Modeling the influences of pressure and velocity variations on the microwave‐induced pyrolysis of wood

Abstract

A detailed two-dimensional mathematical model is studied for the unsteady heat-and mass-transfer equations coupled with a quasi-steady formulation of the electromagnetic field for the microwave-induced pyrolysis of a wood block. The aspects examined include the description of the flow field based on either the assumption of constant pressure and one-dimensional flow velocity directed along the wood fibers or the linked twodimensional variation of pressure and velocity in accordance with the Darcy law and deviations from the assumptions of local thermal equilibrium between the solid and gas/ vapor phase.