Efficient Drying Conditions for a Condensing Clothes Dryer

The use of clothes dryers is increasing in Korea and throughout Asia, because of preference for the drum type washer dryer. Clothes dryers consume more energy than almost any other home appliance. This paper suggests efficient ways for drying laundry with condensing clothes drier. We dried cotton fabrics with the condensing clothes dryers and observed the energy input, temperature and RH of the dryer during the drying process. In the early stages of drying process, the air temperature inside the clothes dryer decreased and the RH and the drying time increased as the weight of fabrics increased. We found that it was important to consider the total weight of the fabrics that included heat-sensitive fibers. It took more than half the drying time and the energy input for a 2.5 kg load that it did for a 5 kg load. Therefore, drying larger one load was more efficient than divided smaller loads, because increasing the weight of the fabrics reduced the energy input per kg of drying clothes. The lower the initial moisture regains of the fabrics were, the lower the energy input and the drying time were. The energy input for spinning after washing was much less than that for drying in the dryer. Consequently, it is more efficient to reduce the moisture content of the clothes by lengthening the spinning time of the washer to reduce the energy consumption and the drying time. During the drying process opening the door twice for 30 seconds each time lowered the air temperature and the RH of the dryer, but did not affect the moisture regain of the fabrics, the drying time, and the energy input.

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