Research Article Open Access

Drying Parawood with Superheated Steam

Surachai Bovornsethanan and Somchai Wongwises

Abstract

A superheated steam dryer (SSD) was used to dry the parawood. The average moisture content and temperatures in the dryer vs. elapsed drying time were experimentally investigated. It was found that the superheated steam could increase the potential of the conventional hot air drying. By using a SSD at the superheated steam temperature of 110°C with volumetric flow rate of 125 m3 minˉ1 for parawood's thickness of about 30 mm, the moisture content of the parawood could be reduced from 40% (d.b.) to about 9.75% (d.b.) within 35 hrs while the conventional hot air dryer required the drying time of approximately 8-16 days. The physical structure of the parawood was also investigated by a prong test. The quality of dried parawood was not found to be different from those dried with the hot air drying method.

American Journal of Applied Sciences
Volume 4 No. 4, 2007, 215-219

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2007.215.219

Submitted On: 22 January 2007 Published On: 30 April 2007

How to Cite: Bovornsethanan, S. & Wongwises, S. (2007). Drying Parawood with Superheated Steam. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 4(4), 215-219. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2007.215.219

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Keywords

  • Superheated steam drying
  • parawood