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

Fido

[QA]

Depending on the frequency, this should drive your family dog totally insane.

Re:Fido

[Anonymous Coward]

Insane, but very,very dry.

Re:Fido

[Ritz_Just_Ritz]

As long as it reduces the dog drying time. 20 minutes in the dryer leaves him disoriented and almost always up to no good...pissing on the floor, eating shoes, etc.

Re:Don't buy this

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how my lungs are doing now that I've worn hang-dried clothes with all those evil fibers for decades...

Re:American problem is American

[ledow]

Spoken like a true American.

Re:Don't buy this

[GrumpySteen]

here are no tangible benefits to using a crazy ultrasound dryer.

"up to five times more energy efficient than most conventional dryers"

It's the second sentence in the summary for god's sake. You didn't even have to click the link or read the article to get to it.

Re:American problem is American

[Anonymous Coward]

That explains a lot why the average power consumption in the US is 11MWh compared to a meager 4-6MWh in the EU. The longer washing cycles use much less energy.

Why would you care about how long it would take? You don't have to watch it to completion!

Re:American problem is American

[Gryle]

Driers are useful when the conditions outside aren't amenable to drying clothing. For example, if the outside temperature is below freezing, which is common in many places for at least one month out of the year, clothing turns into icicles. Or if it's raining outside. Or if it's early spring and the local farmers are spreading manure in their fields in preparation for the spring harvest, and you don't want your clothing to smell like manure after a few hours outside. (For the record, I have no objection to living near farmers who use manure. I just keep my windows closed at certain times of the day and don't hang my laundry out to dry.)

As for interior, my current apartment doesn't have room for me to put a drying rack anywhere that I won't trip over it.

There are valid reasons for someone to own a drier and not hang their clothing outside.