Drying Technology

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Influence of environmental conditions on drying

efficiency and heat pump performance in closed
and open loop drying of paddy

Khurram Yousaf, Haolu Liu, Xu Gao, Chao Liu, Adnan Abbas, Innocent
Nyalala, Muhammad Ahmad, Muhammad Ameen & Kunjie Chen

To cite this article: Khurram Yousaf, Haolu Liu, Xu Gao, Chao Liu, Adnan Abbas, Innocent
Nyalala, Muhammad Ahmad, Muhammad Ameen & Kunjie Chen (2020) Influence
of environmental conditions on drying efficiency and heat pump performance in
closed and open loop drying of paddy, Drying Technology, 38:16, 2217-2230, DOI:
10.1080/07373937.2019.1691011

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2019.1691011

Published online: 23 Nov 2019.

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DRYING TECHNOLOGY
2020, VOL. 38, NO. 16, 2217–2230
https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2019.1691011

Influence of environmental conditions on drying efficiency and heat

pump performance in closed and open loop drying of paddy
Khurram Yousafa, Haolu Liua, Xu Gaoa, Chao Liua, Adnan Abbasb, Innocent Nyalalaa , Muhammad
Ahmadc,d, Muhammad Ameena, and Kunjie Chena
a
College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; bCollege of Engineering, China Agricultural
University, Beijing, China; cDepartment of Structural and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan;
d
Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The concern of cumulative demand of parboiled paddy dryings signposts the requirement of Received 17 April 2019
more optimized and mechanized processing. The study was conducted to fulfill the require- Revised 4 November 2019
ments of an efficient heat pump (HP) dryer unit for paddy drying in subtropical monsoon cli- Accepted 5 November 2019
mate region of China, by utilizing the different hot air circulation methods and environmental
KEYWORDS
conditions in the winter season. Therefore, a newly designed HP drying test bench enhanced Coefficient of performance;
with a series of heat pumps was employed for parboiled paddy drying of different varieties drying; heat pump;
and sample loads. The drying efficiency and performance of HP was assessed in terms of spe- optimization; specific
cific moisture evaporation rate (SMER), moisture evaporation rate (MER), and coefficient of per- moisture evaporation
formance (COP) in closed and open-loop cycles. The closed and open-loop cycles hot air
dryings were employed with the temperature and velocity ranges of 50–60˚C and 2–3 m/s,
respectively. Furthermore, SMER and MER for both varieties and COP in closed and open loops
were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The findings of the study revealed
the dependency of SMER and MER on the temperature and velocity, as minimum SMER and
MER were witnessed at 47.93˚C and 2.5 m/s, while COP in closed loop (2.211) was higher than
that of the open cycle (1.409) due to the entrance of a significant amount of ambient air into
the designed system during each cycle. Moreover, the intended parameters were optimized
by exploiting RSM and were as follows: 60˚C (drying temperature), 2.76 m/s (air velocity), 0.321
(SMER1), 1.318 (SMER2), 0.208 (OSMER1), 0.865 kg/kWh (OSMER2), 0.202 (MER1), 0.796 (MER2),
0.180 (OMER1), 0.689 kg/h (OMER2), 2.211 (COP-closed), and 1.409 (COP-open). We further per-
ceived that the temperature has more effect on the drying efficiency compared to air velocity
as performance indicators were found to be increased by lofting the temperature profiles. The
confidence of interval was observed significant (5%) as we equated the optimized values with
experimental values, that particularly offerings our study a valuable to achieve a high quality
of parboiled paddy.

1. Introduction
Parboiled paddy is becoming a vital food source all the main obstacles that are still demanding more
over the world due to its pleasant taste, low prices, resilient and enhanced mechanization.
and high nutritional values. However, the production A large amount of energy necessitated to eliminate
and processing of parboiled paddy appeared very chal- water from food products and deliberately enhance its
lengeable to industries due to the unavailability of shelf life, taste, and quality. Previously, many
optimum, low cost, and compact mechanization. A approaches were used for dehydration, but most of
questionable concern toward scientific community them utilized a high amount of energy and time that
and engineering society to design prime and auto- ultimately increased the processing, capital cost, and
matic machines for the best merchandise paddy, but poor food quality.[1,2] Despite the high-energy require-
many inevitable impacts (e.g., high influence of envir- ment, as input, mechanical drying is one of the pre-
onmental factors, low quality of parboiled paddy, its ferred and fastest ways in dehydration, but it
high processing cost, high-energy consumption) were ultimately increased the product cost. Keeping in

CONTACT Kunjie Chen [email protected]; Khurram Yousaf [email protected] College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural
University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210031, P.R. China.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/ldrt.
ß 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2218 K. YOUSAF ET AL.

