Modeling of a solar and heat pump sludge drying system

A slipping quasistatic model has been developed to evaluate the performance of a greenhouse sludge drying system assisted by a heat pump called “Solar and Heat Pump Sludge Drying System” (S&HPSDS). The model is derived entirely from the conservation laws of mass, energy, momentum and equations of state as well as correlations of heat transfer. Weather data are incorporated in order to evaluate the seasonal performance of the system. The model can be used for many different purposes; this paper focuses on the evaluation of the heating temperature leading to an annual thermo-economic optimum in terms of energy consumption.