....I.-'--'-+-'-1.-J~i__'_'-1.-J_+_'-1.-J'__'__1r__"_''-'-J'_+_''-'-'__'__1r__''_''-'-'__t_L...L-L-1-t-'-"'-'--'-l
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Radial distance (mm)
number (Re) = 2800 over three samp1es
76
35 , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
30 +------------------------~
'""'
:::l
25
b
~ 20
.D ------------------------~----------------------
._---_.--_._._._----------------~._-----_._._._--------._._._---
E
:::l
c::
~ 15
r/J
r/J
-Samplel
:::l
ZlO - -El - Sample 2
- -Ir-' SampIe 3
5
0+-,-....L-L.--'--t-L--l-L--l-t-'-L...J-'-j-L...JL...L..J,+-,L...L..JL...L..jf--'-L...L...;,+-,L...L...;L...l..-t--'-L...l..-L+-L..LL..Lf--L-.l-1.....L...f
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Figure 4.6. Predicted Nusselt number distribution in radial direction for Reynolds
nurnber (Re) = 5600 over three sarnples
50 - , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
45 r------------------J
40
S' 35
~
(1)
30
.D ------------------------~-----------------------~
§c:: 25 ._._._--._._-_.--_._._._._._._.~._._._._.-._-----_._.-._._._._.
-
]
r/J
:::l
20
-Samplel
Z 15
- -El - Sample 2
10
- -Ir' SampIe 3
5
0+-,-....L-L.--'--t....L-J.-L--l-t-'L...L..J-'-jf--'-JL...L..4-L...l..-L...l..-t--'-L..LL+-L..LL..Lf--L-.L...1-.L..f-.l-1....l-1...+-,-...L...L......L...j
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25

Figure 4.7: Predicted Nusselt nurnber distribution in radial direction for Reynolds
nurnber (Re) = 11200 over three sarnples.
77
90
~
80
70
S' 60
b... --Re = 11200
~ 50 -a-- Re = 5600
§
---Re = 2800
:: 40
Q)
CIl
CIl
Z 30
20
10
o
o 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25
Axial distance (mm)
Figure 4.8. Nusselt number for upstream cylindrical sample 1 for different Reynolds
number ranges studied.
78
This chapter deals with mathematical modeling and numerical analysis of heat
and mass transfer process that occur inside the composite solid materia1. The chapter
presents a detailed mathematical model that describes heat and mass transport mechanism
for a special case of biological material representative of materials of varying loss factors.
The numerical analysis makes use of realistic values of heat transfer coefficients obtained
from the boundary layer analysis of drying air and drying solids presented in Chapter IV.
Results of transient moisture content and temperature are presented and discussed. The
manuscript provides an insight on the temperature and moisture content variations for
each case studied.
The material presented in this chapter has been accepted for publication in a peer-
Sanga, E. C. M, Raghavan, G. S. V and Mujumdar, A. S., Simulation of convection-

microwave drying for a shrinking material, accepted for publication in Journal of
Chemical Engineering & Processing, 2002, (in press).
The contributions made by different authors are as follows: (i) the first author is
the Ph.D student who performed the experimental work, modelling analysis and wrote the
manuscript, (ii) the second and third authors are the student' s co-supervisors who
contributed in aIl aspects of the research.
79
CHAPTERV
SIMULATION OF MICROWAVE- CONVECTION DRYING

FOR A SHRINKING MATERIAL
The transient conservation equations for heat and mass transfer in a drying solid
were solved using a finite element technique. The material being dried is a discretely
non-homogeneous material. It is subjected to a convection boundary condition. The
shrinkage of the material surrounding a non-shrinking, low loss factor material is treated
numerically by continuously redefining the computational domain of the problem.
Results of the numerical prediction of drying rates and temperature distribution within the
drying solid were compared with experimental results and found to be in good agreement.
Local convection heat transfer boundary conditions were prescribed with the use of a
computational fluid dynamic code. Cylindrical pieces of carrot with a coaxial cylindrical
insert of teflon were used as the non-homogeneous models for the experimental and
computational study.
S.l Introduction
The objective of any drying process is to produce a dried product of desired
quality at minimum cost and maximum throughput possible. A biological material
undergoes sorne physical and chemical changes that can affect the desired final product
quality. Traditionally, the drying of biological materials has been accomplished by
convective drying where heated air acts as the heat and moisture carrier. Drying generally
takes place in the falling rate period where the drying rate is controlled by diffusion of
water from interior of the product to the surface. In conventional drying, the drying rate is
higher at the beginning of drying and gradually falls as the evaporation front recedes
resulting in a longer drying time. The temperatures are highest at the surface and lower in
80
the interior. Apart from diminished final product quality, hot air drying suffers from high-
energy consumption.
In microwave and dielectric drying, the volumetrie heat generation in wet samples
due to directly absorbed electromagnetic energy by the water molecules, results in higher
interior temperature and thus the water removal rate is faster than in convective drying
[1-2]. The advantages ofmicrowave energy has led to attempts to use this energy in many
industrial applications including heating, drying, sintering, sterilization, tempering,
microwave activated chemical reactions, etc [3-6]. Applying microwave energy to drying
is a good approach to sorne of the problems associated with conventional hot air drying
methods [7-8]. However, microwave drying has also been associated with physical
damage to the products e.g. scorching, over heating or charring and uneven temperature
distribution. Such physical damage is the result of local temperatures rising continuously
even though the loss factor of material being dried decreases with the reduction in
moisture content.
Several experimental and modeling studies are reported in the literature on the
effect of microwave fields on homogeneous materials. Sorne studies have been done to
investigate the use of intermittent microwave drying and the effect on shrinkage [9-10].
Studies of intermittent microwave drying, both experimental and numerical have been
done to improve the quality of dried products and even the temperature distribution of the
product during drying. Zhang and Mujumdar [11] have presented a simulation study on
deformation and stress analysis of porous capillary bodies during intermittent volumetrie
thermal heating. Their work has shown that intermittent microwave drying is an effective
way of raising the energy utilization ratio in the drying process. The study also showed
that intermittent exposure to microwave energy may have the effect of improving dried
product quality, such as reduction of stress.
However, little is available in the literature on the effect of microwave fields on
discretely non-homogeneous materials. The unique microwave heating characteristics of
materials can be used to selectively heat target layers in the discretely non-homogeneous
materials. By introducing a low lossy material layer at the center of a biological material
a special case of a discretely non-homogeneous material is formed. In this way the
81
microwave field interaction in the material is altered; this can serve as a way to reduce
the higher temperatures in the sample interior so as to reduce overheating.
The present work deals with experimental and mathematical modeling for non-
homogenous materials under a combined microwave field and convective energy input.
The specifie objectives of this study are:
1) To formulate the governing heat and mass transport equations and appropriate
boundary conditions for non-homogeneous discrete materials.
2) To solve numerically the coupled heat and mass transport equations.
3) To compare the predicted moisture and temperature distributions with
experimental data.
5.2 Heat and Mass Transfer Equations

Modeling of the drying process poses a challenge as it involves non-linear
coupled heat and mass transfer equations. This is further complicated since shrinkage of
the material occurs during drying due to moisture migration. Volumetrie heating of
material by microwaves result into moisture being pumped from the interior to the
surface where drying takes place. The internaI liquid transport process is in the liquid
phase and the evaporation process takes place on the external surface of the material.
The main assumptions for the present work to describe combined microwave
fields and convection drying of cylindrical non-homogeneous materials are:
1) The initial temperature of layers of material forming a non-homogeneous material is
uniform.
2) The initial moisture content of layers of material forming a non-homogeneous
material is not uniform.
3) Both heat and moisture flows are considered in radial and axial directions (r and z
directions).
4) Shrinkage ofmaterial is sufficiently significant to be considered.
5) Heat transfer is by conduction and convection only and no radiation is considered.
6) The diffusivity is described in terms of the product temperature and moisture content.
82
7) The total microwave heat generation term is the total of axial and radial components.
The conservation of mass and energy for the composite material gives the
following set of goveming equations:
(5.1)
(5.2)
where n = 1 and 2 refers to the inner and outer layer of material forming the non-
homogenous composite material respectively and
2
Dis the moisture diffusivity (m /s)
X is the moisture content (kg/kg dry basis)
k is the thermal conductivity (W/m K)
3
p is the density (kg/m )
Cp is the heat capacity (J/kg K)

Q is the microwave source term (W/m3)
The empirical model for calculating moisture diffusivity as a function of moisture and
temperature used for this study is the one reported by Panagiotou and his colleagues [12]:
(5.3)
where, D(m 2 / s) is the moisture diffusivity,
X (kg / kg db) is the material moisture content (db)
T(K) the material temperature,
Tr = 333K a reference temperature, and
R = O.0083143kJ / molK the ideal gas constant.