mind these challenges, mechanical drying systems can inlet temperature, HP gained 4.56 kWh energy by con-
be re-designed and modified by considering the suming 3.164 kWh input energy with a relatively high
energy as a key factor (e.g., by determining the effi- coefficient of performance 3.94.[12] Alishah et al.[13]
ciency and performance of the whole system). designed the solar-assisted HP dryer prototype and uti-
Integration of mechanical drying into novel designs lized for coriander drying in two different modes (with
such as the HP drying system is the best option, and and without HP), and revealed that in both modes, air
attracting the high intention of the scientific commu- velocity and temperature affected the drying time in the
nity, agricultural, and food engineers because of its same manner. However, at the same velocity, HP
energy-saving capabilities and tendencies to convert decreased drying time down to 40%, and at the same
low-grade heat to high-grade heat.[3–5] In the HP dry- temperature, it dropped down to 20%. The study
ing system, condensed moisture separated from air showed that COP of HP and the overall system
resulted in low-temperature and dry air-producing increased with air velocity and temperature. Wang
good-quality products.[6] et al.[14] compared the HP and solar-assisted HP drying
Saensabai and Prasertsan[7] proposed the best oper- modes for mango drying and reported the COP (3.48
ating modes of HP dryers, and the study was con- and 3.69) of both modes, respectively. According to
ducted on five HP dryers with the ambient their study, solar-assisted drying mode was 6% more
temperature range of 20–40˚C by computer simula- efficient as compared to HP drying mode and that
tion. Moreover, for the high drying rate, the optimum could be used to save power consumption. Yahya
recommended mode is a partially open system in the et al.[15] reduced the MC of rice from 27.72% to 14%
tropical climate. Gan et al.[8] studied the drying kinet- (w.b.) using a solar-assisted HP fluidized bed dryer
ics of Misai Kucing leaves, flowers, and stem using assisted with biomass furnace, and the SMER and COP
solar-assisted HP and solar drying, and the rate of of HP varied between 0.13–0.40 kg/kWh and 3.3-4.1,
drying was higher in solar-assisted HP drying as com- respectively. No doubt, heat pump dryers combined
pared to solar drying. It revealed that air velocity and with solar energy have the advantage of low power con-
relative humidity have a significant effect on the dry- sumption; however, these systems showed some disad-
ing rate in the initial and final stages of drying. vantages such as improper drying during cloudy
Generally, vapor compression HP’s are used for low- climate, in rainy days, and as well as drying at night.
temperature food drying with the wide application as The agricultural products dried using the HP dryer
it absorbs heat from the specific environment and have better color and aroma qualities as compared to
driven through gas compressors. In the following sys- dried by conventional dryer.[16]
tem, refrigerant condensing process released heat at The optimal condition for horse mackerel was
the relatively lower temperature, whereas the absorp- determined by response surface methodology in HP
tion HP driven by external heat source could be used dehumidifier and reported as drying air temperature
where high temperature is desired. A new system of 30˚C, air velocity 1.5 m/s, and sodium chloride con-
the absorption HP does not need an external source tent in osmotic solution 9.9%.[17] A similar study on
of the high heat as it has a coefficient of performance drying of horse mackerel using HP dehumidifier
more than 2 at the heat absorbing and generating reported that SMER increased to maximum when
temperatures of 290 and 400 K, respectively.[9] BAR was 0.6–0.8. The 20–30˚C drying temperature
Mohammadi et al.[10] used the Cranks and Dincer- and 2–3 m/s air velocity were considered as optimum
Dost model and compared the specific energy con- for SMER and DE. Furthermore, the drying perform-
sumption when the auxiliary HP with the air circulation ance could be increased by adjusting the air bypass
system was turned on and off. The specific energy con- ratio; the study on carrot slices at fixed inlet drying
sumption increased from 7.5 to 21.7 kWh/kg when the temperature of 40˚C by HP effectively reduced mater-
HP was on and off, the temperature was 45 and 65˚C, ial drying time up to 15% by hot air bypassed. At this
and circulation was 0% and 100%, respectively. The time, compressor energy consumption reduced from
SMER reported as 0.11–0.12 kg/kWh at 65˚C and 100% 4.27 and 3.63 at 1.0 and 0.6 airflow ratio, respect-
recirculation when the HP was off and on, respectively. ively.[18] Mathematical modeling of drying of papaya
Another study revealed that COPhp, SMER, MER, and and mango fruits by HP dryer showed that the opti-
specific energy consumption decreased with the incre- mum conditions for airflow rate and evaporator
ment of the evaporator bypass ratio and observed high- bypass ratio were not similar.[19] A mathematical
est at 0% evaporator bypass ratio.[11] Moreover, in mint model was developed to study the HP dryer’s per-
leaves drying at 2, 2.5, and 3 m/s air velocity and 35˚C formance, and simulated results were compared with
 DRYING TECHNOLOGY 2219

