Tests with demoulding and drying were carried out using several shapes of turned and cast products in both black and white clay. After turning and casting the moulded products were dried at a relatively high capacity in the microwave oven for a few minutes. After being taken out of the mould, the still moist clay products were returned to the oven for further drying. Table 1 shows the results. From the figures it is clear that demoulding times are drastically reduced.
Energy consumption is reduced for demoulding turned products.
The drying times of the clay products are also reduced from 48 hours to approx. The drying initially took between 120 and 139 minutes. As these tests were passed successfully, it was decided to increase the microwave power, cutting the drying time in half, down to around 60 minutes. Figure 1 shows a graph of the moisture content and temperature trend of a double-walled dish during the drying tests. The results show that dielectric drying can yield a considerable gain in time, by a factor of two or more.