- October 21, 2026
- By Beth Panitz
Eco-friendly heat pumps continue to gain market share in residential heating and cooling, but their use in industrial processes remains limited, with conventional combustion-based systems dominating the field. Now, a University of Maryland research team has developed a wood-drying heat pump prototype that delivers 26% more heating capacity than a state-of-the-art commercially available system, bringing the technology one step closer to broader adoption in an industry that supplies lumber for construction, furniture and other wood products.
In a paper published in the October issue of Applied Thermal Engineering, researchers at the UMD Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) describe their approach to developing an improved dehumidification heat pump for wood drying and present their testing results.
“Wood drying is an energy-intensive process,” says the lead author Tamoy Seabourne M.S. ’26. “We want to reduce this energy consumption and fossil fuel use so that we can provide a more environmentally friendly solution.”
Co-authors include Dhahyun Kang M.S. ’26, graduate research assistant Zhongdong Liang, Research Professor Bao Yang and Research Professor Yunho Hwang, director of CEEE’s Consortium for Energy Efficiency and Heat Pumps.
Developing a heat pump for wood drying poses unique challenges because temperature and humidity must be adjusted throughout the drying process. In the early stages, relatively moist wood is easy to dry at low temperatures and low humidity levels. As wood dries, however, the remaining moisture becomes more difficult to remove, requiring higher temperatures and carefully controlled humidity.
Testing showed that the CEEE system offered a 9% higher specific moisture extraction rate than the baseline unit, in addition to the 26% improved heating capacity. It also operated stably at 63°C, significantly expanding the operating range beyond the typical upper limit of approximately 49°C for conventional dehumidification kiln systems.