experimental results. The closed-loop HP dryer simu- climate conditions. To fill the research gap, multiple
lated results were similar to preliminary results. The (three) HP drying test bench unit was developed to
study showed that open-loop and semi-closed-loop investigate the drying performance in winter and
dryers were significantly affected by ambient condi- enhance the energy efficiency, influenced by air circu-
tions. Furthermore, the evaporator bypass air, specific lation cycles and climate conditions.
air flow rate, and drying temperature had a significant Therefore, this study was specifically designed to
effect on the performance of all HP dryers.[20] The evaluate the performance of newly developed HP dry-
HP was used to dry pomace of Hamburg Muscat at ing test bench, particularly in the winter season dur-
constant air temperature 45˚C and air velocities 1.5, ing parboiled paddy drying. The bench was tested for
2.0, and 2.5 m/s in an open-loop and compared with two drying cycles/systems (open and closed loop)
closed-loop laboratory dryer. Results showed that the upon diverse paddy varieties (e.g., Japonica and
power consumption of HP is independent of air vel- Indica) and sample loads. The performance and dry-
ocity at a constant temperature, but it may affect the ing efficiency of the tested bench were thoroughly
drying time. Moreover, HP conserved 51% energy examined using an advanced statistical technique, i.e.,
when compared to the control laboratory RSM. To the best of author’s knowledge, no study
type dryer.[21] was found in the literature focused on the optimiza-
Aktaş et al.[22] studied the drying behavior of grape tion of parboiled paddy drying process during closed
pomace using closed-loop HP dryer at two different (BAR ¼ 0.4) and open-loop HP dryings of different
drying temperatures (45 and 50˚C) and air velocity of varieties and sample loads in the winter season by
1.0 m/s; they reported that COP of the whole system, RSM. After the successful operation of the bench,
drying time, and specific energy consumption important parameters (e.g., SMER, MER, and COP)
decreased with increasing temperature. Moreover, sys- were additionally optimized to best operate the bench
tem performance increased at lower temperatures des- and facilitate industries with useful information.
pite higher energy input. Wongsim et al.[23] reported Finally, the experimental values were thoroughly com-
that drying time is dependent on the temperature of pared and examined with the modeled values (pre-
drying air and calculated the COP (1.28 and 0.81) of dicted) to get a high quality of parboiled paddy.
new designed thermo-electric HP drying system dur-
ing vine leaves drying at the air temperatures of 50 2. Materials and methods
and 40˚C. A comparison of batch-type open cycle HP
(with various low GWP refrigerants) and conventional HP drying test bench was designed and tested at the
hot-air dryers was carried out to compare energy and College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural
exergy performances for carrot drying. The maximum University, China, with the intention to evaluate its
MER and SMER were observed for the R32 and key performance for parboiled paddy dryings with dif-
R152a, respectively. At the same power consumption, ferent varieties. The HP system used in the study has
R152a showed better drying efficiency. Furthermore, advantages over traditional HP dryings such as
COPhp and COPs were maximum for R123zez (E) and incorporation of air duct valves to improve the drying
R32, respectively.[24] performance, concerning environmental conditions,
Many research studies have been conducted on because the system consists of three groups of vapor
food drying by HP; however, seldom researches have compression HP can control circulation cycle of dry-
focused on circulation cycle methods of HP hot air ing air; therefore, it has the flexibility to turn on and
drying in variable ambient temperature and humidity off of each unit depending on working conditions.
conditions, particularly in winter. The abrupt change The test bench was designed by keeping in view
occurs in temperature and humidity of Nanjing wea- the influence of environmental factors. Three different
ther due to subtropical monsoon climate; therefore, refrigerants R-407C, R-22, and R-134a were selected
drying of paddy is a serious issue that must be as working mediums for HP due to their environmen-
addressed to facilitate the local industry and manufac- tal-friendly nature (zero-ozone depletion potential
turers engaged in the paddy drying. A few studies (ODP) and zero global warming potential (GWP)),
explored the combined effect of hot air circulation
Table 1. Environmental properties of refrigerants.
cycles of HP and variable temperature and humidity
# Refrigerant Boiling point (˚C) ODP GWP
conditions on HP performance during paddy drying. 1 R-407C –43.6 0 1600
Therefore, it is essential to study the relationship 2 R-22 Chlorodifluoromethane –40.8 0.05 1700
between hot air circulation cycles of HP drying and 3 R-134a Tetrafluoroethene –26.1 0 1300
2220 K. YOUSAF ET AL.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of heat pump drying test bench (A ¼ Temperature and humidity sensors, q ¼ Quality sensor, V ¼ Air
flow sensor, HP1, 2, 3 ¼ Heat pump units, T ¼ Temperature sensors, 1–13 ¼ Air duct valves).

