Solar assisted heat pump drying system: Concept,method and potential benefits

Drying is an essential operation in chemical, agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals, and pulp paper, mineral and wood processing industries.However, drying is a highly energy intensive process.In most cases involving agriculture and food products these conditions are largely fulfilled by solar drying particularly in developing countries since the source of energy is free and renewable. The intermittent nature of solar radiation is one of the main drawbacks. Therefore, heat pump would be an attractive option to overcome the difficulties of the solar drying system. However, increased capital cost,regular maintenance of components are limitations of heat pump drying system. Therefore, this book provides a new technique of solar assisted heat pump drying system. A detailed experimental result on the system performance and comparison with simulation results is also presented. This book is useful for academics and industry personnel working in the area of solar dehydration processes. It should also be helpful to professionals in industry or anyone who are associated with preservation methods to implement new ideas for processing of high quality products with minimum energy consumptions.