Drying Kinetics and Energy Consumption in Vacuum Drying Process with Microwave and Radiant Heating

The general objective of this work is to analyze energy input in a vacuum process with the incorporation of microwave heating. Thus, necessary criteria for designing an efficient freeze-drying operation are considered through the analysis of strategies based on the combination of different intensities of radiant and microwave heating.The other aim of this research topic is to study the kinetics of drying in relation to mass transfer parameters.Five freeze-drying strategies using both heating systems were used. Consequently, energy input could be related to diffusivity coefficients, temperature and pressure profiles during dehydration of the product and analyzed in comparison to a conventional freeze-drying process.

Microwave vacuum drying characteristics of Pinus massoniana wood

Microwave-vacuum （MV） drying characteristics of plantation Masson pine （Pinus massoniana） were studied experimentally for various levels of microwave radiation time, initial moisture content 0VIC）, vacuum level and wood thickness. The results show that the process of MV drying for wood can be significantly divided into a short accelerating rate drying period, a long constant rate drying period and falling rate drying period, and the second drying period can extend to levels of mean MC below the fiber saturation point. With the increase of initial MC and microwave radiation time, the drying rate of wood increases significantly. The vacuum level affects the drying rate in a slightly positive way. Within the range of 2 to 6 cm, the effects of sample thickness on the drying rate can be negligible.

Effect of microwave-vacuum drying(MVD)method on quality properties of agro-products

Microwave-vacuum drying is an accepted drying method for agro-products, which is nonetheless still relatively unknown to some. This paper attempted to give an overview of the most important aspects of microwaves-vacuum drying （MVD） and their relevance to agro-products processing. Some advantages on microwave-vacuum drying properties were discussed to provide a better insight into the reasons for the use of microwaves. Also the effects of the MVD on the quality of several agro-products and reasonable processing parameters were given, which develop the guidance to the application of MVD on the agro-products dehydration. As a potential drying technology, MVD will be broadly utilized for the other agro-products processing

A valid evaluation method for UPLC fingerprint analysis and moisture ratio prediction model:application to microwave vacuum drying of Radix isatidis extract

Background:Drying is a necessary component of traditional Chinese medicine extracts.The heating principle of microwave vacuum drying is different from that of the conventional heat method.However,at present,there is paucity of information on the drying process of traditional Chinese medicine extract by microwave vacuum drying,and the results of such process are unclear.Methods:To study the dynamic changes in the chemical characteristics of microwave vacuum drying under different drying conditions,ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint profiles were established using Radix isatidis extract as a model drug and analyzed using similarity analysis,partial least squares-discriminant analysis,and semi-quantitative analysis.In addition,a backpropagation artificial neural network model was developed to predict the moisture ratio of the drying process.Results:Qualitative results showed that the similarity between different drying conditions was greater than 0.95,and 2 amino acid components(peaks 5 and 6)affected by process fluctuations were screened out.The quantitative results showed that the mass concentration of component 1 fluctuated after drying,while that of component 2 increased.The optimal backpropagation artificial neural network model structure used to predict the moisture ratio was 5-4-1,with regression and mean squared error values of 0.996 and 0.0003,respectively,after training,which were well fitted and had a strong approximation ability.Conclusion:Upon comparison of fingerprints and the evaluation of statistical methods,common components of Radix isatidis extract had little variation under different drying conditions,and the selected components provided a reference for the establishment of process evaluation indexes.The establishment of backpropagation artificial neural network provides a theoretical basis for the application of microwave vacuum drying technology and online monitoring of moisture ratio.

Microwave drying characteristics and kinetics of ilmenite

The microwave drying of ilmenite was investigated.The effects of power levels and sample mass on drying characteristics of moisture content,drying rate,moisture ratio were studied,with microwave power ranging from 119 W to 700 W and sample mass from 5 g to 25 g.The drying processes were completed within 2-8 min at different conditions.The moisture content and drying rates are found to be dramatically affected by microwave power density.For all drying processes the prior microwave absorption of moisture produces an accelerating peak on the drying rate curves in the initial stage.For the sample mass of 25 g and power of 385 W,the drying kinetics were studied.The experimental results fit better to the Henderson-Pabis index model rather than the Page＇s semi-empirical model;the drying rate constant k is increased with the increase of microwave power and decrease of sample mass.