excellent compression-condensation properties, and Similarly, valve 1 (40%), 2, 5, 7, 8 (40%), and 12 were
higher lifespan (see Table 1 for properties). The oper- set opened in closed cycles, and excluding these
ating parameters of HP’s in series were evaporating valves, all other valves were closed. The newly HP
pressure of 500, 498, and 293 kPa and condensing drying test bench and its components are shown in
pressure of 2200, 2181, and 1491 kPa, respectively. Figure 2(A–C).
The selection was made due to variable ambient tem- The BAR is the ratio of bypass air to the quantity
perature conditions. The HP dryer consisted of four of air passing through the evaporated and can be cal-
electric power consumption units: main and auxiliary culated by the following relationship (Equation 1).
fans, three sets of compressors, and electric heater abypass
used for a primary heating source with the power of BAR ¼ (1)
athrough evaporator
0.8, 0.3, 0.6, and 1 kW, respectively.
The real-time drying data were collected through Environmental factors have a significant influence
an acquisition and control system. The following on the efficiency of HP dryers. Therefore, the per-
system consisted of a personal industrial computer formance of HP drying was directly related to the
(IPC-610-L, Yanhua, Advantech Co., Ltd, China) and environmental condition; in the initial phase, the peak
the PLC (S7-200-CPU224XP, Siemens, Germany). To winter season was selected for drying. Nanjing is the
maintain the performance of the dryer, various types capital of Jiangsu province and the second-largest city
of sensors were installed at specific positions in dryer of east China situated in the Yangtze River Delta
assembly, as shown in Figure 1. The following are the region. The average daily twelve hours of ambient
detail of sensors: five temperature and humidity sen- temperature and relative humidity for December and
sors (JCJ200W, Jiuchunjian Beijing, China), airflow January (2018–19) are presented in Figures 3 and 4.
sensor (EE65, E þ E, Engerwitzdorf, Austria), the mass The Japonica (Huaidao5) and Indica (Rong Youhua
sensor (EX301B, Tecsis, Germany), and four tempera- Zhan) rice were selected for study, and the 1000 and
ture sensors (PT100, Shenzhen RBD, China). PLC col- 5000 g samples were taken for each drying experiment,
lected all transmitted data from sensors and respectively. Before experimentation, initial moisture
transferred it to the industrial computer. content 13 ± 1% (w.b.) was measured at 105 ± 1˚C for
The following HP drying system can be divided 24 h. Rice was parboiled at 60˚C soaking temperature
into three groups: closed type, semi-open type, and for 30 min, followed by steaming for 10 min at
open type according to the combination of air duct 0.5 kg/cm2 pressure, according to the study by Yousaf
valves and drying air cycles. Moreover, the closed-type et al.[25] The moisture content of samples was 25 ± 1%
HP drying system was further classified into various (w.b.) after soaking and steaming. In all experiments,
groups based on the bypass air ratio (BAR). In this the HP dryer was run for 15–20 min to achieve the
study, open-type and closed-type (BAR ¼ 0.4) drying desired conditions. When the temperature in the
systems were used and compared for all drying chamber reached the desired level presented in
experiments. Open-type cycle referred when values 1, Table 2, each paddy sample was dried until moisture
3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 shown in Figure 1 were set opened. content 13 ± 1% (w.b.) reached. All dried paddy
 DRYING TECHNOLOGY 2221

Figure 2. (A) HP drying test bench, (B) control system and drying chamber, (C) compressors in series.

Figure 3. Average hourly relative humidity variation.

sample was packed in polyethylene bags for further and MER of the HP dryer. The most common param-
experimentation. eter to investigate the drying efficiency of the HP
RRL dryer is SMER. It is defined as the ratio of the quan-
tity of water evaporated to the electric energy con-
2.1. Drying efficiency
sumed by all electronic components. Equation 2 was
It is necessary to calculate the drying efficiency of the used to calculate SMER1, SMER2, OSMER1, and
HP drying system and measured in terms of SMER OSMER2 for both of the varieties during closed- and
2222 K. YOUSAF ET AL.

Figure 4. Average 12-hour temperature variation.

open-loop dryings, respectively. 2.2. Estimation of the bench performance

Mevp and efficiency
SMER ¼ (2)
Wh þ Wf þ Wcomp The performance and efficiency of the dryer explicitly
depend upon both EER and COP. EER refers to
The MER is the ratio of the amount of water dehu-
evaluate the cooling condition, while COP for the esti-
midified to the time of material dried in the chamber,
mation of the performance of HP during the heating
as represented in Equation 3. The following relation-
condition. COP of HP and the whole system was cal-
ship was utilized to calculate the MER1, MER2,
culated using the following relationships.
OMER1, and OMER2 for both of the varieties during
closed- and open-loop dryings, respectively.
Qcond
Mevp COPhp ¼ (4)
MER ¼ (3) Wcomp
tdr
 DRYING TECHNOLOGY 2223

