Recent R&D on drying technology in Japan

This article presents the outlook of the energy situation in Japan and reviews the recent R&D on innovative drying technologies performed in Japan. The overview of drying includes fundamentals as well as industrial technologies. The topics considered are drying characteristics of several materials, drying of hard-to-handle powders, drying of coatings, drying-induced strain-stress problems, drying modeling, and drying of agricultural wastes for functional recycling and noble dryers. An appropriate combination of heating methods and dryer type can result in significant enhancement of efficiency, drying rate, and/or material quality. The final goal of this article to contribute to providing an idea for development and evaluation of precise drying systems with a high performance and an effect of energy saving in drying.