Geometry development of the internal duct system of a heat pump tumble dryer based on fluid mechanic parameters from a CFD software

One aspect of reducing the energy consumption of a household tumble dryer is to reduce the pressure drop of the circulating air in the internal duct system. It is, however, costly and time consuming to design several prototypes for airflow measurements. In this paper, several fluid mechanic parameters in a partial model of the internal duct system of a tumble dryer have been studied in the CFD software Comsol MultiPhysics. The purpose was to establish a numerically based design process, where the design is conducted based on visual analysis of air velocity and vorticity, and two design criteria. The geometry design was conducted by a CAD-engineer, which was the counterpart of this project. In order to enable a successful design process, it was essential to establish a strong relation between fluid parameters and design criteria in order to share knowledge effectively with the CAD-engineer. Two geometry modifications, based on a standard model, were conducted on the duct. Based on the design criteria, the pressure drop and the non-uniformity coefficient of the outlet airflow, the second modification (Modification 2) represents an improvement as the pressure drop is reduced by 23% and the uniformity at the outflow section is increased by 3%.