Do (m 2 / s) Diffusivity at moisture X = 0 and temperature T = Tr
Di (m 2 / s) Diffusivity at moisture X = 00 and temperature T = Tr
83
E o (kJ / mol) Activation Energy of diffusion in dry material at X =0
E j (kJ / mol) Activation Energy of diffusion in wet material at X = 00
The estimated parameters Do, Di, Eo and Ei are based on data from various authors
at reference temperature Tr after the data were fitted to the model using a non linear
regression analysis mode [12].
The proposed model uses the estimated parameters in Table 5.1 below. The estimated
parameters are based on data from various authors.
Table 5.1. Parameter estimates of the mode! presented.
Material No of No of Di Do Ei Eo sd
Papers Data (m2/s) (m2/s) (kJ/mol) (kJ/mol) (m2/s)
Carrot 9 90 2.47xlO-6 1.54xl0-6 13.9 11.3 1.69xl0-6
Expressing the goveming equations for heat and mass transfer (1-2) in terms of a
cylindrical coordinate system (r, 8, z) we have:
5.2.1 Boundary and initial conditions

The coupled heat and mass transfer equations are augmented with the appropriate
initial and boundary conditions as shown below:
84
4.2.1.1 Initial conditions:
Initially the material is assumed to be at uniform temperature and non-uniform
moisture content, thus initial conditions can be expressed as follows:
At time t = 0
T= ra(r,z)
X = X01h,z), X = X 02 (r2,z)
4.2.1.2 Boundary conditions

Due to symmetry of the material about the two center axes (r = 0 and z = 0) the
boundary conditions are:
ôT
- -0
ôt (r=o '2!!...=o.t) -
At drying surfaces (S2 and S3) it is assumed that both heat and moisture is lost
through convection and that no radiation takes place, thus:
(5.6)
(5.7)
Where
hm = mass transfer coefficient (kg/m 2 s)
h T = heat transfer coefficient (W/m 2 K)
T ro = ambient temperature (K)

X ro = moisture content in air (kg/kg)
and nr and nr are the direction cosines of the outward unit vector normal to the surface.
85
Further more teflon and biological material are assumed to be in perfect contact at
r = R12 and hence it is appropriate to impose the following boundary conditions at the
interface
k oTl _ k oT2
1 or - 2 or
4.2.2 Microwave Source Term (Q)
Beat input to the sample is supplied by microwave being absorbed by the sample.
The amount of volumetrie heat generation (Q) depends on the dielectric properties of
materials, the frequency and the intensity of microwave applied. Both dielectric constant
and loss factor are functions of moisture and temperature at a particular location in the
material. The heat generated at a particular location in the material is also depended on
the distance from the surface on which microwave is incident. In this study microwave
fields are assumed to be a planar wave propagating perpendicular to the material surface.
The microwave intensity at the material surface is assumed to be uniform. The
microwave energy entering the sample from different sides (radial and axial directions)
decreases exponentially and is considered separately.
The microwave source term (Q(x)) at sorne depth from the surface of the material
lS determined from its attenuation factor according to the Lambert's microwave
absorption relationship [13].
x
Q(x) = Qo Jexp( -2px)dx (5.8)
o
Where x is the depth from surface along axial and radial directions, Q(x) is the
microwave power dissipated at depth x, Qo is the incident microwave flux at the surface
86
of material and /3 is the attenuation constant and is defined in terms of the dielectrics
properties of material and the incident wavelength.
The attenuation constant of material is expressed in terms of dielectric loss factor
and dielectric constant [13] as:
(5.9)
where Â o is wavelength in vacuum and tan8 is defined in terms of dielectric properties of

material as:
/i"
tan 0 = -
/i'
The total mlCrowave generation term will be the sum of radial and axial
microwave radiation at a particular depth [14]:
Radial component,
Similarly for axial component,
The total microwave radiation will be the SUffi of both radial and axial component
from all directions, expressed as:
87
(5.10)
The radial and axial microwave fluxes (Qor and Qoz) on the sample surface are
assumed to be equal.
83
[0
10
82
1 4 6 9 Il
H '-Q
o
:: ., . . ---r--.
i
1
. . '" ::
r'. . . . . . -.._Lj
i
i
R'
. . . '"
1
l
Figure 5.1: Material geometry and finite element mesh for 12.5 mm x
12.5 mm quarter section of sample with 13 nodal positions.
Material transport and dielectric properties necessary for numerical analysis of the
heat and mass transfer inside the composite solid material of varying loss factor under
microwave fields and hot air are summarized in Table 5.2 below.
88
Table 5.2: Material properties and dielectric properties of carrot and Teflon
Garrot
Property Units Value /Expression
E' (-) 117.6 - 2.6 x 10-2 x T + 1.8 x X - 7.3 X 10-2 Pb [15]
E" (-) 12.2 + 1.4 x 10-3 x T + 9.6 x 10-2 x X + 3.9 x 10-3 x Pb [15]
Cp (kJ kg- l K- l) 3.90

k (W mol K- l) 0.577
Pb (kg m-3) 1080
hI (W m-2 K- l) 10.5 (on surface 82)
hI (W m-2 K- l) 5.5 (on surface 83)
Teflon
Cp (kJ kg- I K- I ) 1.1723
k (W mol K- l) 2.9415
Pb (kg m-3) 2200
5.3 Numerical Analysis

The systems of the developed equations of heat and mass transfer coupled to the
microwave generation term were solved numerically. A two-dimensional axisymmetric
finite element grid of a quarter section of a cylindrical sample was considered. Using the
program the required mesh was generated. The elemental equations were obtained from
the above non-linear coupled partial differential equations by transforming them using
Galerkin' s weighed residual method.
The shrinkage of material was taken into account during simulation by re-defining
the computational domain of the sample. This was achieved by continuously updating the
material geometry input file to the program (seeAppendix). The dimensions of the
material geometry entered into the input file were the dimensions of sample after
deducting the shrinkage of the material due drying. This was done after every 30 minutes
of drying time.
89
5.4 Experimental Set-up, Materials and Methods
In order to compare experimental and nurnerical analysis results a laboratory scale
microwave dryer was used for the experimental work. The dryer consisted of a
microwave generator (750 W and 2450 MHz), a cavity (40 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm), a hot
air system, a data acquisition and control system (Agilent No. 34970A). The microwave
generator had a variable power feature that perrnits control of microwave power output in
a continuous mode. For this work carrots and teflon were used as model materials.
Details of measurement method and experimental set up can be found in chapter III.
5.5 Results and Discussion

5.5.1 Moisture content
Figure 5.2 presents the comparlson between the model prediction and
experimental results for the average moisture content for model of non-homogeneous
materia1. A special case of carrot sarnples embedded with teflon showed a close
agreement between the experimental data and predicted values when shrinkage of the
material was considered. The difference between the predicted values when shrinkage is
considered and when it is not considered was found to be in the range of 1 % to 2.6 %
and 5.8 % to 7.6 % respectively. For the first 20 minutes of drying the predicted result
show a general agreement with experimental data indicating that at this stage shrinkage
of sarnples was not significant. However, immediately thereafter-predicted values when
shrinkage was considered show a greater agreement with experimental values than when
predicted without considering shrinkage of materia1. After approximately 20 minutes of
drying the predicted values that do not take into account shrinkage of material predicted
higher value of moisture content than when predicted with shrinkage taken into
consideration. This can be attributed to the fact that as the moisture migrates and material
dries, the computation domain of material decreases due to the shrinkage. Consequently,
the moisture content diffusion to the drying surface has a shorter distance than it had at
the beginning of drying. This explains why for the first 20 minutes of drying aU predicted
90
values were in close agreement with the experimental data. After the predicted values
with shrinkage considered were found to fit the experimental data well, the simulation
was then extended to predict moisture content and temperature profiles at various nodal
locations at different microwave power density levels using 2 elements.
Figures 5.3 to 5.8 shows the moisture distribution predicted from the model in
samples as a function of both position and drying time during microwave drying at
various microwave power density levels (0.20 W/g; 0.30 W/g; 0.40 W/g and 45°C, 1.0
mis air). The shrinkage effect was taken into account during the simulation of moisture
contents in non-homogeneous material. For comparison purposes, figures for predicted
results of moisture content distribution for cylindrical carrot samples without teflon are
shown. It can be seen that the moisture content during microwave drying decreases
sharply with increase in both drying time and microwave power density level. The
moisture content gradients at various microwave power density levels decreased with the
increase in drying time. For the 0.40 W/g microwave power density level the moisture
content gradient decreased very fast when compared to the moisture content gradients at
other microwave power density for similar drying times.
- - - Predicted
5
r-...
,J::)
"0 /;. Experimental
j 4
- - Predicted without shrinkage
....s::
'-'
....s::
(l)
3
0
(,)
~
....:=
VI 2
VI
'ô
-Jo..
:::E '---4-
--- /;.
------~----~----
O+-'-L.....I..-J.-+..l--L----L-.L.....t-'-L-L.--'-II-'-~----L-+-'---'--J........L.+_L-L.....I.-J'_+~-L.._'_t--'--.L......L-'-f___L_-'--~
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Time (min)
Figure 5.2: Experimental and average predicted moisture content for a special case of
carrot samples embedded with teflon (microwave density 0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis
air).
91
Time-evolution of the average predicted moisture content for a special case of
carrot samples embedded with teflon at various microwave power density and air
conditionds (45°C air, 1.0 mis) is shown in Figure 5.9. There is an increase in drying rate
as the microwave power density is increased. This can be attributed to the effect of
microwavess on moisture by rapidly increasing the moisture migration to the surface and
resultant increased evaporation. However, at the later stage of drying the effect of the
level of microwave power density decreased indicating lower microwave absorption by
the material.
--- --- ---.. -tr-O

