Considering the same microwave power level and thickness of the wood sample, it is observed that the temperature is highest at z¼15 mm. This may be due to the optimum balanced between microwave supplied energy and the hot air convective side. This point is very interesting for future research on the combined microwave and hot air drying process. In the early stages of drying, the large moisture content while corresponds to a higher dielectric loss factor. A majority of the microwave can be absorbed within the wood sample as shown in Fig. 9. As the drying process proceeds, the microwave power absorption would eventually decrease due to the characteristics of the moisture profile as shown in Fig. 7.