DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF HEAT-PUMP DRYERS TO THE AUSTRALIAN FOOD-INDUSTRY

Heat pumps have been used extensively by industry for many years. Howe ver, their application to process drying and in particular to drying f ood products has been limited. A heat pump dryer offers many advantage s when compared to conventional hot air dryers including greater energ y efficiency, better quality retention, and the ability to operate ind ependently of ambient conditions. This paper describes the operation o f heat pump dryers and discusses their advantages and disadvantages, a s well as indicating some of the current commercial applications of th e technology.