Advanced Recirculation Tumble Dryer Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Topic No.: N102-162 Topic Title: Advanced Recirculation Tumble Dryer Proposal No.: N102-162-0331 Firm: Physical Optics Corporation Information Technologies Division 20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg. 100 Torrance, California 90501-1821 Contact: Michael Reznikov Phone: (310) 320-3088 Web Site: www.poc.com Abstract: Navy shipboard laundry dryers are major sources of shipboard fires because lint can ignite in the exhaust ductwork. Existing ductless tumble dryers are low capacity and energy-inefficient. To address the Navy's need for an energy-efficient, fire-safe, and ductless tumbler dryer, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Advanced Recirculation Tumble Dryer (ART-Dryer). This proposed machine will be an upgrade of the existing military tumbler-dryer, based on the unique integration of existing technologies in a new design. This innovation in condenser and heater design will enable the ART-Dryer to increase the drying rate and extract water without cooling the entire airflow. As a result, this technology reduces the temperature in the tumbler with significantly improved drying (~30%) and energy efficiency (~40%), and completely eliminates any ductwork, which addresses the NAVSUP requirements for novel shipboard clothes dryers. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the ART-Dryer by computer-aided modeling and building of a conceptual prototype to determine its ability to meet all Navy requirements. In Phase II, POC plans to collaborate with the prime, EDCO Corp., to develop an ART-Dryer prototype for operational testing and evaluation at the production site with subsequent shipboard trials arranged by the Navy. Benefits: The new condenser tumble dryer design will serve as a market entry for new environmental and energy-saving technology. It can be directly used in commercial laundry machines but also will have a significant impact on the wide field of dewatering technologies, which consumes about 18% of all in-plant energy in the United States. The ART-Dryer technology-based equipment can be successfully applied both in big federal projects (distillers, power plants, rehabilitation of environment) and in a wide range of applications in the commercial sector (paper production, food industry, dewatering of biomasses, pharmaceutical and other biotechnical production, chemical industry). A special case is the separation technology for the chemical industry. For example, ART-Dryer-based dewatering can be used in the recovery of dilute organics from water: acetic acid, ethylene glycol, methanol, many high-boiling polar organics, concentration of phosphoric acid in phosphoric acid production and concentration of caustic soda. Return