Electric technology to save energy in drying processes

Scientists of TU Delft and four other Dutch universities join forces to save energy in drying processes. Current processes to make dried products such as powdered milk or paper are based on air or steam and are energy-intensive. In the ELECTRIFIED project, the researchers will use the power of electricity and electrical fields to develop breakthrough technologies for large energy savings in industrial drying processes. The project is funded through the NWO Key Technologies programme.

Delft researchers Valeria Garbin (Faculty of Applied Sciences) and Johan Padding (Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) will focus on how to move water through porous materials inside strong electric fields. “By using electric drying technology, we can integrate drying better with our future energy systems, such as wind and solar energy”, Padding explains. “More importantly, we believe that using electricity for drying can lead to much higher energy efficiency. Instead of evaporating the water, which costs a lot of energy, we propose to pull the water out by electric forces, which can be done very efficiently for many types of food, paper and pulp.”

Read the press release by Wageningen University & Research


Source: WUR