Application of conventional and advanced exergy analyses to evaluate the performance of a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) dryer used in food drying

• Advanced exergy analysis performed for a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) drying system.
• The performance of components of GSHP drying system was separately analyzed.
• The most important system component was the condenser.
• 55.3% of the exergy destructions for the overall system were avoidable.
• Advanced exergy analysis enables detecting and establishing the improvement priorities.

Inefficiencies in an energy system can be quantitatively determined through conventional exergy analysis while sources of the irreversibilities and real improvement potential can be deducted using a relatively new method named as advanced exergy analysis. For the first time, an advanced exergy analysis is applied to a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) drying system used in food drying for evaluating its performance along with each component in this study. The results indicate that the most important system component is the condenser due to the design standpoint. The inefficiencies within the compressor could particularly be improved by structural improvements of the whole system and the remaining system components. Furthermore, the inefficiencies of other system components except for the condenser and the evaporator are mainly affected by the internal operating condition. Both the equipment design and system components’ interactions of the condenser and the evaporator have a significant effect on their inefficiencies. The conventional and modified (advanced) exergy efficiency values are calculated to be 77.05% and 93.5%, respectively.