Numerical Optimization of the Annual Cost of a Clothes Dryer

Optimization of the energy cost of clothes dryers saves on energy use without requiring additional installations. To optimize the cost of clothes dryers, a correlation has been developed for the evaporative mass flux produced in the drum. The correlation was used to determine the drying time and cost. An objective function for the drying cost was defined in terms of the total annual dryer costs for energy usage, material, and manufacturing. The objective function (Annual cost) was optimized for two cases relative to 8-10 of the dryer parameters subject to various operating constraints using the direct search and the variable metric methods. The optimization results indicate that there are optimum settings for the fan speed and the drum speed depending on the weight of the drying load and heater power. The results showed that the optimum lies at the highest drying load and the lowest (37.45% in Annual cost could be saved) or the highest value of heater power (19.7% in Annual cost and 52.6% in drying time could be saved), whichever satisfies the drying time constraint. The applications of the optimization results are discussed.     

Statistical analysis of clothing drying in a venting type dryer

An experimental study of the drying process using the prototype of a venting type dryer is presented. The machine has two motors: one for moving the drum and another for moving the turbine; electrical resistance is used as the heat source. The prototype operates under controlled test conditions in accordance with the Department of Energy (DOE) Standard 10 CFR 430. The aim of this study is to statistically determine the impact of the main factors and their interactions involved in the drying of clothing from a complete design of experiments. Statistical analyses for drying time and the energy consumption are determined from the studied factors. The factors studied are turbine motor frequency (to admit and expel air from the dryer); power supplied to the electric coil, amount and moisture of clothing and restriction of exhaust duct the gases. The results show that all of the studied factors and four of the interactions are statistically significant in the drying of clothes. The shortest drying time and the lowest energy consumption were obtained with the higher level of restriction and the lower initial moisture of clothing.     

An experimental study on the performance of a condensing tumbler dryer with an air-to-air heat exchanger

The performance of energy consumption in the closed-loop tumbler dryer with a condenser for clothes drying is evaluated as a function of the heater capacity, the drying air flow rate inside the dryer, and the cooling air flow rate. The clothes dryer in laundries used in this study consists of a tumbling drum, condenser for condensing the humid and hot air flowing out the rotating drums, and electric heater for heating the circulating drying air. Tests were performed at the heating capacity of 1.9 kW to 2.7 kW, the drying air flow rate of 60 m³/h to 140 m³/h, and the cooling air flow rate of 100 m³/h to 240 m³/h. The total energy consumption, the drying time, and the condensate water rate were also investigated. Parametric results showed that a larger heater power resulted in shorter drying time. With increasing heater power, the air temperature and the condensate rate increased due to the higher humidity ratio in the air. The drying air flow rate and the cooling air flow rate did not have a significant effect on drying performance.     

Correlation of the Area-Mass Transfer Coefficient Inside the Drum of a Clothes Dryer

Abstract

The mass transfer process inside the drum of a clothes dryer affects its performance. The area-mass transfer coefficient was defined and correlated to the weight of the clothes, drum speed, the Reynolds number, Schmidt number, and Gukhman number using the experimental results of 32 runs on a Frigidaire clothes dryer. The coefficient of correlation was 0.994. A separate correlation for the Sherwood number was evaluated for a single piece of cloth stretched perpendicular to the flow in a pipe. This second correlation was used to compare the mass transfer inside the actual dryer with that of the “idealized” mass transfer process for a single piece of cloth. The results indicated that the average mass transfer efficiency for clothes in the dryer was only 26.4% of the ideal process. Means to enhance the area-mass transfer coefficient and the reasons for the poor performance of an actual dryer are discussed.     

