Indian-American invents supersonic dryer

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. “It is a completely new approach. Instead of evaporation, it’s technically performing mechanical extraction of the moisture within the fabric,” Patel said. 

Traditional dryers generally use straight-forward technology: as air gets sucked in from the surrounding area, it travels through a heater or gas burner and into the drum where the clothes tumble around allowing the heat to absorb the moisture with the air leaving the dryer. 

However, the ultrasonic dryer uses piezoelectric transducers to remove moisture: when high frequency voltage is applied to the transducers, they vibrate at a high frequency causing trapped water to leave the fabric without heat. 

Basically, the dryer shakes the water out of the clothes, speeding up the drying process without using energy required to generate heat. Patel mentioned that GE Appliances is in the process of developing an agreement with the researchers to proceed toward commercialisation. He said that it will take at least two to  five years before the ultrasonic dryers can be available in the market.