Abstract
Drying of wood has become one of the most important aspects in modern wood industry scenario as it improves the quality of wood by many folds. Different methods have been tried to dry wood. Microwave drying is one of the most efficient methods of drying materials. In this study, drying behaviour of silver oak wood (Grevillea robusta) planks using a 2.4 kW intensity microwave dryer is presented. Effect of microwave time, auxiliary heating, plank thickness is studied to assess drying rate and any defects arising due to microwave heating. The amount of water lost increased linearly with microwave exposure time. On an average, moisture loss rate was about 13 g/min at 2 kW microwave power. There was no significant effect of initial moisture content on moisture loss rate from wood. Auxiliary heating was found to aid in accelerating drying rate however it also contributed substantially in energy consumption during drying. Thicker sections of wood exhibited slightly slower drying than thinner sections. Wood exposed to microwave for different period did not exhibit any remarkable difference in their subsequent air-drying rate.
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