Correlation of the Area-Mass Transfer Coefficient Inside the Drum of a Clothes Dryer

The mass transfer process inside the drum of a clothes dryer affects its performance. The area-mass transfer coefficient was defined and correlated to the weight of the clothes, drum speed, the Reynolds number, Schmidt number, and Gukhman number using the experimental results of 32 runs on a Frigidaire clothes dryer. The coefficient of correlation was 0.994. A separate correlation for the Sherwood number was evaluated for a single piece of cloth stretched perpendicular to the flow in a pipe. This second correlation was used to compare the mass transfer inside the actual dryer with that of the “idealized” mass transfer process for a single piece of cloth. The results indicated that the average mass transfer efficiency for clothes in the dryer was only 26.4% of the ideal process. Means to enhance the area-mass transfer coefficient and the reasons for the poor performance of an actual dryer are discussed.     

A Study on Residential Clothes Drying Using Waste Heat Rejected from a Split-Type Room Air Conditioner (RAC)

This article reports on a study of developing a novel residential clothes dryer using waste heat rejected from a room air conditioner. An experimental rig has been set up and extensive experimental work under various operating conditions carried out. A simplified mathematical expression (SME) for the clothes drying process using rejected waste heat from a RAC has also been developed and validated by the experimental results. The study results showed that in tropical or sub-tropical regions, where air conditioning is operated for at least 7-8 months in a year, the use of waster heat from an air cooled RAC can achieve both effective clothes drying and energy use reduction.     

Modeling of heat pump tumble dryer energy consumption and drying time

The use of heat pump tumble dryers is nowadays more common because they offer huge energy savings compared to conventional tumble dryers. Earlier studies made on conventional tumble dryers have shown that parameters such as heater power, fan speed, drum speed, weight and initial moisture content of textiles and air leakage have a huge impact on the energy efficiency and drying time. In the present study, a modified commercial heat pump tumble dryer was evaluated for energy consumption and drying time by changing operating parameters including fan speed, drum speed, and mass load. The total energy consumption and drying time were measured and corrected for the initial and final moisture content in the textiles. The experimental results based on 27 drying tests were evaluated to develop linear regression models for energy consumption and drying time, which show a good agreement with the experimental data. The results show that a large mass load, a high drum speed, and a low fan speed give the highest energy efficiency, i.e. the lowest energy consumption per kg of drying load. Larger loads extend the length of the drying cycle while higher fan and drum speeds result in shorter drying time.     

A Study on Residential Clothes Drying Using Waste Heat Rejected from a Split-Type Room Air Conditioner (RAC)

Abstract

This article reports on a study of developing a novel residential clothes dryer using waste heat rejected from a room air conditioner. An experimental rig has been set up and extensive experimental work under various operating conditions carried out. A simplified mathematical expression (SME) for the clothes drying process using rejected waste heat from a RAC has also been developed and validated by the experimental results. The study results showed that in tropical or sub-tropical regions, where air conditioning is operated for at least 7–8 months in a year, the use of waster heat from an air cooled RAC can achieve both effective clothes drying and energy use reduction.     

Modeling and Performance Investigation of a Closed-Type Thermoelectric Clothes Dryer

In present work, a closed-type clothes dryer with thermoelectric elements was developed. The looped air circulation was designed to simultaneously recycle waste heat and enhance dryer performance. A mathematical model of heat transfer, based on one-dimensional treatment of thermal and electric power, is conducted. The cooling and heating productions are both correlated in terms of electric resistance, thermal conductivity, and electric current. Experimental investigation on drying of clothes has been attempted, covering the drying air temperature, initial-input electric power, and total weight of wet clothes, with drying rate and specific moisture extraction rate as evaluating indexes. Generally, the drying rate was found to increase first and decrease afterwards as time decayed. Analytical and experimental results demonstrate that optimal performance of the thermoelectric dryer strongly depends on intensities of these operating parameters.     

IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN COMBINED MICROWAVE-CONVECITVE DRYING

Convective-microwave drying has been recognized as a convenient option for drying of valuable materials. However, the advantages of the method must be carefully evaluated in order to establish the limits for full scale operating conditions because, as demonstrated in this work, the reduction in the absolute drying time as a function of the applied microwave power is devalued by an increase in the unabsorbed microwave energy, decreasing the overall energy efficiency of the drying process.

