WOOL DRYING PROCESS IN HEAT-PUMP-ASSISTED DRYER BY FUZZY LOGIC MODELLING

Abstract

The drying process in the textile industry is an expensive and laborious process that requires a lot of energy. The main purpose of the drying process is to provide maximum energy saving and energy efficiency at minimum time and cost without compromising the quality and structural properties of the material used. Since heat pumps are devices that can produce more heat compared to the work they consume, energy consumption substantially reduce is important. In drying processes, which are widely used in agriculture and textile industry in our country. It is important to use a heat pump in terms of energy saving. In this study, wool drying process in a heat-pump-assisted dryer was investigated with fuzzy logic metods. The test material used was wet wool, which is a fibrous material. The air velocities at the inlet of the dryer were varied from 0.8 m/s to 1.5 m/s, while the material loading ratio (material/dryer volume) ranged from 0.5 to 2.5. The temperature at the inlet of the dryer were varied from 40 °C to 90 °C. In this study, a fuzzy model was created to determine the effect of time, temperature, loading ratio and air velocity on the drying rate by using the fuzzy logic method, which is one of the artificial intelligence methods.