Table 2. Central composite design for drying temperature Table 3. Experimental ranges and levels in actual and
and air velocity. coded form.
Actual factors Coded factors Actual value
Std. Run Temperature Velocity A B A B
order order (˚C) (m/s) (˚C) (m/s) Coded value Temperature (˚C) Velocity (m/s)
1 3 50 2 –1 –1 –a –1.414 47.93 1.79
2 9 60 2 1 –1 Low –1 50 2
3 8 50 3 –1 1 Medium 0 55 2.5
4 11 60 3 1 1 High 1 60 3
5 7 47.93 2.5 –1.414 0 A 1.414 62.07 3.21
6 4 62.07 2.5 1.414 0
7 1 55 1.79 0 –1.414
8 5 55 3.21 0 1.414 3. Results and discussion
9 13 55 2.5 0 0
10 6 55 2.5 0 0 3.1. Specific moisture evaporation rate (SMER) in
11 10 55 2.5 0 0
12 2 55 2.5 0 0 closed-loop and open-cycle drying
13 12 55 2.5 0 0
Note. A represents temperature and B represents air velocity. The SMER of closed-loop (BAR ¼ 0.4) and open style
air circulation of the HP drying system was deter-
Qcond mined to inspect the performance of the bench. As
COPS ¼ P (5)
W shown in Table 4, model terms were significant for
Qcond ¼ mcond, a Cp, a ðTcond, a, out  Tcond, a, in Þ (6) SMER1, OSMER1, SMER2, and OSMER2 for both
Wh ¼ ma ðhdr, a, in  hHP, a, in Þ (7) varieties in closed and open styles. The correlation
Wcomp þ Wh ¼ ma Dhdr, a þ DQHP (8) coefficients were also in acceptable limits. The actual
Wcomp þ Wh ¼ ma ðDhdr, a þ hHP, a, out  hHP, a, in Þ (9) SMER for variety 1 in closed and open style drying
varied from 0.216–0.332 and 0.148–0.217 kg/kWh,
respectively. Similarly, it ranged from 0.954–1.337 and
2.3. Statistical analysis 0.620–0.891 kg/kWh for closed and open style in var-
iety 2, respectively. As contour lines are shown in
The two factors central composite design combined Figure 5, SMER increased sharply at elevated tempera-
with RSM was employed using design expert 8.0.6 ture and slowly with air velocity in all cases. The rea-
(Stat-Ease, Inc., USA). The experimental factors, son could be the difference of thermal gradient
ranges, and levels are presented in Table 3. Thirteen developed between the drying air and paddy samples.
experiments were augmented to evaluate the pure The following phenomenon increases the moisture
error with five replicates at the center points. The
removal rate per unit time to get the desired final
randomized actual and coded factors with a run num-
product weight with the least energy consumption.
ber are summarized in Table 2. The drying tempera-
Moreover, the evaporator extracted the drying air
ture and air velocity were chosen as factors, SMER1,
moisture, resulting in drying air cooled to some
OSMER1, MER1, OMER1, SMER2, OSMER2, MER2,
extent. Therefore, maximum SMER for variety 1
and OMER2 as well as COP for closed and open
(1 kg) and variety 2 (5 kg) in closed and open circula-
cycles were selected as performance indicators.
tion was 0.332, 0.311, 1.337, and 0.891 kg/kWh at the
Equation 10 is utilized for the development of a math-
ematical model between factors and performance indi- highest temperature 62.07˚C and drying air velocity
cators, which includes quadratic and linear models 2.5 m/s, respectively. The SMER increased to a max-
with similar fashion as formulated previously.[26] The imum at BAR ¼ 0.4 as compared to open style circu-
correlation coefficient of determination R2 checked lation. In open style, fresh air enters through the inlet
the quality of the fitted polynomial model, and F-test with ambient temperature and relative humidity, so,
determined its statistical significance (the data are HP compressor and heater consumed more input
categorized in Table 4). power. This increase in power would reduce the
Xk Xk SMER. However, in a closed system with a mixing
y ¼ bo þ i¼1
bi X i þ i¼1
bii Xi2 ratio (0.4) coming through the evaporator, the bypass
Xk Xk (10)
duct consumes less energy. Table 5 indicates the pre-
þ i¼1 i¼1
bij X i X j þ e
dicted SMER1, SMER2, OSMER1, and OSMER2. The
where y is the dependent variable, and Xi and Xj are results showed that SMER decreased with the increase
independent variables; k is the number of independent of power consumption. Our results are in line with
variables, and bo is intercept of the model. the said studies.[10,12,27]
2224 K. YOUSAF ET AL.

Table 4. Coefficients for SMER, MER, and COP during HP drying in closed-loop and open cycles.
Variety 1 Variety 2 COP
SMER1 OSMER1 MER1 OMER1 SMER2 OSMER2 MER2 OMER2 Closed Open
Coefficient (kg/kWh) (kg/kWh) (kg/h) (kg/h) (kg/kWh) (kg/kWh) (kg/h) (kg/h) cycle cycle
Constant
bo 0.31 0.198 0.197 0.174 1.285 0.826 0.787 0.68 2.17 1.4
Linear
Xa 0.028 0.015 0.006 0.004 0.097 0.062 0.010 0.011 0.062 0.027
Xb 0.016 0.011 0.004 0.004 0.068 0.045 0.006 0.007 0.045 0.016
Interaction
Xab 0.002 0.001 –0.002 –0.001 0.009 0.004 –0.002 –0.001 0.004 0.002
Quadratic
Xa2 –0.019 –0.007NS –0.002NS 0.00NS –0.074 –0.034NS –0.003NS –0.005NS –0.034 –0.019
Xb2 –0.027 –0.014 –0.002NS 0.00NS –0.111 –0.056 0.00NS –0.002NS –0.056NS –0.027
R2 0.90 0.86 0.83 0.78 0.93 0.87 0.77 0.83 0.87 0.90
Note. SMER and MER for closed-loop cycle, OSMER and OMER for open cycle; 1 represents variety 1, and 2 represents variety 2.