Experimental study of the energy efficiency of combined microwave-convective drying of agar gel and Gelidium seaweeds was carried out in a laboratory scale microwave-convective dryer by continuously following the absorption of microwave energy by the sample as well as the change of the sample mass during the drying process, under different operating conditions. Several drying strategies based on the on-off application of the microwave power were proposed and evaluated from the point of view of both drying kinetics and energy efficiency in order to program and rationalize the use of microwave energy in the combined microwave-convective drying process.     

Innovative Steam Drying of Empty Fruit Bunch with High Energy Efficiency

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) is one of the solid wastes from crude palm oil mills and has the lowest value for utilization compared to other solid wastes. To achieve an efficient utilization of EFB, drying is considered the first crucial process due to the high moisture content of EFB. In this study, EFB drying based on exergy recovery is proposed to achieve high energy efficiency. A fluidized bed is adopted as the main dryer. The proposed model is evaluated in terms of energy efficiency, especially regarding the influence of target moisture content and fluidization velocity. Up to 92% of the energy involved in the drying process can be recirculated. The total energy consumption for drying decreases as the target moisture content decreases, though there is no significant impact of fluidization velocity to total energy consumption. In addition, the required total length of the heat transfer tubes immersed inside the fluidized bed dryer is calculated because it relates to fluidization performance and economic issues. Lower target moisture content results in a longer heat transfer tube, and higher fluidization velocity leads to a shorter heat transfer tube.     

Enhancing the Energy Efficiency of Domestic Dryer by Drying Process Optimization

The domestic tumble dryers are becoming indispensable household appliances and responsible for up to 10% of the total residential energy use in developed countries. However, their energy efficiency is low. In this paper, the development of a multi-sensor computer-controlled prototype platform for fabric drying is described for improving the efficiency of dryers. The prototype platform enables the real-time control and recording of key drying parameters including heater power, air flow velocity, rotating speed of drying drum, and drying cycle time. These parameters are automatically adjusted according to the exhaust air humidity instead of the temperature which is used traditionally. Additionally, a new drying model of dividing the drying process into four stages based on the humidity of the exhaust air has been investigated to further increase the energy saving. The performance of this staged drying model is experimentally evaluated in respect to energy consumption, drying time, and the smoothness of fabric after drying. The results clearly indicate that the staged controlling of heating power input not only decreases energy consumption by 21.5%, but also improves the fabric smoothness by 0.9 grade compared to using a single heating power input for the whole drying process. The research outcome can enable the design and production of new dryers that are more energy efficient and lead to dried clothes that require less ironing, which in turn further reduces energy consumption.     

IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN COMBINED MICROWAVE-CONVECITVE DRYING

ABSTRACT

Convective-microwave drying has been recognized as a convenient option for drying of valuable materials. However, the advantages of the method must be carefully evaluated in order to establish the limits for full scale operating conditions because, as demonstrated in this work, the reduction in the absolute drying time as a function of the applied microwave power is devalued by an increase in the unabsorbed microwave energy, decreasing the overall energy efficiency of the drying process.

Experimental study of the energy efficiency of combined microwave-convective drying of agar gel and Gelidium seaweeds was carried out in a laboratory scale microwave-convective dryer by continuously following the absorption of microwave energy by the sample as well as the change of the sample mass during the drying process, under different operating conditions. Several drying strategies based on the on-off application of the microwave power were proposed and evaluated from the point of view of both drying kinetics and energy efficiency in order to program and rationalize the use of microwave energy in the combined microwave-convective drying process.     

Energy Audit of a Fiberboard Drying Production Line Using Simprosys Software

This article presents a case study of Simprosys applied to the energy efficiency evaluation of an exisisting fiberboard drying production line. An energy examination of the dryer and the drying system under current operating conditions was performed using Simprosys 2.1 (Simprotek, Cupertino, CA). Detailed parametric studies of the drying system were carried out. Possible improvements for the enegry efficiency of the dryer itself and the drying system are proposed and discussed.     

