Influence of intermittent and continuous microwave heating on drying kinetics and wood behavior of Eucalyptus Gomphocephala

Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the microwave drying kinetics of Eucalyptus Gomphocephala wood and to investigate the influence of intermittent and continuous heating processes on the end quality of dreid samples. The average moisture content evolution and temperature of wood samples under different microwave powers were analyzed in terms of drying time and internal temperature level. Results show that the increase of microwave power level decreses the drying time and increases the internal wood temperature. Based on qualitative observations on the state of dried samples, the intermittent microwave powers intensity process present the optimal processing parameter in microwave drying of Eucalyptus wood species.Keywords: microwave drying; power; intermittent; continuous; Eucalyptus wood.