Title: Fabric properties and electric efficiency limits of mechanical moisture extraction from fabrics

Abstract

Residential clothes drying consume about 650 TBtu of primary energy per year in the United States, equivalent to 3% of primary residential energy consumption. There is a strong impetus to reduce the energy consumption of clothes dryers by both improving existing technology and developing alternatives that use fundamentally different drying mechanisms. Clothes drying technologies are broadly classified into either evaporative or mechanical drying. The focus of this paper is on mechanical drying, including vibrational, centrifugal, and press-based methods. In this work, the physical processes involved in these mechanical fabric drying processes were analyzed to develop general theories of mechanical cloth drying energy efficiency. Quantitative evaluation of the theories requires measured fabric properties. To accomplish this, a set of experiments was conducted on samples of a standard test fabric. The fabric was a cotton-polyester blend specified by the US Department of Energy to evaluate the standardized efficiency of all residential clothes dryers in the US. Mercury porosimetry experiments were conducted to determine the fabric pore size distribution, apparent density, and porosity. Elasticity experiments were conducted to determine the fabric’s Young’s modulus. Isostatic press experiments were conducted to establish a relationship between compression force and fabric moisture content. The data resulting frommore » these experiments were combined with mathematical models developed in this work to calculate the theoretical maximum performance limits for mechanical drying of the standard fabric. The results of the analysis are used to make recommendations for the most promising technologies that offer the greatest potential energy savings for residential clothes drying.« less

Authors:

Momen, Ayyoub M.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Momen, Ayyoub M."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-7341-8190"

Patel, Viral K.  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Patel, Viral K."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-8634-6667"

Gluesenkamp, Kyle R.  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Gluesenkamp, Kyle R."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0053-8789"

Erdman, III, Donald  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Erdman, III, Donald"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-2221-0925"

Kiggans, Jr., James O. ^[2]; Ormston, Geoffrey ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Ultrasonic Technology Solutions, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Publication Date:

Wed Dec 22 00:00:00 EST 2021

Research Org.:

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:

1885399

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Drying Technology

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 39; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0737-3937

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; fabric physical properties; fabric drying; energy efficiency; mechanical drying; ultrasonic