'""' 5
C/J
'ü') -30
«l
.D
è --- 60
4
"'0
00
-'- 4_.- ······90
~
..::.: _._. 120
-
'-'
s:::
(l)
1::0
3 ---.
-'--.,
_ .. - 150
u
~ 2 -180
-::l
C/J
'ô
::E
O-+-,--,-.J..J...J.-u..LJ+.u..LJ...J..J..J...L.L+-u-u..LJ..I...W...I-'--'--'..I...W...'-'-'-!..J...L.L.LJ...J..J-U-t.LJ...J..JL.J..L.L.w+u..LJ..L.J....LJ...J..tl..J...L.L.J..J...J.-L...I.f-'..L.J....L.LJ...J..J..J..t-L.J..J...J.-u..LJ...,
o 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
rlR (-)
Figure 5.3: Predicted moisture distribution of carrot samples (without teflon as

core) on horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) at different values oftime during
MW convection drying (0.20 W/g and 45°C air, LÜ mis).
92
6.----------------.----------------,
----.!r- 0
5 --a--- 15
----
.;!l
en --- 30
o:l
,D
4 ·····-60
~
0Il -,--90
~
ë..... 3 -~.-
120
l:l
Q) -150
p ........ ~
-, ,
s:=
0
u -180 .- .. -.- ..........
.... 2
Q) .... ...
El minutes ... ..- _- .. "-
....
en
0
"-
"-
,
::E "
O.._---tll----tt---_-__tl--.....--.L..-..---'----L------''-----l
o 0.5
r/R (-)
Figure 5.4: Predicted moisture distribution for a special case of carrot

embedded with teflon on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for different
values of drying time (0.20 W/g, 45°C air, 1.0 mis).
6-.----------------------------------,
----.!r- 0
-30
--- 60
--- --- --- ·····-90
--- --- -, _._. 120
--- -- ...................
_.. - 150
...........
.........
.................
............ .......
... ...
-- ... ..... .........
..... ....
.... .....
-180
minutes
------ ---_ .. -._- .. _----.. ......
_- .... - ... - -"---"- ....
..
-""-""- -"-"- .. - "-"- ....
"'-'''-
.... _- -._- - .. -"---"- ......
.- ... - .. - .... -:--- .. - .. -
..... ....
..
.........
""- ...
O-ru-_LLLL.LU__LLLLL.ULLL.L+-'-'-L.LL.C-LLLL.LU-LLLLLLj__LLLLL.U-U-L-'-LLCLLLL~L.LL.C-LLLLL.W--LLLLLU_'+'_-LLLL.LL.C-LLL'--'--L'...i..LLLj
o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
rlR (-)
Figure 5.5: Predicted moisture distribution of carrot samples (without teflon as core)
on horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) at different values oftime during MW
convection drying (0.30 W/g and 45°C air, 1.0 mis).
93
6...--------------......--------------,
-0
5 -e-15
--- 30
·····-60
-·_-90
_ .. - 120
-150
--180
minutes
O._-----'---tl----'----i!t----$----'----'------l..---'-----f
o 0.5
rlR(-)
embedded with teflon on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for different drying
time (0.30 W/g, 45°C air, 1.0 mis).
6
5
""'
.::!l -30
'"<Il
,D
--- 60
~ 4
·····-90
bll
~ -·_-120
bll
ë 3 _ .. - 150
ç:
al
ç: --180
0
(,)
al 2 minutes
a
'"
--
'0
:::s
' - ' .....
--- --- -,
----._------ ------- -- . _-- ------- ........ .... -.
.... - .... _ .... -"" - .... - - .... - ... -""-"" - .... - - .... - ... _ . :::::':'7.. - -- -,
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
rlR (-)
Figure 5.7: Predicted moisture content distribution for carrot samples (without teflon
as core) on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for different values oftime during
MW convection drying (0.40 W/g and 45°C air, 1.0 mis).
94
6
--0
CIl
'Vi
5 -e-15
ro
,.D --- 30
è ------60
"0 4
0/)
~ -0-090
0/)
~
'-'
-.-- 120
3
d0 -150
.....
s::
0 ----180
(,)
0 2 minutes
l-c
.-:::8.....
;:l
CIl
0
1
0
0 0.5 1
rlR (-)
embedded with teflon on the horizontal symmetry plane (z = 0) for different drying
time (0.40 W/g, 45°C air, 1.0 mis).
6
-0.20W/g
t~
,.-.. 5 \~,
.~
Vl ". ,,
'\
--- 0.30 W/g
«:1
J:J ... "
~ 4 0".," ' ---- 0.40 W/g
~
00 ".
.....
,. ", , ,
'~,
ë 3 .'. ' ..........
,
....
1
......
'~,
.". ................
...
...... ...
0
u
(1) 2 """ -
............ .........
...- ---
~ ..................
...._--
'0
:::s
.. '.............
- ......- ..
-"- .. -- ......
-- --- --- ------ ----
""""- "--.
--"-. ------- .. -
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Drying time (min)
Figure 5.9: Time-evolution ofthe average predicted moisture content for

special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at various microwave
power density and air (45°C air, 1.0 mis).
95
5.5.2 Temperature
The mathematical mode! was also used to predict the temperature distribution in
the samples during microwave and air-drying. Figures 5.10, 5.13 and 5.16 represent
temperature profiles in a sample at various nodal locations in a sample during microwave
drying at 45°C and at microwave power density of 0.25 W/g, 0.30 W/g and 0.40 W/g ,
respectively. Shrinkage of samples was considered during the predictions of
temperatures. The temperature at every nodal location rose with the increase in drying
time and microwave power density leveL The temperature gradient between the surface
of the sample and the interface between the teflon and carrot decreased with in time.
However, the predicted values indicate temperature gradients between the
interface and the center of the sample as extremely low. Figures 5.11, 5.14 and 5.17
shows the time-dependent temperature distribution along a radius on the horizontal
symmetry plane (z = 0) of a special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at
different values of drying time and various microwave power density levels (0.20 W/g,
0.30 W/g and 0.40 W/g). The temperature in the radial direction between the interface (r
= R/2) and the center (r = 0) is uniform when compared to the temperature between the
interface (r = R/2) and the drying surface at r = R.
Figures 5.12, 5.15 and 5.18 shows the time-dependent axial temperature
distribution along the vertical axis (r = 0) for a special case of carrot embedded with
teflon at various microwave power densities. The temperature distribution in the axial
direction was uniform when compared to the temperature distribution in the radial
direction for aIl microwave power density levels.
96
90
80
---------- - - - - - ------ -- - - - - ---- -- -- -- - ---
70
,.-.,
u 60
°
'-'
~ 50
::l -Node 1 -Node 2
&:j
l-o
v 40 -Node 3 -Node 4
0.
E
v -Node 5 ---ir-Node 6
E-< 30
-I-Node 8 -Node 9
20
--- Node 10 -Node Il
10 -B-Node 13
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time (min)
teflon at various nodal position during microwave drying (0.20 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis
air). Nodal positions are shown in Figure 5.1.
Teflon
-0
-30
--- 60
-90
-120
---ir-150
-180
minutes
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
r/R(-)

symmetry plane (z = 0) for special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at
different values of drying time (0.20 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air).
IV
Cf\
uv
~
U --0
'°- ' -30
(1)
50 -&-60
1-0
;j --90
~ 40 --120
1-0
(1)
0.. --e- 150
E -180
30
~ minutes
20
10
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75
z/H (-)
special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at different values of drying time
(0.20 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air)
100 , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
90
80 ------------------------------------------
u~ 70
°
' -'
~ 60
~(1)
50 -Node 1 -Node 2
E 40 -Node 3 -Node 4
~ 30 -Node 5 -Node 6
-+-Node 8 -Node 9
20
--- Node 10 -Node Il
10 -a---Node 13
o-f.-.--'--'-L..f-L--'--L--'-+-.L....1-J'-'--+....l..-L-'----'---f---'--J--'--'--i=J::::;:::;:::i::::j::i::::;::::;::::i:::j:::::;:::;:::L:::i::i::::;::::;:~
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time (min)
teflon at various nodal positions during microwave drying (0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis
air)
-------------- ---- ---------- ---
-- 1--0
--- 30
--- ---tr-- 60
~90
-120
-&-150
-180
Minutes
20
10
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
rlR (-)

symmetry plane (z = 0) for special case of carrot samples embedded with teflon at
different values of drying time (0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air).
ov
70
--- -- --60 - - -
-- ---- ---- ----
U --0 ----- --
0
'-'
--- 30
Q)
:-
50 ---tr--60
;:l --90
1iî
:- 40 -120
Q) --e--- 150
0.. -180
E
Q)
30 minutes
t-'
20
10
~
v
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
zlH (-)
(0.30 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air)
120
100
- - - - - - -----------------------------------
~
u 80
°' -"
Q)
....
::s
ë
Q)
60
--+-Node 1 -a----Node 2
0..
E -Node3 -Node4
Q)
E-< 40
-Node 5 -Node 6
-+-Node 8 -Node 9
20 --- Node 10 --+-Node 11
-Node 13
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time (min)
Figure 5.16: Predicted ternperature profiles for a special case of carrot ernbedded with
teflon at various nodal positions during rnicrowave drying (0040 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis
air)
100
--- -------- -~- ~~
---------- ---
--+-0
--- 30
-60
~ -90
::s 60
~
.... -120
Q)
0.. -150
S 40 -180
Q)
f-< minutes
20
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
rlR (-)
Figure 5.17: Predicted ternperature distributions along a radius on the horizontal

