AN ANALYTICAL SOLUTION AND SENSITIVITY STUDY OF SUBLIMATION-DEHYDRATION WITHIN A POROUS-MEDIUM WITH VOLUMETRIC HEATING

A study of sublimation-dehydration within a porous medium as a result of volumetric heating, such as that associated with microwave heating, is presented in this paper. A semi-infinite frozen porous medium with constant thermal properties subject to a sublimation-dehydration proc ess involving a volumetric heat source is considered. One-dimensional analytical solutions for dimensionless temperature, vapor concentratio n, and pressure were obtained. A sensitivity study was also conducted in which the effects of the material properties inherent in these solu tions were analyzed. Finally, some of the assumptions used in the form ulation of the problem were analyzed, and predicted drying curves were found to compare reasonably with previously published experimental re sults.