Abstract: The filter of heat pump clothes dryer is easy to get dirty, which has a significant impact on the drying time and drying energy consumption. The self-cleaning of the filter has become an important research direction of 10 kg heat pump dryer. Centrifugal separation technology is applied to the self-cleaning filter of heat pump clothes dryer. The basic performance of the prototype and self-cleaning prototype such as air volume and noise was tested. The results show that: the no-load circulating air volume and operation noise of the self-cleaning machine are close to the original machine. In terms of drying performance under half-load condition, the average drying time of the original machine is 116.3 min, and the drying energy consumption is 1.452 kW•h, the moisture content is -1.47%. And the average drying time of the self-cleaning machine is 116.0 min, and the drying energy consumption is 1.461 kW•h, the moisture content is -1.40%. Under the condition of unclean the filter, the original machine began to dry impervious in the fourth drying cycle. The main reason is that the accumulation of wire chips on the filter, and this leads to the increase of wind resistance, and the no-load circulating air volume is greatly reduced from 311 m³/h to 251 m³/h. During the 100 cycle reliability test of the self-cleaning machine, the drying performance showed a relatively stable fluctuation trend. The average drying time of 100 cycles is 117.6 min, the average drying energy consumption is 1.478 kW•h, and the average moisture content is -1.50%. The drying time, drying energy consumption, moisture content, no-load circulating air volume and operating noise of the self-cleaning machine after 100 cycles is basically consistent with the self-cleaning machine before long-term operation and the original machine. The centrifugal self-cleaning clothes dryer is stable and reliable. Finally, analyzed the performance of the original machine and self-cleaning machine by simulating the actual use scenarios. After 10 years, the total drying time of the self-cleaning machine is reduced by 943 h, the total energy consumption is reduced by 511 kW•h, the carbon emission of the self-cleaning machine is lower.

Key words: Heat pump dryer, Self-cleaning filter, Centrifugal separation, Drying time, Drying energy consumption, Moisture content