An Experimental Study of a Sorption-Based Clothes Dryer Utilizing Ionic Liquid

State-of-the-art vapor-compression-based heat pump clothes dryers face limitations in harnessing the sensible heat of the hot and humid air leaving the drum, primarily due to the low-temperature dehumidification process. This study introduces a sorption-based clothes dryer system employing an ionic liquid solution to effectively overcome the drawbacks associated with vapor-compression-based clothes dryers. Unlike its counterparts, a sorption-based clothes dryer can recuperate both sensible and latent heat from the hot and humid air exiting the drum at elevated temperatures. However, conventional liquid desiccant solutions including LiBr-H2O, LiCl-H2O, and CaCl2-H2O pose challenges such as corrosion and crystallization, leading to premature deterioration of system performance and components. Ionic Liquids (ILs) emerge as promising alternative desiccants due to their anti-corrosion and anti-crystallization characteristics. Here, an experimental study was conducted to examine the drying and energy performance of the proposed IL-based clothes dryer system under varying conditions, including IL solution flow rate and operating temperature. The IL-based clothes dryer demonstrated a maximum combined energy factor of 3.29 kg (7.25 lbm) of dry clothes per kWh (Btu) and a drying time of 28 minutes at a desorber operating temperature of 155°C (311°F) and an IL solution flow rate of 4 g/s (0.0089 lb/s). Experimental results showed that a higher desorber surface temperature improves the energy performance of the system and decreases the drying time. These findings are pivotal for advancing the development of efficient next-generation IL-based clothes dryer systems.