Effects of Component Arrangement and Ambient and Drying Conditions on the Performance of Heat Pump Dryers

Abstract Performances of five heat pump dryer (HPD) configurations were studied by computer simulation. The component arrangement covers the fully open, the partially open, and the fully closed systems with external condenser or external cooler. The HPD performance was investigated for high and low drying rate and within the ambient temperature range of 20°C to 40°C. The best operating mode of the HPD depends on both drying rate and ambient condition. For the case of tropical climate and high drying rate, the partially open system is the optimum operating mode in general, except at some particular conditions where the fully open and fully closed systems are recommended. However, the operation for the low drying rate is more complicated, as the optimum configuration is sensitive to the change of ambient temperature.