Structural and functional properties of hydrolyzed/glycosylated ovalbumin under spray drying and microwave freeze drying

Ovalbumin(OVA),the main protein in egg white,affects most of the functional properties of egg white protein in food processing.The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of spray drying(SD)and microwave freeze drying(MFD)on the preparation of hydrolyzed/glycosylated ovalbumin(HGOVA)and provide useful information on the applications of egg protein powders in the food industry.Results demonstrated that the structure of HGOVA was considerably changed,and its functional properties were improved compared with those of native OVA.SD and MFD processing did not lead to dissociation of HGOVA subunits.SD-HGOVA exhibited higher protein solubility,emulsifying activity,foaming capacities,and gel hardness than MFD-HGOVA.However,MFD-HGOVA was better than the SD-HGOVA in terms of color,emulsion stability,foam stability,water/oil absorption capacity,and thermal stability.Selection of an appropriate drying method could enhance the potential applications of HGOVA in the food industry.

Self-adaptive PID controller of microwave drying rotary device tuning on-line by genetic algorithms

The control design, based on self-adaptive PID with genetic algorithms(GA) tuning on-line was investigated, for the temperature control of industrial microwave drying rotary device with the multi-layer(IMDRDWM) and with multivariable nonlinear interaction of microwave and materials. The conventional PID control strategy incorporated with optimization GA was put forward to maintain the optimum drying temperature in order to keep the moisture content below 1%, whose adaptation ability included the cost function of optimization GA according to the output change. Simulations on five different industrial process models and practical temperature process control system for selenium-enriched slag drying intensively by using IMDRDWM were carried out systematically, indicating the reliability and effectiveness of control design. The parameters of proposed control design are all on-line implemented without iterative predictive calculations, and the closed-loop system stability is guaranteed, which makes the developed scheme simpler in its synthesis and application, providing the practical guidelines for the control implementation and the parameter design.

Optimization of processing parameters for microwave drying of selenium-rich slag using incremental improved back-propagation neural network and response surface methodology

In the non-linear microwave drying process, the incremental improved back-propagation （BP） neural network and response surface methodology （RSM） were used to build a predictive model of the combined effects of independent variables （the microwave power, the acting time and the rotational frequency） for microwave drying of selenium-rich slag. The optimum operating conditions obtained from the quadratic form of the RSM are： the microwave power of 14.97 kW, the acting time of 89.58 min, the rotational frequency of 10.94 Hz, and the temperature of 136.407 ℃. The relative dehydration rate of 97.1895% is obtained. Under the optimum operating conditions, the incremental improved BP neural network prediction model can predict the drying process results and different effects on the results of the independent variables. The verification experiments demonstrate the prediction accuracy of the network, and the mean squared error is 0.16. The optimized results indicate that RSM can optimize the experimental conditions within much more broad range by considering the combination of factors and the neural network model can predict the results effectively and provide the theoretical guidance for the follow-up production process.

Temperature Simulation of Berry Slices Under Microwave Vacuum Puffing Conditions

In order to study the temperature simulation of berry slices in microwave vacuum puffing process, numerical simulation method was used to simulate the temperature in different time according to theoretical calculation result and the deviation had been verificated throughout the experiment. The better uniform of temperature between experiment and simulation could be concluded except in the period of rapid temperature increase. The temperature reached the high point of 130.25℃ in the middle point of slices at 100 s, while the temperature was over 50℃ in external parts of slices for the reason of thermal diffusion. Conclusions could be drawn that the model was effective and numerical analysis could simulate the temperature simulation for berry leather in microwave vacuum puffing process.

Process Parameter Study on Microwave-assisted Foam-mat Drying Properties of Corn Soaking Water

In order to study the microwave-assisted foam-mat drying properties of corn soaking water and optimize process parameters, a quadratic regression orthogonal rotary method was used to analyze the influence of microwave power, material weight, material thickness and drying time on moisture content（dry basis）, color value and protein content. Results showed that the primary and secondary sequence of parameters with regard to moisture content（d. b.） was drying time, microwave power, material weight and material thickness; the primary and secondary sequence of parameters with regard to color value was material weight, drying time, microwave power and material thickness; the primary and secondary sequence of parameters with regard to protein content was drying time, material weight, microwave power and material thickness. Optimum conditions were obtained as microwave power of 560 W, material weight of 46.88 g, material thickness of 6.20 mm and drying time of 8.01 min. The results might provide the theoretical basis and technical support for the microwave-assisted foam-mat drying of corn soaking water to produce yeast protein power.

Cassava slices drying by using a combined hot-air single-plane microwave dryer

Characteristics of cassava drying were investigated by using a microwave hot-air drying system. Two waveguides were installed on a single plane of the microwave cavity. The drying experiments were carried out at two levels of sample surface temperature set-points, 70℃ and 80℃respectively. Cassava (Rayong-9) with 2.5 kg weight and 61% moisture content on wet basis was dried in the dryer for about 300 - 340 minutes until the final values of moisture content of about 20% db were achieved. It was found that the drying time decreased with an increase in sample-surface temperature set point. Approximately 87% of the moisture was removed during the drying period. It was found that there was a rapid decrease in moisture ratio values followed by the gradual decline period in all experiments. With regard to drying kinetics, 5 commonly used mathematical models were examined with the experimental data. It was found that Page’s and diffusion models provided a good agreement between the experimental and predicted moisture ratio values for all temperature set-points. The regression results indicated that highest values of coefficient of determination and adjusted coefficient of determination as well as lowest value of standard error of estimation were reported for the case of Page’s model at 80℃?temperature set-point.

