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Microwave drying kinetics of jack pine wood: determination of phytosanitary efficacy, energy consumption, and mechanical properties

European Journal of Wood and Wood Products volume 76, pages 1101–1111 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

The aims of this study were to determine (1) the effects of microwave irradiation on the drying kinetics of jack pine wood, (2) the phytosanitary efficacy, and (3) the processing energy consumption and mechanical strength of the dried product. Microwave drying experiments were performed at 2.45 GHz frequency and at microwave powers ranging from 300 to 1000 W. Results indicate that higher microwave power and initial wood temperature and lower sample thickness increases the internal sample temperature, improves the drying rate, and reduces both drying time and energy consumption. The microwave irradiation efficacy to sanitize jack pine wood boards was determined in terms of temperature/time combinations based on actual drying kinetics according to standards for phytosanitary measures. The energy required to dry 12 mm thick wood board samples at microwave power ranging from 300 to 1000 W was in the range of 36.4–12.3 MJ/kg of water, respectively, for up to 65% energy consumption savings. The impact of microwave power on the mechanical properties was not statistically significant, although mechanical properties tended to decrease with increasing power.

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Acknowledgements

Our thanks go to Gilles Villeneuve at the University of Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue for his technical assistance and help in carrying out the experiments. Thanks to Margaret McKyes for linguistic editing.

Funding

The first author acknowledges financial support from the Tunisian government and the Canada Research Chair for Wood Assessment, Development and Processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Energétique et des Transferts Thermiques et Massique, Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Campus Universitaire 2092, El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia

    Sahbi Ouertani, Soufien Azzouz, Rim Bahar, Lamine Hassini & Ali Belghith

  2. Chaire de Recherche du Canada en Valorisation, Caractérisation et Transformation du bois, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada

    Ahmed Koubaa

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  1. Sahbi Ouertani
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Correspondence to Sahbi Ouertani.

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Ouertani, S., Koubaa, A., Azzouz, S. et al. Microwave drying kinetics of jack pine wood: determination of phytosanitary efficacy, energy consumption, and mechanical properties. Eur. J. Wood Prod. 76, 1101–1111 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-018-1316-x

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