Scientists Invent Ultrasonic Dryer That Uses Sound To Dry Your Clothes (yahoo.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Yahoo: Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have developed a dryer that could make doing laundry much quicker. Called the ultrasonic dryer, it's expected to be up to five times more energy efficient than most conventional dryers and able dry a large load of clothes in about half the time. Instead of using heat the way most dryers do, the ultrasonic dryer relies on high-frequency vibrations. Devices called green transducers convert electricity into vibrations, shaking the water from clothes. The scientists say that this method will allow a medium load of laundry to dry in 20 minutes, which is significantly less time than the average 50 minutes it takes in many heat-based machines. The drying technology also leaves less lint behind than normal dryers do, since the majority of lint is created when the hot air stream blows tiny fibers off of clothing. Drying clothes without heat also reduces the chance that their colors will fade. While the ultrasonic dryer has been in development for the past couple of years, the U.S. Department of Energy explains in a published video that it has recently been "developed into a full-scale press dryer and clothes dryer drum -- setting the stage for it to one day go to market through partners like General Electric Appliances."

Comments

Back in the 1970's (when dinosaurs ruled)...

[magusxxx]

They had a commercial with several celebrities showing energy efficient appliances. "Which will be available soon." Jo Anne Worley proudly displayed a washer that worked with sound waves. Hence, not needing a dryer or detergent. Which was funny considering how many different detergents she did ads for. Whatever happened to that 'modern' marvel?

Re:American problem is American

[hab136]

Why shouldn't a washer take 3 hours, if it uses less electricity and less water to do so? I'd rather have my washer take more time and cost less. It's got a timer anyways, so those 3 hours can be whenever I want, including right before I wake up, or right before I arrive home from work.

Unless you're doing more than 7 loads a week, the amount of time the washer takes doesn't really matter. Take out the previous day's load, load up the next day's load, set the timer, and you're done for the day.

Re:Don't buy this

[religionofpeas]

It is definitely and objectively better to blow the loose fibers out of the clothes with a traditional dryer and dispose of them

How many of those fibers were already loose, compared to the ones that get broken off by all the friction in the dryer ?

The fate of the fibers

[PuddleBoy]

So I wash my clothes, then run ultrasonics against/thru them to dry them. And I do this every week (or whatever).

What is the affect on the structural integrity of the fabric? Wouldn't prolonged exposure to intense vibration cause some fibers to break and knits to stretch? Would the ends of fibers tend to fray more quickly?

I don't think I'll be the first on my block to buy one.

Re:The fate of the fibers

[Verdatum]

No. That's the fascinating thing about ultrasonics. It's got a strong effect on fluids, but a minimal impact on intertwined solids. Line-drying is still likely to be better on delicate fabrics, but ultrasonics are going to be way gentler than hot-air tumble-drying. I'm not saying that this is a marketable solution, and yeah, bleeding-edge early adopters deserve every problem they get, but the frequencies and amplitudes used aren't any good at pulling apart fibers (and that's part of why ultrasonic clothes washing isn't feasible).

Re:Don't buy this

[hipp5]

So instead 'green pans' and 'copper pans' are all the rage.

To be fair, those green pans where they use a ceramic lining instead of Teflon are actually really amazing. They are wayyyy harder to scratch and just as non-stick. I will never buy a teflon pan again, and I'm not someone who cares at all about the whole fear-mongering.