Experimental Investigation on Simultaneous Dry Blanching and Drying of Mushroom Slices Using Microwave Enhanced Hot Air Heating System

The study evaluated the feasibility of using microwave enhanced hot air heating system for simultaneous dry blanching and dehydration of mushroom slices. The technology involves application of microwave energy at the beginning of dehydration process to inactivate enzymes as well as to remove a certain amount of moisture at the same time and then followed by hot air drying to complete the process. The study investigated effects of different processing parameters, i.e., microwave power level and exposure time on dehydration and quality characteristics of mushroom slices. Mushroom slices were pretreated with different microwave power levels of 240, 360 and 480 W for 1, 3 and 5 min before the hot air-drying. The optimum range of the microwave power level and pretreatment time was found to be 360 W, 3 min and 360 W, 1 min in obtaining the maximum and minimum levels of response parameters.

Optimization of Process Parameters of Continuous Microwave Drying Raspberry Puree Based on RSM and ANN-GA

To improve drying uniformity and anthocyanin content of the raspberry puree dried in a continuous microwave dryer,the effects of process parameters(microwave intensity,air velocity,and drying time)on evaluation indexes(average temperature,average moisture content,average retention rate of the total anthocyanin content,temperature contrast value,and moisture dispersion value)were investigated via the response surface method(RSM)and the artificial neural network(ANN)with genetic algorithm(GA).The results showed that the microwave intensity and drying time dominated the changes of evaluation indexes.Overall,the ANN model was superior to the RSM model with better estimation ability,and higher drying uniformity and anthocyanin retention rate were achieved for the ANN-GA model compared with RSM.The optimal parameters were microwave intensity of 5.53 W•g^(-1),air velocity of 1.22 m·s^(-1),and drying time of 5.85 min.This study might provide guidance for process optimization of microwave drying berry fruits.

Drying Characteristics of Microwave-assisted Foam Drying of Corn Soaking Water

To improve the industrial utilization of corn soaking water, the yeast protein powder was produced by microwave-assisted foam drying. Firstly, preparation experiments were carded out, which included the foaming characteristic experiments of fermentation broth and that about the effects of carbon and nitrogen ratio on solid content in the fermentation broth. Secondly, the drying characteristics experiment of corn soaking water was studied, which selected the microwave power, material amount and thickness as the influencing factors for the single experiment. The results showed that the final moisture content （d.b.） and drying rate were significantly affected by those factors.

Microwave Drying of Scots Pine Lumber:Structure Changes,Its Effect on Liquid Permeability

Microwave(MW)drying method was adopted to enhance the liquid permeability of Scots pine lumber.Structure changes were characterized by stereoscope microscope,scanned electron microscope(SEM)and transmission electron microscope(TEM)examination.Pore parameters before and after MW treatment were detected by mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)method,and the effect of structure changes on liquid permeability were analyzed.As stereoscope microscope,SEM and TEM examination results showed,macro and micro checks mainly developed at intercellcular of tracheids,intercellular of ray parenchyma and tracheid,while these checks extend main along the radial-longitudinal plane.Pit border destruction,aspirated pits’orus translocation and micro-checks in tracheid cell wall were also observed.MIP test shown that pore volume and pore area increased as macro and micro checks generated to form new cavities.Microstructure changes would increase the quantity of pores or enlarge the pore diameter.Liquid flow pathways increased as macro and micro checks generated,aspirated pits reopened to form new pathways;liquid flow efficiency improved as porosity,pore volume and pore diameter increased which facilitated the liquid flow.

Microwave Sintering of W-15Cu Ultrafine Composite Powder Prepared by Spray Drying & Calcining-continuous Reduction Technology

The effects of microwave sintering and conventional H2 sintering on the microstructure and properties of W-15Cu alloy using ultrafine W-15Cu composite powder fabricated by spray drying ＆ calcining-continuous reduction technology were investigated. In comparison to the conventional HE sintering processing, microwave sintering to W-15Cu can be achieved at lower sintering temperature and shorter sintering time. Furthermore, higher performances in microwave sintered compacts were obtained, but high microwave sintering temperature or long microwave sintering time could result in coarser microstructures.

