Heat and Mass Transfer Equations for Drying by the Volumetric Absorption of Electromagnetic Energy

摘要

The performance of a dryer can be found, in principle, by solving the heat and mass transfer equations for the wet material and the surrounding air stream. For conventional drying methods it is seldom possible to find the drying characteristics in such a way because the equations are complicated and require an extensive knowledge of the physical properties of the wet solid. Instead, small scale experimental tests are used in conjunction with an appropriate drying model. This memorandum investigates the extent to which the drying characteristics of a radio frequency or microwave dryer can be obtained from the basic transport equations. This leads to an examination of the usefulness of small scale tests in determining drying characteristics and the performance of a full scale dryer.