To address the growing need for economically viable sludge processing technologies and associated resource recovery, a novel convective high-velocity pilot cyclone was set-up at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umea, Sweden. In essence this process entails feeding (<= 900 kg h(-1)) a material to a heated high-velocity air flow (approx. 13 x 10(3) m(3) h(-1)) allowing moisture removal at low temperatures. This equipment is expected to improve drying of challenging industrial sludge materials when used as a pretreatment method prior to further processing. Modeling results based on an experimental campaign on recycled paper mill sludge indicated that efficient drying with a specific energy consumption of <= 1-1.2 kWh kg(-1) H2O can be achieved with inlet air temperature levels >= 40 degrees C coupled with respective feeding capacity of <= 750 kg h(-1). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.