Figure 5. SMER during closed-loop and open-cycle HP drying of variety 1 (top) and variety 2 (bottom). Note. SMER for closed-
loop cycle, OSMER for open cycle; 1 represents variety 1, and 2 represents variety 2.

One of the objectives of our study was to compare OSMER2 showed the same trend represented in
the efficiency of the HP at different sample loads of Figure 5. It presented the fact that the amount of
paddy. Figure 5 shows the SMER1 and SMER2 of the dehumidification per energy used was increased in
closed drying cycle for two different sample loads 1 higher sample loads. In other words, the less input
and 5 kg, respectively. The contour lines showed that energy was required to remove the amount of water
SMER increased when the sample load per drying when the sample load increased in both closed-loop
experiment was increased. Similarly, OSMER1 and and open-cycle drying. However, in comparison with
 DRYING TECHNOLOGY 2225

Table 5. Predicted SMER and MER for closed and open drying cycle of variety 1 and variety 2.
Variety 1 Variety 2
Std. Run SMER1 OSMER1 MER1 OMER1 SMER2 OSMER2 MER2 OMER2
order order (kg/kWh) (kg/kW) (kg/h) (kg/h) (kg/kWh) (kg/kWh) (kg/h) (kg/h)
1 3 0.223 0.152 0.183 0.166 0.944 0.634 0.767 0.654
2 9 0.273 0.180 0.198 0.177 1.120 0.749 0.791 0.679
3 8 0.251 0.171 0.194 0.175 1.062 0.716 0.783 0.671
4 11 0.311 0.204 0.201 0.182 1.275 0.848 0.798 0.690
5 7 0.233 0.161 0.186 0.168 0.999 0.671 0.768 0.656
6 4 0.311 0.205 0.202 0.181 1.274 0.846 0.795 0.687
7 1 0.234 0.155 0.189 0.170 0.968 0.651 0.780 0.666
8 5 0.280 0.186 0.199 0.180 1.160 0.779 0.796 0.686
9 13 0.310 0.198 0.197 0.174 1.285 0.826 0.787 0.680
10 6 0.310 0.198 0.197 0.174 1.285 0.826 0.787 0.680
11 10 0.310 0.198 0.197 0.174 1.285 0.826 0.787 0.680
12 2 0.310 0.198 0.197 0.174 1.285 0.826 0.787 0.680
13 12 0.310 0.198 0.197 0.174 1.285 0.826 0.787 0.680
Note. SMER and MER for closed-loop cycle, OSMER and OMER for open cycle; 1 represents variety 1, and 2 represents variety 2.

closed and open dryings, SMER1 and OSMER1 were rapidly as compared to air velocity. The drying time
higher than SMER2 and OSMER2, respectively. The was slightly affected by air velocity; similar findings
following equations showed the relationship between have been reported by Taseri et al.[21] In the compari-
SMER and factors of variety 1 and 2 during closed son of the closed and open cycle, MER was higher in
and open style drying. closed-cycle circulation because the humidity of dry-
ing air was low at drying chamber inlet and tempera-
SMER1 ¼ 0:31 þ 0:02a þ 0:1b þ 0:002ab
(11) ture of drying chamber found constant, which reduces
 0:1a2  0:02b2 the DQ of the HP. As it is known that higher drying
SMER2 ¼ 1:29 þ 0:09a þ 0:06b þ 0:009ab temperature would deteriorate the product quality,
(12) especially for paddy,[28] therefore, the process factors
 0:07a2  0:11b2
were optimized to determine the maximum MER dur-
OSMER1 ¼ 0:20 þ 0:01a þ 0:01b þ 0:001ab
(13) ing HP drying for closed and open drying of
 0:007a2  0:01b2 both varieties.
OSMER2 ¼ 0:83 þ 0:06a þ 0:04b þ 0:004ab
(14)
 0:03a2  0:05b2 3.3. HP drying efficiency for closed-loop and
open cycle
We aimed to find the correlation between multiple
3.2. Moisture extraction rate (MER)
parameters such as drying, temperature, and velocity
The ultimate purpose of the conduction of these of the air; therefore, RSM provided better views and
experiments was to assess the drying ability of the possible clues as we analyzed the variations and inter-
designed bench accurately. The drying efficiency relationship between temperature, air velocity, and
(MER) was determined in closed-loop and open dry- COP (results are summarized in Figure 7 that repre-
ing cycles for both varieties. The results showed that sent the COP of HP system for closed and open dry-
the model term was significant (Table 4). Table 5 ing cycles). It is observed that COP was affected by
shows the predicted MER1, MER2, OMER1, and the variation in drying temperature and air velocity.
OMER2. The results displayed in Figure 6 shows dry- COP increased with the increase of temperature[17]
ing temperature and air velocity significantly affected and was observed the highest (2.237, 1.419) at run 4
the MER. The actual minimum MER was observed at for both closed and open drying cycles. The COP of
run 7 for varieties 1 and 2 in closed and open drying the HP system of closed-loop cycle drying was signifi-
when drying temperature and air velocity were cantly higher than the open-loop cycle. SMER
47.93˚C and 2.5 m/s, respectively. The highest MER1, decreased with the increase of power consumption
MER2, OMER1, and OMER2 were 0.203, 0.799, 0.183, and found highest when the temperature reached the
and 0.691 kg/h, respectively, at the highest tempera- maximum.[29] When the temperature reached the
ture (62.07˚C). These results strongly suggest that highest level, the temperature difference between con-
moisture evaporation per unit time increases with the denser and evaporator outlets becomes the lowest,
increase of heat; however, temperature increases it which enhances the COP of the drying system.[30] The
2226 K. YOUSAF ET AL.