symmetry plane (z = 0) for special case of carrot sarnples ernbedded with teflon at
different values of drying tirne (0040 W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air).
ou
-- ----- -- -- ----- ---
- --- --- ---- ---- ------=---
--- ---- --- '7{\
v
r:---- 60
-0 --------=:
~
u -8-30
°'-" ---~--60
Q)
l-. 50 ----90
::s
.....
~ -120
Q)
0-
40 ---e-150
S
Q) ~180
E-< 30 Minutes
20
10
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
z/H (-)
(DAO W/g, 45°C, 1.0 mis air)
5.6 Conclusions
The mathematical mode! developed and simulation procedure adopted have been
used successfully to predict the moisture content and temperature distribution at various
nodal positions in a composite non-homogeneous mode! material during microwave air
drying. The predicted results generally showed a good agreement with experimental
results when shrinkage of material was considered. This shows that shrinkage is an
important factor during drying and needs to be considered for accurate prediction results.
101
5.7 Acknowledgements
This work was partially funded by FCAR (Quebec) and NSERC Canada. The
authors would like to acknowledge their financial support.
5.8 Nomenclature
Cp specific heat capacity (J/kg K)
D moisture diffusion coefficient (m 2/s)
Do moisture diffusion coefficient at moisture X = 0 and temperature T = Tr (m 2/s)
Di moisture diffusion coefficient at moisture X = 00 and temperature T = Tr (m 2/s)
Eo activation energy of diffusion in dry material at X = 0 (KJ mor I )
Ei activation energy of diffusion in wet material at X = 00 (KJ mor I )
hT surface heat transfer coefficient (W1m2 K)
H height of the sample (m)
k thermal conductivity (Wlm K)
P pressure (N/m2 )
Q volumetric heating per volume of sample (W1m3)
Qo incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m 2)
Qül axial incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W1m2)
QOr radial incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W1m2)
r. space dimension in radial direction (m)
T temperature (K)
t time (s)
102
X moisture content (kg/kg)
Greek letters
st dielectric constant (-)
Sil dielectric loss factor (-)
Sa electric permittivity offree space (F/m)
p attenuation constant (-)
1,,0 microwave wavelength in free space(cm)
P density (kg/m3)
Pb bulk density of material (kg/m3)
Subscripts
n number of materiallayers
2 layer material 2
00 ambient air conditions
5.9 References
[1] Sanga, E., Mujumdar, A.S., Raghavan, G.S.V., 2001, "Principles and Applications of
Microwave Drying", in A.S. Mujurndar (Ed.) Drying Technology in Agriculture
and Food Sciences, Oxford IBH, Delhi, India (2001). Published simultaneously
by Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, USA; pp. 253-'289.
[2] Mujumdar, A.S., 1995, Handbook of Industrial Drying, (Marcel Dekker Inc. New
York).
103
[3] Ayappa, K.G., 1997, Modeling transport processes during microwave heating: a
review. Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 13(2): 1-68.
[5] Lehne, M, Barton, G.W and Langrish, T.AG, 1999, Comparison of Experimental and
Modeling studies for the microwave drying of Ironbark timber, Drying
Technology, 17(10) 2219-2235.
[6] Saltiel, C and Datta, A.S, 1999, Heat and Mass Transfer in Microwave Processing,
Advances in Heat and Transfer, Vol. 33, 1-94.
[7] Tulasidas, T.N., Raghavan, G.S.V and Mujumdar, AS., 1995, Microwave drying of
grapes in a single mode cavity at 2450 MHz-I: drying kinetics; and II: quality and
energy aspects. Drying Technology, 13(8-9): 1949-1992.
[8] Lu, L, Tang, J and Liang, L, 1998, Moisture distribution in spherical foods in
microwave drying, Drying Technology, 16(3-5),503-524.
[9] Raghavan, G.S.V. and AM. Silveira. 1999. Shrinkage characteristics ofstrawberries
osmotically dehydrated in combination with microwave drying. ADC'99, October
1999, Bali.
[10] Raghavan, G.S.V and Venkatachalapathy K., 1999. Shrinkage ofstrawberries during
microwave drying. Drying Technology, Vol. 17(10):2309-2321.
[11] Zhang, D., and Mujumdar, AS., 1992, Deformation and stress analysis of porous
capillary bodies during intermittent volumetrie thermal drying. Drying
Technology, 10(2), 421-443.
[12] Panagiotou, N. M., Krokida, M. K., Maroulis, Z. B., Marinos-Kouris, D. and

Saravacos, G. D., 2000, Moisture diffusvity data compilation for foodstuffs:
Effect of material moisture and temperature, IDS 2000.
[13] von Hippel, AR. 1954, Dielectric Materials and Applications, MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA
[14] Chen, D. D., Singh, R. K., Haghighi, K and Nelson, P. E., 1993, Finite Element
Analysis of Temperature Distribution in Microwave Cylindrical Potato Tissue,
Journal ofFood engineering, Vol. 18; 351-368.
104
[15] Funebo, T., and Ohlsson, T., 1999, Dielectric properties of fruits and vegetables as a
function of temperature and moisture content, Journal of Microwave Power and
Electromagnetic Energy, Vol. 34 No. 1: 42-54.
105
In our previous work mathematical modeling and numerical analysis of a special

case of biological material with varying loss factor was undertaken. In this paper
experimental work was carried out to validate the prediction resulting from our previous
work. Experiments were done for two special cases of biological materials to validate the
model. Microwave assisted drying experiments was done using carrot and potato as
model materials at three microwave power density levels.
The material presented in this chapter will be submitted for publication in a peer-
Sanga, E. C. M, Raghavan, G. S. V and Mujumdar, A. S., Analysis of Heat and

Mass transfer under microwave fields and validation using experimental data.
Journal of Transaction ofInstitute of Chemical Engineers (to be submitted).
the Ph.D. student who performed the experimental work, modelling analysis and wrote
the manuscript, (ii) the second and third authors are the student's co-supervisors who
106
CHAPTERVI
ANALYSIS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER UNDER

MICROWAVE FIELDS AND VALIDATION USING
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The mechanism of heat and mass transfer that occur during mlCrowave-
convection drying is a dynamic process that results in complex mathematical models that
can not be solved analytically. In our previous work a mathematical model was
developed and simulations to describe microwave drying were undertaken. In this chapter
experimental work was carried out to validate the prediction results from our previous
work.
Experimental work was carried out to determine the dynamic temperature and
moisture profiles through the cylindrical composite samples of 25.4 mm in a diameter
and 25.4 mm in length in a microwave cavity supplied both microwave energy and
convective energy. The experimental work was carried out at microwave power densities
of 0.20 W/g, 0.3 W/g or 0.4 W/g (based on initial weight of the sample). The
experimental data were then validated against numerical results from our previous work
and were found to agree reasonably well.
6.1 Introduction
The earliest elaborate literature survey on drying of solids was reported by Fortes
[1, 2]. Whitaker [3] has also given a good account of various drying models available.
Capillary forces causing liquid transport in terms of moisture gradient and temperature
resulting in diffusion like equation was represented by Phillip and De Vries [4]. Luikov
[5] later proposed that moisture transfer in a porous material results from the gradients of
moisture content, temperature and pressure. Whitaker [3] obtained volume-averaged
conservation equations for each phase using a continuum mechanics approach. Chen and
107
Pei [6] used different mathematical formulations for the wet region in which the main
mechanism of transfer was capillary flow of free water and sorption region in which the
moisture transport is due to movement of bound water and vapor transfer. Using the
model developed Chen and Pei [5] studied the drying behavior of brick, wood and corn
kernels. They predicted the temperature and moisture content distribution for these
materials.
The ability of water to absorb electromagnetic energy propagated at microwave
frequencies has provided an advantage that distinguishes microwave drying from
conventional drying. Unlike conventional drying methods, where the heat transfer from
the surface of the product to the interior relies mainly on conduction, in microwave
drying the energy is generated in the liquid that is distributed throughout the wet materia1.
Due to this phenomenon there are a number of attractive advantages associated with the
use of microwave-enhanced drying, which include volumetrie heating, moisture leveling,
reduced drying times and higher drying rates. Kudra [6] has listed literature that contains
numerous examples of where the concept of microwave - convection drying has been
used for drying a wide variety of materials. Sanga et al., [7] also provide an excellent
review on principles and applications of microwave - convection drying. Ayappa et al.,
[8] and Schiffman [9] also provide thorough overviews of the microwave drying topic
and discuss in sorne detail the physical and transport phenomena associated with the
process.
Before the overall economics of any process can be done, it is important that a
fundamental analysis be carried out initially so that a better understanding of the heat and
mass transfer phenomena occurring within a material can be obtained. Key here is that
the advantage of microwave - convection drying motivates a need for fundamental
modelling and experimental work of the process to understand and predict and validate
the drying operations.
The main objective of this paper was to experimentally validate against the
numerical results from our previous work undertaken to model and simulate the heat and
mass transfer processes that occur in non-homogeneous materials under microwave
fields.
108
6.2 Experimental Set-up, Materials and Methods
A laboratory scale microwave dryer consisting of microwave generator (750W
and 2450MHz), a cavity (40 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm), a hot air system, a data acquisition
and control system (Agilent No. 34970A) was used for experimental work. The
microwave generator had a variable power that permits control of microwave power
output in a continuous mode. For this work carrot, potatoes and polytetrafluoroethylene
(teflon) were used as mode! materials.
Chapter III of this thesis gives details of the microwave dryer set-up, materials,
measurement method and experimental procedure adopted for this work. Table 6.1 gives
the physical properties of potato used to validate the mathematical presented in Chapter
V.
Table 6.1. Material properties and dielectric properties of potato
Property Units Value /Expression
(-) 117.6- 2.6x 10-2 x Tt 1.8 x X -7.3x 10-2 Pb [11]

(-) 12.2 t 1.4 x 10-3 x Tt 9.6 X 10-2 x X t 3.9 X 10-3 x Pb [11]
(KJ kg- l K- l ) 3.63
(W mol K- l ) 0.648
(kg m-3 ) 1060
(W m-2 K"1) 10.5 (on surface S2)
(W m-2 K"1) 5.5 (on surface S3)
6.3 ResuUs and Discussion

