Kevin Parrott (Greenwich. UK)

Heat and mass transfer in a partially saturated two-phase porous material under intensive microwave heating

Abstract

Computational results for the microwave heating of a porous material will be presented. Finite difference time domain and finite volume methods have been combined to solve equations that describe the electromagnetic field and heat and mass transfer in porous media. The coupling between the two schemes is through the temperature and moisture content dielectric properties and the microwave heating source term. The model was able to reflect the evolution of both temperature and moisture fields as well as increased energy penetration as the moisture in the porous medium evaporated. Internal pressure gradients generated by the combination of internal heating and phase change led to moisture pumping within the porous medium.