Fast-airflow tumble clothes dryer with small thermoelectric heat pump: Experimental evaluation

Journal Article · 02 October 2024 · Thermal Science and Engineering Progress

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsep.2024.102960 · OSTI ID:2474769

Boudreaux, Philip  ^[1]; Hall, Christopher ^[1]; Gluesenkamp, Kyle R.  ^[1]; Karman, Steve ^[1]; Willocks, Jonathan ^[1]; Patel, Viral  ^[1]; Gehl, Anthony  ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Residential clothes drying accounts for about 5% of the total residential-sector energy consumption in the United States. Most dryers use electric resistance heaters to dry clothes and have low efficiencies. Higher-efficiency dryers that use vapor compression heat pumps are expensive and complex and have not gained a large market share in the United States. A novel tumble clothes dryer using a small thermoelectric heat pump with faster airflow than typical dryers is presented in this work. The benchtop performance of the thermoelectric heat pump and high-speed blower are presented, and the development of the prototype dryer is described. The dryer was tested for efficiency and dry time for a range of airflow rates and applied currents to the thermoelectric heat pump. The combined efficiency factor was 5.09–6.29 lb_BDW/kWh (specific moisture extraction rate of 1.23–1.53 kg_w/kWh) with 100–138 min dry times for these tests. The measured efficiency was 36 %–68 % greater than the minimum efficiency standard in the United States, and compared with vapor compression heat pump–based clothes dryers, the prototype dryer had less expensive, less complex components and did not use refrigerants. Finally, the performance of this small thermoelectric heat pump clothes dryer is also compared with previous iterations of the thermoelectric tumble clothes dryer described in the literature.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 2474769
• Journal Information: Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, Journal Name: Thermal Science and Engineering Progress Vol. 55; ISSN 2451-9049
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
clothes drying
heat pump
high flow
rated efficiency
thermoelectric