In order to assess the accuracy of the model predictions, the simulation results
were compared with experimental data of mode! materials dried in a laboratory scale
microwave drier. Experimental data from the three microwave power density levels at the
same inlet air temperature were compared them with simulation results. The predicted
results for moisture were averaged over the volume of the sample in order to compare
with experimental drying kinetics as it was not possible to obtain experimental moisture
content distributions within the materials.
109
Figures 6.1 and 6.2 show the effect of microwave and air drying on the drying
kinetics of a special case of carrot and potato samples embedded with teflon at a 0.20
W/g, 0.30 W/g or 0.40 W/g microwave power density level. The curves show
experimental and average predicted moisture content drying curves during intermittent
microwave and convective drying. The intermittent drying applied was 45°C air
combined with microwave power density at 0.20 W/g and 0.30 W/g levels. Drying air
was applied at a constant temperature of 45°C, while microwave power was applied at a
pulse rate. The on/off time ratio for microwave irradiation was 45 seconds on and 45
seconds off. Although it is possible to obtain distinctive intermediate drying curves, the
short microwave off time was not enough to allow development of distinct moisture
patterns. This is because of the short time that microwave power off was insufficient to
allow any significant change in the heat flux to allow for noticeable change in moisture
content. However, the microwave off time allowed for surface moisture to be carried
away by drying air. Experimental values show very good agreement with predicted
values at various microwave power density levels.
- Predicted 0.20 W/g

"S
\\
.\
\\ o Experimental data 0.20 W/g
\', 0
\ " --- Predicted 0.30 W/g
\~"
. " 0 x Experimental data 0.30 W/g
d. "."" '>l.
"., " "- " ---- Predicted 0.40 W/g
" "-
'Cl.
., '~
... "- o Experimenatl data 0.40 W/g
" "- ...
" .~. . . x.. ..............
........
.... x .......... _
''Q,
")( . . _--x..
~ .. _ -----lt
'._ - - - x
0-' - - .. _Q. '. _ • __ ~ .. _ •• ~: ~~~.~:~.~~ ~ =~

:
o+-,----L--'----'------r-'--'----L-t-L-L.--'--L-t-L-L.--'--L-t-L-L.--'--L-t-L-L.---'--.L----r--L.-L-"--'--t--'----'-----'---'--t--'------L---'------J"---\
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Drying time (min)
Figure 6.1: Comparison ofpredicted and experimental results for microwave and air
drying of special case of carrot.
110
The validation of experimental drying rates validation against predicted drying
rate curves versus moisture content for model materials at various microwave power
density levels are shown in Figure 6.3 and 6.4. Comparison of experimental and predicted
drying rate curves show reasonably good agreement. The drying rate first increased to a
maximum value and progressively decreased to a minimum value. This indicates that at
higher moisture content the higher microwave power absorbed is used for latent heat of
evaporation of the moisture.
5c-----------------;=============;l
-Predicted 0.20 W/g
,-...4.5
CIl
o Experimental 0.20 W/g
.~ 4
..0 --- Predicted 0.30 W/g
è
'"03.5 x Experimental 0.30 W/g
Cl)
~ 3
...
_.. - Predicted 0.40 W/g
.... o Ex erimental 0.40 W/
1:: 2 .5
Q)
1::
o 2
u
~ 1.5 -- .... _--~
~
·ô 1
• "$... --- -__ x
----- ----
.. -._--~ .. -.__ ---
:::Ë ~-"-
0
..
0.5
O+-'--'----'----'--+--'--L--'--'-+--,---"----'---'-+-L-L-L---'--j---L---'--'--'---+---'--L-L-L-+-L....L--'--'--t--'----'---'----'--t----'--'-----'----'------I
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Drying time (min)
Figure 6.2: Comparison of predicted and experimental results for microwave and air
drying for special case of potato.
III
1.8
,-.., --Predicted 0.20 W/g
::: 1.6 o
·s
'i:::;
o Experimental 0.20 W/g
(\) lA
~ --- Predicted 0.30 W/g
~ x
'+-<
0
1.2 x Experimental 0.30 W/g
E
ro _.. - Predicted 0040 W/g
....OJ)
'-"
(\)
0.8 o Experimental 0040 W/g
~ o o
::: 0.6 .... _ ... ~---- X
.9
....ro
.... ---~~
0
0..
004 o
o
ro o
> 0.2
lïI
DO
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Moisture content (kg/kg dry basis)
Figure 6.3: Drying rate curves for a special of carrot dried by hot air (45°C and 1.0
mis) at various microwave power levels.
1.2 ,--r============::;-------------~
-Predicted 0.20 W/g

,-.., 1 [] Experimental 0.20 W/g
.5
-.ê -Predicted 0.30 W/g
VJ
E 0.8
ro x Experimental 0.30 W/g
....
on
'-" -Predicted 0.40 W/g
.....
(\)
ro 0.6
.... o Experimental 0040 W/g
s::
a
.~
.... 004
a
0..
cil
>
p;.J
0.2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 6.4: Drying rate curves for a special of potato dried by hot air (45°C and 1.0
mis) and at various microwave power levels.
112
Simulation results of the transient moisture content and temperature distributions
inside the partic1e for both cases ofbiological materials are shown in Figures 6.5 and 6.6.
While temperature distributions show negligible temperature gradients, moisture content
distributions showed the existence of relatively large concentration gradients inside the
material. This can be explained by reference to the Lewis number, Le = a T / D (> 1.0).
The Lewis number represents the ratio of the thermal diffusivity and mass
diffusivity of the material. This is the ratio of the relaxation rates of the mass to heat
transfer potentials. This means that the rate of internaI heat transfer is faster compared to
the rate of mass transfer. The simulated results demonstrated high moisture concentration
around the center of the particle while the surface moisture content drops gradually, but
not instantaneously to an equilibrium value with the drying air.
6
---0
~
CIl 5 --a-15
'Vi
~
.!::I --- 30
è ·····-60
"'0 4
01}
~ ---- 90
01}
~
'-" _.. - 120
...... 3
c(1)
...... -150
c
0
u ---e---- 180
~ 2
::s
...... minutes
CIl
';3
~ 1
0
0 0.5 1
rlR (-)
Figure 6.5: Transient moisture content distributions for a special case of carrot at
microwave power density of 0.20 W/g and hot air (45°C and 1.0 mis).
113
The transient temperature distribution curves show that the temperature
distributions inside the material linearize after the initial heating up period. After the
initial heating-up period the center and surface temperatures approach each other and
thereafter remain virtually constant. This is due to the low average heat transfer (Biot
number, (Bi = hD / k «1.0)) which is the ratio of internaI to external heat transfer
resistances. This implies that the air-solid interface resistance is higher than the internaI
heat) conduction resistance of the material and therefore very small temperature gradients
occur.
----0
-30
--- 60
-90
-120
-a---150
-180
minutes
10
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
r/R (-)
Figure 6.6: Temperature distribution in a radial direction for a special case of carrot
sample embedded with teflon at microwave power density of 0.20 W/g and air (45°C,
1.0 mis).
114
115
105
95 ..". o...-_~ __ ~ __ s.... __ ~ __ ~ - -
----
u 85 ", ..... - Â
°
'-' /
~
~
75 1
'0
1;j 1 Â T2 Experimental
'-
~
0.. 65 ~ Â o Tl Experimental
E '1
~
t-< 55 --Tl Predicted
- - T2 Predicted
45
35
25
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Drying time (minutes)
Figure 6.7: Comparison ofnumerical and experimental temperature during

microwave drying (0.30 W/g and 45°C, 1.0 mis hot air)
Comparisons between the experimental data and numerical results of the

temperature profiles at different radial locations are shown in Figure 6.7. The predicted
temperature values at center and at r = 3/4R of sample locations were relatively higher
than the experimental data and varied with time. The discrepancy at the time interval of
20 minutes and 60 minutes might be due to the assumptions regarding microwave power
in the mode!. The microwave power assumption of absorption might be overestimating
and at the later stage of drying they have a closer agreement.
6.4 Conclusions
Experimental work was carried out to validate the simulation results of moisture
content and temperature for two model materials selected. The average predicted results
115
generally showed a good agreement with experimental results. Higher drying rates were
obtained at higher microwave power level densities for both materials studied. The
drying rates were found to be higher at the beginning of drying process where moisture
was easily evaporated by hot air. Enhanced drying rates and reduced drying time and
good agreement between the experimental data and simulated results were shown.
6.S Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of FCAR (Quebec)
and NSERC (Canada).
6.6 Nomenclature
Cp specifie heat capacity (J/kg K)

D moisture diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
Do moisture diffusion coefficient at moisture X = 0 and temperature T = Tr (m2/s)
Di moisture diffusion coefficient at moisture X = 00 and temperature T = Tr (m2/s)
Eo activation energy of diffusion in dry material at X = 0 (KJ mor I )
Ei activation energy of diffusion in wet material at X = 00 (KJ mor I )
hl surface heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
H height ofthe sample (m)
k thermal conductivity (W/m K)
P pressure (N/m2)
Q volumetrie heating per volume of sample (W/m3)
Qo incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m2)
QQl axial incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m2)
QOr radial incident microwave flux at the surface of sample (W/m2)
r. space dimension in radial direction (m)
116
82 drying surface (m2)
83 drying surface (m2)
T temperature (K)
t time (s)
X moisture content (kg/kg)
5.6.1 Greek letters
8' dielectric constant (-)