Figure 6. MER during closed-loop and open-cycle HP drying of variety 1 (top) and variety 2 (bottom). Note. MER for closed-loop
cycle, OMER for open cycle; 1 represents variety 1, and 2 represents variety 2.

Figure 7. COP of system during closed-loop (left) and open-cycle (right) HP drying.

COP of the open drying cycle was lower than the Therefore, the system needs a supplementary conden-
closed drying cycle. ser to remove the additional heat, which resulted in
As interpreted in results, SMER, MER, and COP waste of a lot of energy. Heat change per unit time of
were significantly affected by hot air circulation style HP dryer must be smaller to save energy if the tem-
and ambient conditions. In a steady-state condition of perature at the inlet of the drying chamber maintains
the closed-loop cycle of HP dryer, the energy con- constant. This can be done by controlling the com-
sumed by compressor would be higher than ma Dhdr, a : pressor power by adjusting its frequency. When the
 DRYING TECHNOLOGY 2227

Figure 8. Comparison of predicted and experimental observations of SMER and MER during closed-loop and open-cycle HP drying.

Figure 9. Predicted and experimental COP of closed-loop and open-cycle HP dryer.

energy consumed by the compressor decreases, the passed through the evaporator; this would increase the
cooling capacity of HP will reduce. Results showed heat exchange effect of the evaporator. Environmental
that the drying rate decreased with the increase of air conditions greatly influenced the performance of the
humidity at the inlet of the drying chamber. HP dryer in the open-loop cycle. The air circulated
Therefore, it resulted in prolong drying time and an through the evaporator mixed with the bypass air in
increase in electric energy consumption of the fan, the closed-loop cycle consumes less input energy as
and consequently affected the SMER, SMER, and compared to the open drying cycle where ambient air
COP of HP dryer. In the closed-loop cycle, air passed firstly enters into the drying system.[18] When lower
through the chamber divided into two ways: first temperature air was heated to the desired temperature,
flowed through the evaporator and second through the compressors and electric heater consumed more
bypass duct and mixed at a common point. The incre- power that directly affected the SMER and COP of
ment in BAR would decrease the quantity of air the HP dryer. Experimental results showed that lower
2228 K. YOUSAF ET AL.