Soybean drying characteristics in microwave rotary dryer with forced convection

A new hybrid drying technique by combining microwave and forced convection drying within a rotary drum, i.e., microwave rotary drying, was developed with the purpose to improve the uniformity of microwave drying. In a laboratory microwave rotary dryer, rewetted soybean was utilized as experimental material to study the effects of drum rotating speed, ventilation flow rate, and specific microwave power on the drying kinetics and cracking ratio of soybean. It was found that, with rotation, the cracking ratio can be lowered but without distinct improvement in the drying rate. Increasing ventilation flow rate and specific microwave power can improve the drying rate, but the cracking ratio also increases as a negative result. The cracking ratio lower than 10% can be attained for ventilation flow rate lower than 2.0 m³·h⁻¹ or specific microwave energy lower than 0.4 kW·kg⁻¹ in the present experiments.     

Combined ultrasound and infrared assisted conductive hydro-drying of apple slices

Abstract

Conductive hydro-drying also known as Refractance Window drying is a relatively new drying technology, which uses hot water to carry thermal energy to materials to be dehydrated. It has a high retention of heat sensitive quality parameters (vitamins, antioxidants, and color) with better energy efficiency than freeze-drying as well as many other conventional drying methods. A new ultrasound and infrared assisted conductive hydro-dryer (UIACHD) was developed to increase drying rate while reducing required hot water temperature and increasing the drying material thickness. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of the new dryer and to compare the performance of a pilot scale continuous UIACHD with a freeze-dryer and a cabinet dryer in drying apple slices. The physiochemical characteristics of the dried apple slices including flavonoid content, total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, vitamin C content and color were measured. In addition, the energy consumption and energy efficiency of the dying methods were evaluated. Results showed that combining ultrasound and infrared with conductive hydro-drying can result in higher drying rates and lower product moisture content. Quality of UIACHD dried apple slices was close to the freeze-dried products and it was significantly better than the cabinet dried products. Moreover, the energy efficiency of UIACHD was considerably better than the cabinet dryer and the freeze-dryer. The results of this study showed that combining ultrasound and infrared with conductive hydro-drying can lead to an energy-efficient process with good quality retention ability.     

A Diffusion Model for a Drum Dryer Subjected to Conduction, Convection, and Radiant Heat Input

Drum dryers are commonly used for production of a flaky dry powder from thick suspensions. This article presents results of a simple diffusion-based model to predict the drying performance of a pilot-scale twin-drum dryer. Numerical results are compared with experimental data obtained for a biological sludge whose initial moisture content varied from 1.0 to 2.3 kg/kg db. The agreement of model predictions with the pilot-scale experimental data is favorable. Effects of film thickness, drum rotational speed, external air flow velocity, and its humidity are examined parametrically. Sludge film thickness is identified as the most critical operating parameter to control the final moisture content and productivity of the dryer. The validated model is used to predict performance of a drum dryer subjected to heat input by convection and radiation along with conduction through the drum wall. It is shown that dryer output can be enhanced significantly by increasing the film thickness and applying radiant heating in the initial period of drying. A simple mathematical model of this type can be used for the purpose of design and analysis as well as scale-up of industrial drum dryers based on simple laboratory-scale experiments.     

INTENSIFICATION OF PENICILLIN DRYING IN INDUSTRIAL VACUUM DRUM DRYER BASED ON SHORT CONTACT THEORY

ABSTRACT

The results of industrial experimental research on penicillin drying in a vacuum drum dryer are discussed. It is shown that drying rate increases with increasing velocity of the drum rotation. Analytical calculations of heat exchange surface dependence on the hold-up of loaded material in a drum dryer are obtained.     

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON DRYING OF CHILLI IN A COMBINED MICROWAVE-VACUUM-ROTARY DRUM DRYER

This paper presents new data on drying chilli in a microwave-vacuum-rotary drum dryer. This novel technique is designed to combine the advantages of vacuum drying and evenly dispersed microwave energy in a rotary drum. The drying kinetic and the specific energy consumption at particular product moisture content were measured experimentally. Moreover, the effect of pressure inside the chamber and the rotational speed of the drum were also determined.