The experimental and predicted performance data of a heal pump dryer system is reported, Chopped alfalfa was dried in a cabinet dryer in batches and also by emulating continuous bed drying using two heat PUMPS operating in parallel. Results showed that alfalfa was dried from an initial moisture content of 70% (wb) to a final moisture content of 10% (wb). The batch drying took about 4.5 h while continuous bed drying took 411 to dry the same amount of material. The average air velocity inside the dryer was 0.36 m s(-1). Low temperatures (30-45degreesC) for safe drying of specialty crops were achieved experimentally. The heat pump drying system used in this study was about 50% more efficient in recovering the latent heat from the dryer exhaust compared to the conventional dryers. Specific moisture extraction rate (SMER) was maximum when relative humidity stayed above 40%. The dryer was shown to be capable of SMER of between 0.5 and 1.02 kg kW(-1) h(-1). It was concluded that continuous bed drying is potentially a better option than batch drying because high process air humidity ratios at the entrance of the evaporator and constant moisture extraction rate and specific moisture extraction rate values can be maintained. An uncertainty analysis confirmed the accuracy of the model. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.