Ayyoub M. Momen, a research engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, talks about how he came up with the idea for a clothes dryer that doesn’t use heat. (KNS photo/Michael Patrick)
A new-age clothes dryer under development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory uses micro-vibrations instead of heat to remove the water from the laundry, dramatically reducing the drying time and potentially saving energy on a grand scale.
Ayyoub M. Momen, a 33-year-old research engineer who came to ORNL a couple of years ago, said his invention was inspired by a commercial humidifier that used high-frequency vibrations to convert water into tiny droplets — forming a cool mist.
As he thought about the process, Momen wondered if the same ultrasonic components could be applied to other uses. To test his hypothesis, he saturated a little piece of fabric and placed it on top of one of the humidifier’s ultrasonic transducers.
“It was mind-blowing when we saw it the first time, how quickly it can dry a piece of fabric,” Momen said. “It was amazing. Boom, it was dry in 14 seconds.”
That was about nine months ago. He made a short video to demonstrate the concept and submitted a research proposal to the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office. It created a buzz of interest and enough funding to explore the possibilities.
“Everybody was really excited,” he said.
According to Momen, the potential of his idea is large.
By eliminating the heat needed to evaporate water in clothes, there’s a tremendous energy savings, the engineer said. He noted that about 5 percent of a typical American home’s energy use is attributed to the clothes dryer.
“That’s how energy-intensive it is,” he said.
Momen estimates that widespread adoption of the “Ultrasonic Clothes Dryer” could reduce the nation’s entire energy consumption by nearly 1 percent.
ORNL is teaming with General Electric as an industrial partner on the project. GE is contributing 20 percent of the funding and a vast amount of experience.
“There are a lot of challenges in commercialization that we are not aware of, so having them on board is really useful,” Momen said.
A commercial product is probably four or five years away, he said.
Momen and colleagues are currently working on a prototype, increasing the scale and evaluating what size transducers are most effective.
Because they’re testing ultrasonic units at high frequencies — between 1 and 2 megahertz — researchers were initially concerned that the dryers might be disturbing to pets. But Momen said that concern proved to be unfounded.
The team is trying to envision what the dryer might look like. For instance, there’s some thought of a flat device on which clothing could be dried, piece by piece. They’re also looking at ways to extract the mist or collect it in some type of mesh.
Researchers are considering a tumbling mechanism akin to what’s used in thermal dryers to fluff the clothes and get rid of wrinkles. There’s even thought to applying heat at the end of the process if consumers want their clothes to be warm.
Momen is a native of Iran. He received his master of science degree from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. He came to the United States when he was 25 and earned his Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Florida.
He has applied for citizenship in the United States.
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