Convective and Microwave Drying Characteristics of Dill Leaves （Anethum graveolens L.）

In this research, convective and microwave drying characteristics, energy requirement and color changes of dill leaves （Anethum graveolens L.） were reported. Dill leaves were dehydrated in a computer connected parallel air flow type dryer and in a microwave oven dryer. Samples of freshly harvested dill leaves were dehydrated under three air temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 ℃, and at three microwave power levels of PL-1 （90 W）, PL-2 （160 W） and PL-3 （350 W）. Selected drying air velocity was 0.30 m/s for all temperatures. Dill leaves were dehydrated from the initial moisture content of 735 （percentage dry basis） to a final moisture content of 8%-10%. During convective drying experiment, products were weighted automatically by the balance per 5-10 min. Data were transferred to the computer and processed by software. During microwave drying, the products were weighted, and data were recorded manually per 15-60 min. The influence of drying method, drying air temperature and microwave power level has also been studied. Hunter L, a, b values system was also used to evaluate changes in total color difference （AE） on dried products. The results showed that convective drying air temperature and microwave oven power levels influenced the total drying time, total energy requirement, specific energy requirement and color difference for dill leaves. The minimum specific energy requirement was determined as 10.72 kWh/kg and 18.72 kWh/kg for 70 ℃ and PL-3, respectively. 70℃ drying air temperature and PL-3 were found to yield better quality product in terms of color retention of Hunter L, a, b and AE. As a result, to reduce drying energy consumption and to keep better color retention, convective drying can be recommended for this application.

Microwave Dried Carrot Pomace as a Source of Fiber and Carotenoids

Carrot pomace is a major by-product obtained during the industrial juice extraction process, which is discarded contributing to environmental pollution. This residue is rich in fiber, and contains high amounts of carotenoids and phenolic compounds that could contribute to its application as functional ingredient, improving the quality of foods and helping to reduce the environmental problem. In this study, carrot pomace powders obtained by microwave or hot air drying were incorporated into cookies in order to improve their phytochemical content. Cookies were prepared using a traditional cookie recipe substituting 30% of the wheat flour for either of the carrot pomace powders. Fiber, carotenoids and phenolic compounds were determined;image analysis and acceptability of the cookies were also conducted. The substitution of 30% of wheat flour for carrot pomace powders increased 3.7 fold the total dietary fiber of cookies, from 7.13 g/100gto26.44 g/100g;accounting the 7.4% of fiber daily intake with the consumption of one cookie (7 g). A similar pattern was found in the content of carotenoids and phenolic compounds. Carrot pomace dried with microwaves had the highest amount of these bioactive compounds. β-carotene, epicatechin, gallic and ferulic acids were identified in cookies with microwave carrot pomace powder. The cookies incorporated with carrot pomace powders exhibited improved antioxidant properties because of the increase in the phytochemical content. Acceptable cookies with appealing orange color were obtained. The results indicated that the replacement of wheat flour for carrot pomace powders yielded dietary fiber enriched cookies with improved carotenoid content.

Microwave Drying of Flax Fibre at Controlled Temperatures

Drying is essential for the production of fibre after retting process. Flax fibre was subjected to microwave drying at controlled temperatures to study the change in drying rate and qualities. The rate of drying was then compared with conventional hot air drying. The product temperature was maintained at 40 ℃, 60 ℃or 80 ℃ for both microwave and hot air drying. The initial moisture content of flax fibre was about 60% （wet basis）. The microwave drying was conducted in a microwave apparatus which recorded mass, product temperature, incident microwave power, reflected microwave power and inlet/outlet air temperature. The final moisture content was set to 9% （wet basis）. Microwave-convective drying ensured about 30% to 70% reduction of drying time for drying flax fibre as compared to hot air drying. Curve fitting with different mathematical models were carried out. While a significant difference in colorimeter-assessed co/our existed between microwave-convective dried flax fibre and hot air dried flax fibre. The tensile strength of flax fibre, measured with an Instron apparatus, increased with an increase in the processing temperature of both processes. Hot air dried flax fibre showed the greatest tensile strength and modulus of elasticity at processing temperatures of 60 ℃ and 80 ℃.

Kinetic Study of Color Changes of Tomato Purees with Microwave and Conventional Drying

Kinetics of color change in tomato purees dried using microwave and conventional method were investigated. For this purpose, the color parameters of Hunter L,a,b and browning index （A42o）, and estimated values of chroma, hue angle, AE, Hunter a/b and a ~ b were examined. The changes in color of tomato samples followed both zero and first order kinetic models to describe visual color changes, and ＆E parameters followed first order kinetic. It was concluded that Hunter axb parameters can be used adequately to follow up the color change of tomato samples during the drying.