8" dielectric loss factor (-)
80 electric permittivity offree space (F/m)
p attenuation constant (-)
Ào microwave wave1ength in free space(cm)
P density (kg/m3)
Pb bulk density of material (kg/m3)
5.6.2 Subscripts
n number of materiallayers
2 layer material 2
00 ambient air conditions
117
6.7 References
[1] Fortes, M., and Okos, M. D., 1980, Drying theories; their bases and limitations as
applied to food and grains. In Advances in Drying (Edited by A. S. Mujurndar),
Vol. 1, pp. 119-154. Hemisphere, Washington, DC.
[2] Rossen, J. Land Hayakawa, K. 1977, Simultaneous heat and moisture transfer in
dehydrated food: a review of theoretical models, AIChE Symposium Ser. 73, pp
71-81.
[3] Whitaker, s., 1977, Simultaneous heat, mass and momentum transfer in porous media:
a theory of drying, Advances in Heat Transfer Vol. 13, pp 119-203.
[4] Phillip, J. R. and De Vries, D. A., 1957, Moisture movement in porous materials
under temperature gradients, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 38, pp 222-232.
[5] Luikov, a. V., 1975, Systems of differential euations of heat and mass transfer in
capillary-porous bodies, Int. J Heat and mass transfer, Vol. 18, pp 1-14.
[6] Chen, p. and Pei, D. C. T, 1989, A mathematical model of drying processes. Int. J
Heat and Mass Transfer, 32: 297-310.
[7] Kudra, T., 1986, Drying in microwave energy fields, In Drying: Principles,
Application and Design (Edited by C. Strumillo and T. Kudra), pp. 396-406.
[8] Sanga, E., Mujumdar, A. S. and Raghavan, G. S. V., 2000, Principles and applications
of microwave drying. In Drying technology in agriculture and food sciences,
Edited by A. S. Mujumdar, Elsevier Science Publisher, Enfield, NH. Chapter 10.
[9] Ayappa, K.G., 1997, Modelling transport processes during microwave heating: a
review. Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 13(2): 1-68.
[10] Schiffmann, R. F., 1995, Microwave and dielectric drying, In Handbook of

Industrial Drying, 20d Edition, Vol. 1. Edited by A. S. Mujumdar, Chapter Il.
[11] Funebo, T., and Ohlsson, T., 1999, Dielectric properties of fruits and vegetables as a
118
Dried samples were evaluated in order to compare the quality attributes of

samples dried as special case biological materials and those dried normaUy. In this work
quality attributes of products dried at three levels of microwave power density and hot air
were compared. The quality attributes evaluated were surface color, re-hydration capacity
and shrinkage.
The material presented in this chapter has been submitted for publication in a
peer-reviewedjournal (see details for publication).
Sanga, E. C. M, Raghavan, G. S. V and Mujumdar, A. S., Surface color, re-

hydration capacity and shrinkage of a special case of biological material during
microwave drying, Journal of Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineers
(submitted).
the Ph.D student who performed the experimental work, modeUing analysis and wrote the
119
CHAPTER VII
SURFACE COLOR, RE-HYDRATION AND SHRINKAGE

OF A SPECIAL CASE OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
DURING MICROWAVE DRYING
Microwave and hot air drying characteristics of special cases of biological

material (cylindrical 25.4 mm diameter 25.4 mm length) were investigated. Drying rates,
surface coler, re-hydration capacity and shrinkage were compared. Microwave and hot
air drying of biological materials was found to have higher drying rates. Shrinkage of
biological materials dried as a special case was found to be less than materials dried not
as a special case. Re-hydration capacity of biological material dried as a special was also
found to higher than those dried not as a special case but under the same drying
conditions.
7.1. Introduction
Drying can be defined as the process of thermally removing moisture content in

order to yield a solid product [1]. Longer shelf life, product diversity and substantial
reduction in product volume for storage are other important reasons for drying
operations. Improvement of the final products also the motivation for efforts to research
new ways of drying products: new process and methods development. The improved
dried products could increase the degree of acceptance of dehydrated foods by
consumers.
Microwave heating has been recognized for its potential of fast, economic and
diverse application to various industrial applications. One of the applications that have
benefited is drying, where a number of products are currently being dried using
mlcrowaves. These products include higher value food products, wood, papers and
120
textiles. Microwave drying of agricultural products has been used in combination with
hot air. In sorne cases it has been used in combination with other drying methods such as
vacuum drying and freeze-drying. In aIl hybrid-drying methods the aim is to increase the
product's quality and reduce drying time [2]. Other types ofmicrowave hybrid drying are
currently being studied such as microwave in combination with osmotic dehydration.
Early results indicate that osmotically dehydrated products followed by microwave and
hot air drying leads to a quality similar to that obtained by freeze drying [3].
Microwave drying in combination with other methods such as freeze-drying and
vacuum drying has greatly improved product quality. Combined microwave and freeze-
drying significantly increases the drying rates and re-hydration capacity of dried product.
[4]. Microwave vacuum drying is in commercial use for production of various products
such as juice concentrates, enzymes and to sorne extent phamarceutical products [5]. The
hybrid drying methods have shown to reduce drying time and improve quality of dried
product.
The objectives of this research were to compare the quality characteristics of
dehydrated biological material processed as a special case or dried as a normal product.
Quality attributes evaluated were surface color, re-hydration capacity and shrinkage.
7.2. Materials and Methods

6.2.1. Materials
Carrots used as model material in this study were purchased from a local
supermarket. The samples ofunknown cultivar were stored in a cold room at 4°C before
they were used in experiments. Initial moisture content of carrots was determined to be
5.6 kg water/kg dry solids. Before running the drying experiments, samples were taken
out of the cold storage room, peeled with a knife and cut into 25.4 mm diameter and 25.4
mm in length using a stainless steel core borer. The samples were then inserted with
teflon at core center of. carrots used for each experimental run in the same batch.
121
7.2.2 Drying experiment
A laboratory scale microwave dryer (Figure 3.1, Chapter III) was used. The
microwave dryer was equipped with a 750 Watts at 2450 MHz microwave generator. The
power of the microwave generator was adjustable to the desired value of power. Chapter
III ofthis thesis gives details of the dryer.
7. 2. 3 Drying procedure
Microwave power densities studied were 0.20 W/g, 0.30 W/g and 0.40 W/g based
on the initial mass of the sample. Microwaves were generated for a cyclic period of 45
seconds on and 45 seconds off. Reflected power during each experimental run was
manuaUy maintained at near zero value, by the use of three tuning screws inserted on the
top of the wave-guide assembly. Hot air was supplied to the microwave cavity and blown
over the samples placed as a single layer on aperforated sample holder. The hot air was
heated by three 2 kW heaters blown by variable speed blower (0.25kW) attached
undemeath the cavity. The temperature and velocity of hot air were maintained constant
throughout each experimental run and at 45°C and 1.0 rn/s, respectively. For each
experimental run 100 g of sample was used and was monitored during the drying process
using strain gauge attached to the sample holder and suspended from at the top of the
cavity. The inlet and outlet drying air temperature were measured with type K
thermocouples and temperatures of the sample at various locations were measured using
a digital fiber optic unit (Nortech Fibronic Inc. Quebec, Canada) suited for use in a
microwave field environment. Temperatures, microwave power and mass data were aU
recorded by a data acquisition system (HP34970A-Data Acquisition/Switch Unit,
Hewlett-Packard, USA). A computer program to monitor the drying process was written
in HPVEE.
7.2.4 Quality evaluation
For this work, three quality attributes were selected to evaluate the quality of the
dried carrots. Objective measurement of surface color, re-hydration capacity and
shrinkage were used to evaluate the quality of the final product.
122
The color of the dried product is an important quality attribute to use to evaluate
quality. The surface color of the samples was measured by using a Minolta Chroma
Meter CR-300X (Minolta camera Co. Ltd., Japan) equipped with a measuring area of 5
mm diameter. The reading was done on the external surface of the sample and the mean
of three readings at different location on the same sample were taken. The instrument was
initially calibrated on a Minolta standard-white plate provided (L* = 98.28, a* = -0.05
and b* = 2.32). Each measurement provided a value for three different coordinates L*, a*
and b* providing information on lightness. The lightness coefficient L* ranged from a to
100, the a* coordinate indicated red-purple color (positive value) or bluish-green color
(negative value) and the b* coordinate indicated a yellow color (positive value) or a blue
color (negative value) [6]. Mean color values of the samples dried were compared to
those of fresh biological samples that were considered standard.
The re-hydration capacity of the dried product is also an important quality
attribute to evaluate the quality. It gives an indication how the dried product will react to
future contact with moisture. For dried fruits that can be used in breakfast cereals it is
important to have sorne re-hydration capacity in order to absorb milk. In this work, re-
hydration experiments were performed by immersing a weighed amount of sample into
hot water at approximately 50°C for 50 minutes. At the interval of la minutes the
samples were drained over a mesh for 20 to 30 seconds and quickly blotted with paper
towels order ta eliminate surface water and then re-weighed. The re-hydration capacity
was described as percentage water gain, calculated from the sample weight difference
before and after the re-hydration as follows:
(w;-~)
Weight gain (%) =-'--------'- (7.1)
~
Volume changes due to sample shrinkage were measured by a water displacement

method. Similar drying studies as described in Chapter III was conducted separately and
using the same drying conditions. At the start of the experiment and at pre-determined
times sample volume was measured. Volume changes due to sample shrinkage were
measured by the water displacement method of Sjoholm and Gekas [7]. Measurement
was made as quickly as possible to eliminate the possibility of water uptake by samples.
123
The shrinkage in terms of volume change of samples during microwave drying was
expressed as a bulk shrinkage ratio of sample volume at any time to initial volume.
Shrl'nkage, S = -V (7.2)
Vo
7.3 ResuUs and Discussion

