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.