Energy-efficient sorption-based gas clothes dryer systems

Ahmadi, Masoud; Gluesenkamp, Kyle R.; Bigham, Sajjad

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113763

Energy-efficient sorption-based gas clothes dryer systems

Journal Article · Sun Jan 03 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Energy Conversion and Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113763· OSTI ID:1783036

Ahmadi, Masoud ^[1]; ^[2]; Bigham, Sajjad ^[1]

Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Building Technologies Research and Integration Center

Standard electric resistance and fuel-driven dehydration technologies exhibit a maximum coefficient of performance of well below 1 mainly due to enthalpy losses associated with the air leaving the dehydration system. To improve energy efficiency, condensing dryer systems condense the moisture captured from a product in a closed-loop air circulation cycle. Existing condensing dehydration systems including heat pump dryers, however, need to significantly cool the air to achieve dehumidification. The added cooling and subsequent heating to return the air to a desired drying temperature consume substantial energy and thus reduce drying performance. Here, an innovative sorption-based gas dehydration system is proposed to overcome barriers deteriorating energy efficiency in existing gas, electric, or heat pump dryer systems. Decoupling latent and sensible loads, the system employs a liquid-desiccant solution to directly capture air humidity, thereby allowing circulation of the air in a closed loop to achieve high drying energy efficiency. In other words, the system captures waste latent heat from the moisture produced during the dehydration process and reuses it to improve energy efficiency. This study focuses on a comprehensive quasi-steady-state thermodynamic modeling of the proposed sorption-based dehydration concept employed for a gas clothes dryer application to predict transient response and overall drying performance (i.e., time and energy metrics). The analysis indicates the proposed sorption-based gas clothes dryer system can deliver a specific moisture extraction rate of 1.71 kg of water per kWh (i.e., a combined energy factor of 3.167 kg (6.98 lbm) of dry cloth per kWh) with a drying time of 44 min. This is a 112% energy improvement compared with state-of-the-art gas clothes dryers exhibiting a combined energy factor of 1.50 kg (3.3 lbm) of dry cloth per kWh. The technology pursued here can potentially be employed as a platform for many fuel-driven equipment to take advantage of available waste thermal energy in the environment instead of simply burning a fuel.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; EE0008685

OSTI ID:: 1783036

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1777009
OSTI ID: 2474950

Journal Information:: Energy Conversion and Management, Journal Name: Energy Conversion and Management Journal Issue: February Vol. 230; ISSN 0196-8904

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
42 ENGINEERING
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Energy-efficient sorption-based gas clothes dryer systems

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