The drying curves for carrot samples dried with teflon embedded at the core and
without teflon as core are shown in Figure 7.1. Samples dried faster when embedded with
teflon as their core. About lOS minutes and 120 minutes were required to reach a
moisture of 2.8 kg H 20/kg dry solids for carrots with and. without teflon as core,
respectively. This is about 12.S% reduction in drying time when carrot samples were
dried as a special case.
The color parameters lightness (L*), redness (a*) and yeHowness (b*) are presented in
Table 1. Visual inspection of dried carrot from drying with teflon embedding had
excellent color. Samples of carrot dried without Teflon embedding showed discoloration
especially on the edges of the samples where visible signs of bum were evident. This was
probably due to the effect of microwave concentration on the edges and therefore
affecting the color more on the edges than on the whole sample. This shows that Teflon
had favorable effect on the color values when compare with samples without Teflon at
the center. This is clearly illustrated by the measured value of redness, yellowness and
lightness shown in Table 7.1.
Table 7.1. Results for color parameters and average microwave energy absorbed per
kilogram of evaporated water (kJ/kg) for aH samples
Samples Color Parameters Energy efficiency per kg of
water evaporated (kJ/kg H20)
(L*) (a*) (b*)
Carrot 48.3 12.S 10.2 3340
Carrot (embedded SO.O 16.8 lS.9 3210

with Teflon
124
During reconstitution of dehydrated products the amount of water absorption
determines the extent of the sensorial properties and of the product. The rehydration
characteristics of a dried product are used as a quality index and they indicate the
physical and chemical changes during drying as influenced by either processing
conditions or the way the product has been treated before drying. The rehydration
capacity of the samples was calculated as amount of water gain (Equation 7.1). The
rehydration curves of dried products in SO°C water are shown in Figure 7.2. Carrot
samples dried as a special case of biological material embedded with teflon at the core
exhibited higher rehydration capacity than those samples dried without teflon as core.
This may be due to changes in the structure of samples during drying and temperature
rise. This result is in agreement with shrinkage data that show that samples dried as
special case shrank less. Higher water absorption resulting in higher rehydration capacity
is expected for structure that shrank less [8, 9].
~6-'---------------------------------'
:9
ôtI)
è5
"'0
<+-<
o
~4
;...
<1)
~
'0 3
1f
'-" -... ----...
.....
.....~2
----... _--
c - .. - Samples with teflon as core
o<)
a~1
t I) -e-- Samples without teflon as core
"(3
::EO-+----'--.-.I--'---'--+-'--L.J-.-.I--f-J--'----l--'-+---'----'--'--'----t--L.....L---'---'--t-L.....l.--L.....L-+-'--.-.I--'---'--+-'--L.J-.-.I--f---L--'---'-----'----i
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Drying time (min)
Figure 7.1: Typical during curves for carrot samples drying dried as special case of
biological material embedded with and without teflon at microwave power density
level of 0.20 W/g and hot air (4S0C, 1.0 mis).
125
Shrinkage of samples was observed for both types of methods tested for sample
drying (Figure 7.3). However, shrinkage was more pronounced for samples that were
dried without teflon as a core. This can be explained as due to teflon acting as a
restraining object for samples with teflon as core. Also as can be observed on drying
curves samples without teflon as core took more time to dry than those did with teflon as
core resulting in more shrinkage time. Similar explanation was given by Ratti [10] that
longer drying time gives more time for the product to shrink. For the two methods of
samples similar results were observed that higher shrinkage is initially and gradually
leveling off towards the end of drying. Ratti [10] observed similar results on drying of
potatoes, apples and carrots and Sjoholm and Gekas [7] on drying of carrots.
180 .---~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~----,
160
_... - -- --+-----.- - - - -- - - - -+-- - --+- - - --.- - - - -+- - - -
140
,-.... 120
~
'--'
.5 100
§h
a:>
1;j
80
~ 60 -e- Sample without teflon
40
20
O-'-~~~~,--~~~--,-~~~~-.~~~~-,-~~~~,.--~~~------j
o 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (min)
Figure 7.2: Rehydration capacity behavior of carrot samples dried at microwave

power density of 0.20 W/g and air (4S0C, 1.0 mis) at SO°C ofwater.
126
1...------------------------------.
~
(1)
§ 0.9
"0
>08
:§. - a - Sample dried without teflon as core
'20.7
:s - ..- Samples dried with teflon as core
.§ 0.6
....
~ 0.5 ---0
(1)
§OA
"0
GO.3
(1)
~0.2
~
t::
:.§ 0.1
C/l
O+----~---~---~---~---~---~-----I
o 30 60 90 120 150 180 210
Drying time (min)
Figure 7.3: Shrinkage of carrot samples dried at microwave power density of 0.20
W/g and hot air (45°C, 1.0 mis)
When shrinkage ratio of samples is plotted against moisture content it was found
that they are quite similar for both cases. The regression analysis done on the shrinkage
ratio for both cases of samples show a linear relationship with the moisture content. The
linear function between shrinkage ratio and moisture content for samples dried with
teflon as core and without teflon as core has high R2 values of 0.9605 and 0.9804
respective1y. The linear regression equation showing a relationship between the shrinkage
ratio and moisture content for the two cases is shown in Figure 7.4. Raghavan and
Venkatachalapathy [12] and Raghavan and Silveira [13] reported similar results.
127
--<1)
E
::l
1.2
o Sample without Teflon
y = 0.1424x + 0.1503
Ô 1 a
> () Sample with teflon as core 2
R = 0.9605
"@
'.p
'2
....... - Linear (Sample without Teflon)
-.::, 0.8
<1)
.5...... - - Linear (Sample with teflon as core) y = 0.1822x - 0.0555

~ 0.6 2
<1)
R = 0.9804
E
::l
Ô 0.4
>
'-'
<1)
OJ)
<:Ii
~
t::
0.2
'C
...t::
r:/J
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Figure 7.4: Correlation between shrinkage ratio and moisture content for two cases of
carrot samples dried as a special case with teflon and without teflon as core at 0.20
W/g and hot air (45°C, 1.0 mis)
Table 7.2 presents the influence of microwave power density levels on the
evaporation rate and evaporation energy per kilograms of water evaporated. The values
of evaporation energy were aIl higher than the latent heat of evaporation of 2700kJ/kg.
Table 7.2: Influence ofmicrowave power density level on evaporation energy per kg of
water
Microwave power density level Evaporation Rate Evaporation Energy

(W/g) (kg/s) (kJ/kg)
0.20 2.29 x 10-4 3342
0.30 3.50 x 10-4 3878
128
7.4 Conclusions
From the above results it was observed that there was relatively reduced drying
time for samples dried as special case of biological material with teflon as core. The
samples dried with teflon as core exhibited better re-hydration characteristics, less
shrinkage and better coler. Experiments with carrot dried as a special case of biological
material embedded with teflon showed that quality of the dried product can be improved.
However, more work needs to be done with other types of fruits and vegetable products.
7.5 Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of FCAR (Quebec)
and NSERC (Canada).
7.5 References
[1] Mujumdar, A. S. and Menon, A. S., 1995. Drying of solids: Principles, classification
and selection of dryers. Handbook of Industrial Drying. 2nd Edition, Vol. 1. Edited
by A. S. Mujumdar. Chapter 1.
[2] Giese, J., 1992, Advances in microwave food processing, Food Technology 46(9):
118-123.
[3] Venkatachalapathy, K., 1998 Combined osmotic and microwave drying of

strawberries and blueberries, Ph.D. Thesis for Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineering, 223p
[4] Cohen, J. S., Ayoub, J. A. and Yang, T. C., 1992. A comparison of conventional and
microwave augmented freeze-drying of peas. Drying'92. Edited by A. S.
Mujumdar. Elsevier Science Publishers B. V. 585-594.
[5] Sanga, E. C., Mujumdar, A. S. and Raghavan, G. S. V., 2000, Principles and
applications of microwave drying. Drying technology in agriculture and food
sciences. Edited by A. S. Mujumdar. Elsevier Science Publisher, Enfield, NH.
Chapter 10.
129
[6] McGuire, R. G., 1992, Reporting of objective coler measurements, Hortscience
27(12): 1254-1255.
[8] Drouza, A. E and Schubert, H., 1996, Microwave application in vacuum drying of
fruits. Journal ofFood Engineering, 28: 203-209.
[9] Ratti, C. 1994, Shrinkage during drying of foodstuffs, Journal of Food Engineering,
23: 91-105
[10] Ragahavan, G. S. V. and Venkatachalapathy, K., 1999, Shrinkage of strawberries

during microwave drying, Drying Technology, 17(10),2309-2321
[11] Raghavan, G. S. V. and Silveira, A. M., 2001, Shrinkage characteristics of

strawberries osmotically dehydrated in combination with microwave drying. Drying
Technology 19(2): 405-414.
130
CHAPTER VIII
GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS,

CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE AND
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
8.1 General Summary and Conclusions

