The vapor-to-heat pump is a new drying technology designed at UGent.  It consists of a mass heat exchanger and a regenerator. UGent has built up knowledge and expertise on both components over the past 8 years, including:

• A functioning mass heat exchanger in a greenhouse in Sint-Katelijne-Waver (TRL 6)

• The design of a pilot regenerator with a capacity of  30kW  and the availability of 80% of its components in the Technicum building. The regenerator is of the type " two-stage vacuum evaporator driven by a heat pump "  and it is cost competitive. This technique is groundbreaking compared to all other drying techniques on the market:

• The COP is twice the value as of the state of the art

• 10 to 20 times higher COP compared to current common practice for dehumidification (heating and venting)

• The system can operate with 100% renewable energy

• Due to the hygroscopic solution storage possibility, the vapor-to-heat pump has flexibility in energy use and energy storage capacity.

• Flexibility in drying temperature in function of process needs, results in improved quality

• It can contribute to the energy transformation with the highest COP and highest potential for energy storage.