Carpet manufacturers cut costs
Energy consumption is always of primary concern for many industrial interests. Notwithstanding government directives to cutback on energy consumption, it is also of vital interest simply because of competitive needs to lower costs and increase profits. With energy being one of the largest expenses in the carpet industry, research sought to discover means by which the carpet industry could benefit considerably from energy reduction. Large scale dryers through which carpets are processed and their consequent ventilation systems constitute considerable energy consumption. The project therefore investigated how adaptations to these systems could be incorporated and found part of their answers in a basic thermodynamic principle, the venturi principle. According to this principle when compressed air, forced through the outer tube is passed through a narrower outlet, it creates negative pressure at the tip. This creates a vacuum within the vent without the use of any moving parts, saving on energy costs and maintenance. In this way, the consortium designed a new form of nozzle box to utilise the venturi principle that can be easily adapted to current heating systems. Additionally, the new valve box has a uniform velocity at the nozzle outlet, allowing for an even airflow across the carpet. The reduction of energy consumption also had a direct reduction on the amounts of carbon monoxide and methane consumption. When evaluating the improvements, it was discovered that at least a 15% energy reduction occurred through using the novel air flow and nozzles box on existing dryers.