This study involved mathematical modelling and experimental validation of
rnaterial of varying loss factors dried under microwave fields in combination with hot air.
The following conclusions can be drawn:
1. A rnathematical model was developed to describe microwave and hot air
drying of rnaterials with varying loss factors. To take into account the
shrinkage of material during drying a methodology of re-defining the
computation domain was adopted. Predicted results using the rnethodology
adopted to take into account shrinkage was found to agree well with
experimental data generated in this study. The model took into account
dielectric properties and diffusivity as a function of both moisture and
temperature as drying progressed.
2. To validate the model further more experimental work was carried out. Carrot,
potato and teflon were used as model materials. The model was successfully
validated against the experimental data.
3. The effect of various microwave power density levels on the drying kinetics
and quality of biological materials were investigated experimentally and
trends were established.
4. Potato and Carrot dried as special case materials were found to have better
quality in terms of shrinkage, re-hydration characteristics and color. The
reduction in sample volume due to shrinkage was found to be related linearly
to sarnples moisture content. This relationship was independent of the type of
material.
131
8.2 Contribution to Knowledge
The work presented here has made an original contribution to the body of
knowledge surrounding the application and use of microwave heating to the material of
varying loss factors. The main contributions are:
i) A mathematical model was developed to describe heat and mass transfer
of composite material with varying loss factor under microwave fields.
Both diffussivity and loss factor are expressed as a function of the
temperature and moisture content of the material. The finite element
model was then developed using the weight residual method. The finite
element model (FEM) was then implemented by developing a computer
program code using Fortran 77.
ii) The finite element model developed was then used to simulate the drying
process of model materials under a microwave field. Moisture content and
transient temperature distributions of the model materials were then
obtained. The predicted results were then validated against experimental
data of the model materials and found to be in good agreement.
iii) A methodology was also adopted to take into account shrinkage of
material by continuously redefining the computation domain. It was found
that simulation results obtained by adopting this methodology were in
closer agreement with experimental data, than simulation results obtained
without adopting this methodology.
iv) Quality attributes of model materials were investigated. The investigation
has demonstrated that samples dried in combination were of better quality
in terms of color, re-hydration capacity and shrinkage.
8.3 Recommendations for Future Work

Three areas for future work are recommended to further understanding the
interaction of microwave fields with materials of varying loss factors.
1. Further validation of the model could be extended to include the simulation of
drying process at microwave frequencies other than 2450 MHz. This could
132
include sensitivity and validation of the model at a microwave frequency of
915 MHz and at Radio frequency of 27 MHz. Furthermore, it is recommended
that the model be tested for microwave heating that involves first and second
kind boundary conditions. This could be applied in the area of microwave
pasteurization of plastic or glass bottled products.
2. Although biological materials were used as mode! material, l recommend that
future work include the area of material sciences, such as cerarnics heating.
This could be used as an alternative method for processing materials with low
loss factor by adopting hybrid heating. This could be achieved by heating
ceramics of low loss factors with susceptors with high loss factor in order to
achieve the required processing temperature without the necessity of using
higher microwave energy.
3. Better mechanisms to stabilize incident microwave power and also to fine
tune reflected microwave power could be looked at in the future.
133
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139
APPENDIX 1
Discretization of Governing Equations
This appendix details the procedure used to discretize and linearize the nonlinear
goveming equations presented in Chapter V. The general transport equation of heat and
mass transport are Equations 5.1 and 5.2.
Finite Element Formulation
The spatial discretization method for finite element model formulation is Galerkin
weighted residual method.
1. The procedure starts by assuming the solution for moisture content ( X) and
temperature (T) throughout the domain ofinterest Q as:
X(x,y,t) = l j
X/Jj(x,y) (A.1)
T(x,y,t) = l j
~(t)8ix,y) (A.2)
where X j and ~ are unknown coefficients and [} j is known function.
2. Then the approximate solutions given by above equations are substituted into the
Equations 5.1 and 5.2 and a residual is obtained. The residual obtained is not
equal to zero as:
140
ôT 2
R2 = -:J(- kv T- Q(X,y)"* 0
3. The residual obtained in step 2 above is then minimized using the Galerkin
method to obtained Galerkin weighted residuals. This is achieved by requiring
that the integral of the weighted errors over the domain n must be zero, with the
shape functions Si being used as the weighing functions we obtain Galerkin
weighted residuals:
Now, the domain intergral can be expressed as
Jf(r,z}1n = JJJf(r,z}1Bdrdz
Q 8 r z
=21l JJrf(r,z}1rdz (A.5)

r z
where f(r,z) is any function which is independent of B
4. Applying Euation A.5 to Equation A.3 and A.4 and lower second derivatives by
using he Green's theorem (i.e. integration by parts) of the above Galerkin
weighted residual equations and expanding we get:
141
(A.7)
5. Having reduced the second derivative from the second to the first order , we
substitute into Equations A5 and A.6, the nodal values of moisture content X
and temperature r from Equations Al and A.2 and the genearized boundary
equations and the generalized Galerkin equations in matrix form are:
[Ml{X}+ [K]{X} = F (A.8)
[Ml{r} + [K]{r} = F (A9)
where the superposed dot denotes differential with respect to time, M is mass matrix, K
is the stiffness matrix and F is load vector matrix.
142
APPENDIX2
Material geometry input file used to redefine computation domain to the program
is attached
File name: material_geometry.GD
143
Material_geometry.GD
OGEOMETRY DATA:Transient heat and mass transfer in cylindricalsampl

es
ONumber of points, number of elements
13 2
OType of elem. [1-2], No. of Gauss points [2-3]
2 3
ONode No., coordinates
1 O.OOOOE+OO O.OOOOE+OO
2 O.OOOOE+OO 0.6350E-02
3 O.OOOOE+OO 0.1270E-01
4 0.3175E-02 O.OOOOE+OO
5 0.3175E-02 0.1270E-01
6 0.6350E-02 O.OOOOE+OO
7 0.6350E-02 0.6350E-02
8 0.6350E-02 0.1270E-01
9 0.9525E-02 O.OOOOE+OO
10 0.9525E-02 0.1270E-01
11 0.1270E-01 O.OOOOE+OO
12 0.1270E-01 0.6350E-02
13 0.1270E-01 0.1270E-01
OElement No., nodal connections
11467 8 5 3 2
2 6 9 11 12 13 10 8 7
OFlag for axisymmetric problems [0-2]
1
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MICROWAVE ASSISTED DRYING OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS:

MODELLING AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION

Department of Chemical Engineering

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate

©Essau C. M. Sanga, 2002

Acquisitions and Acquisitions et

The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conselVe la propriété du

Ph.D Department of Chemical Engineering

MICROWAVE ASSISTED DRYING OF COMPOSITE MATERiAL: MODELLING

Essau C.M Sanga

Le séchage assisté par micro-onde de matériaux composites: modélisation et

This thesis contains four manuscripts co-authored with my co-supervisors, Dr. A.

CHAPTER I: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER II: GENERAL LITERATURE REVIEW 6

CHAPTER III: GENERAL MATERIALS AND METHOD 51

3.1 Experimental Apparatus 51

CHAPTERIV: NUMERICALANALYSIS OF FLUID FLOW AND HEAT

CHAPTER V: SIMULATION OF MICROWAVE-CONVECTION DRYING

CONNECTING STATEMENT 107

CHAPTER VI: ANALYSIS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER UNDER

CONNECTING STATEMENT 121

CHAPTER VII: SURFACE COLOR, RE-HYDRATION AND SHRINKAGE

7.1. Introduction 122

CHAPTER VIII: GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS,

8.1 General Summary and Conc1usion 132

Table 2.1:Commonly used RF and MW frequencies designated by the International

Table 2.6: Advantages and disadvantages of different types of

Table 3.1: Estimated uncertainties for different measurements 59

Table 5.1. Parameter estimates of the model presented 87

Table 6.1: Material properties and dielectric properties ofpotato 110

Figure 2.1: Electromagnetic wave spectrum 7

Figure 2.4: Dielectric properties of Nylon 66 versus temperature at 3000 MHz 15

Figure 2.6: Schematic diagram of a) magnetron and b) Klystron 21

Figure 2.7: MIVAC® dryer configuration 28

Figure 2.8: MicroGas dryer configuration 29

Figure 2.9: Experimental set-up for RF heat pump-assisted dryer 31

Figure 2.11: Band type microwave dryer. 32

Figure 2.12: Microwave dryer for particulate materials 32

Figure 2.13: Microwave drying systems 33

Figure 2.14: Temperature profiles 36

Figure 2.18: Temperature ofnumerical simulation at various nodes ofZhang

Figure 4.1: Schematic diagram of computation domain in x-z plane 69

number (Re) = 2800 over three samples 78

Reynolds number (Re) = 5600 over three samples 78

Figure 5.3: Predicted moisture distribution of carrot samples on horizontal

Figure 5.4: Predicted moisture distribution for a special case of carrot

Figure 5.5: Predicted moisture distribution of carrot samples on horizontal

Figure 5.10: Predicted temperature profiles for a special case of carrot

Figure 5.11: Predicted temperature distributions along a radius on the horizontal

Figure 5.14: Predicted temperature distributions along a radius on the horizontal

Figure 5.17: Predicted temperature distributions along a radius on the horizontal

Figure 6.7: Comparison ofnumerical and experimental temperatures during

Figure 7.2: Rehydration capacity behavior of carrot samples dried at microwave

Figure 7.3: Shrinkage of carrot samples dried at microwave power density of

Cp specifie heat [ k:K]

Do diffusion coefficient at X = 0 and temperature T = T r (m2/s)

h local heat transfer coefficient [~]

H height of cylindrical sample [ml

H re height ofrectangular cavity [ml

k thermal conductivity [~]

ms mass of dry solid in the sample (kg)

P non-dimensional pressure [-"-]