HEAT-PUMP DEHUMIDIFIER DRYING OF FOOD

Although heat pumps have been used extensively in industry for many ye ars, their use for drying, especially foods, has been limited. This ar ticle reviews the potential of heat pump dehumidifier (HPD) dryers for use in food drying. HPD dryers offer several advantages over conventi onal hot-air dryers for the drying of food products, including higher energy efficiency, better product quality, and the ability to operate independently of outside ambient weather conditions. In addition, this technology is environmentally friendly in that gases and fumes are no t given off into the atmosphere. The condensate can be recovered and d isposed of in an appropriate manner, and there is also the potential t o recover valuable volatiles from the condensate.