temperatures and high humidity reduced the MER utilized to get the highest SMER, MER, and COP of the
and drying rate of paddy. Conclusively, we reached a HP system. Conclusively, the highest SMER was found
true hypothesis that in winter, when HP worked in at BAR ¼ 0.4 (closed-loop) compared with open-loop
ambient air condition, the COP of the system was not style as open-loop consumed more power causing a
as high as when HP worked in a closed cycle with decrement of SMER. Moreover, SMER increased when
BAR ¼ 0.4. the sample load per drying experiment was increased.
Furthermore, MER was elevated with heat; however, a
rapid increase was observed with temperature com-
3.4. Validation and optimization through RSM
pared to air velocity. The optimal conditions of 60˚C
Again, RSM is a very powerful technique to extract reli- and 2.76 m/s have given the SMER1 ¼ 0.321, SMER2
able and useful statistical information from the experi- ¼ 1.321, OSMER1 ¼ 0.208, and OSMER2 ¼ 0.865 kg/
mental data when required to optimize the kWh, and MER10.202, MER2 ¼ 0.796, OMER1 ¼ 0.180,
mechanization systems; therefore, RSM was applied to OMER ¼ 20.689 kg/h. Similarly, the COP of the system
find the optimum conditions for HP drying of different was 2.211, and 1.409 in the closed-loop and open-loop
parboiled rice varieties (in the both closed and open cycles, respectively. Furthermore, the following condi-
cycle). The optimum condition as determined for the tion was used to dry parboiled paddies and compare
achievement of the maximum SMER, MER, and COP with the predicted results given by model equations.
of the HP system during both drying cycles is depicted The drying bench is well recommended for the drying
in Figures 7 and 8. The temperature and air velocity of food products to conserve energy and time in vari-
were set in the range of 50–60˚C and 2–3 m/s, respect- able ambient conditions. We intend to use the following
ively. At the highest desirability of 0.910, the optimum HP drying for parboiled paddy as well as other food
temperature and air velocity were 60˚C and 2.76 m/s. products drying in the summer season. The following
At this point, SMER1, SMER2, OSMER1, and OSMER2 manuscript would be helpful for industry and research-
were 0.321, 1.318, 0.208, and 0.865 kg/kWh, respect- ers, working on HP drying in variable environmen-
ively. Similarly, the optimum MER1, MER2, OMER1, tal conditions.
and OMER2 in the closed and open cycle were 0.202,
0.796, 0.180, and 0.689kg/h, and COP of system 2.211, Nomenclature
and 1.409, respectively. ODP ozone depletion potential
The optimized parameters were utilized for par- GWP global warming potential
boiled paddy drying in triplicate and compared with BAR bypass air ratio
the predicted SMER and MER for both varieties and PLC programmable logic controller
COP of the HP system during closed and open cycles. SMER
The predicted and experimental results of SMER and 1,2 specific moisture evaporation rate, close
MER of both varieties and COP of closed and open cycle, variety 1,2 (kg/kWh)
drying cycles were not significantly different at 5% OSMER
confidence of interval, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, 1,2 specific moisture evaporation rate, open
respectively. Therefore, the developed model within cycle, variety 1,2 (kg/kWh)
the range of experimental factors could be used to dry MER1,2 moisture extraction rate, close cycle, variety
parboiled paddy to achieve the maximum SMER, 1,2 (kg/h)
MER, and COP of the system in both closed and OMER
open cycles. 1,2 moisture extraction rate, open cycle, variety
1,2 (kg/h)
4. Conclusion COP coefficient of performance
EER energy efficiency ratio
The best and optimum performance (drying efficiency) Q heating capacity (kW)
of the newly designed HP drying test bench was calcu- m mass flow rate (kg/s)
lated periodically with specific respect to different dry- Cp specific heat (kJ/kg K)
ing air circulation cycles to achieve less energy W power (kW)
consumption and good quality of parboiled paddies. T temperature (˚C)
The hot air circulation in closed-loop (BAR ¼ 0.4) and M dehumidified amount of water
open-loop cycles at different temperatures (in the h Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
selected range of 50–60˚C) and velocity (2–3 m/s) were t time (h)
 DRYING TECHNOLOGY 2229

Subscripts Technol. 2003, 21, 103–127. DOI: 10.1081/DRT-

120017286.
a air [8] Gan, S. H.; Ng, M. X.; Tham, T. C.; Chua, L. S.;
evp evaporator Aziz, R.; Baba, M. R.; Abdullah, L. C.; Ong, S. P.;
h heater Law, C. L. Drying Characteristics of Orthosiphon
Stamineus Benth by Solar-Assisted Heat Pump
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Drying. Drying Technol. 2017, 35, 1755–1764. DOI:
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s whole system [9] Bai, L.; Liu, X.; He, M. A New Thermodynamic
dr dryer, drying Cycle of Heat Pump Relying on Excess Enthalpy
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in inside [10] Mohammadi, I.; Tabatabaekoloor, R.; Motevali, A.
Effect of Air Recirculation and Heat Pump on Mass
HP heat pump
Transfer and Energy Parameters in Drying of
Kiwifruit Slices. Energy 2019, 170, 149–158. DOI: 10.
Funding 1016/j.energy.2018.12.099.
[11] Soponronnarit, S.; Wetchacama, S.; Kanphukdee, T.
The authors appreciate the support and financial Seed Drying Using a Heat Pump. Int. Energy J.
assistance under Jiangsu Agricultural Science and 2000, 1, 97–102.
[12] Aktaş, M.; Khanlari, A.; Aktekeli, B.; Amini, A.
Technology Innovation Fund CX-(17)1003, provided
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by the College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural Mint Leaves Dryer. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2017, 42,
University, China. 18034–18044. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.03.007.
[13] Alishah, A.; Kiamahalleh, M. V.; Yousefi, F.; Emami,
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Drying of Coriander: An Experimental Investigation.
ORCID Int. J. Air-Cond. Ref. 2018, 26, 1850037. DOI: 10.
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Innocent Nyalala http://orcid.org/0000-0002-
[14] Wang, Y.; Li, M.; Qiu, Y.; Yu, Q.; Luo, X.; Li, G.;
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