The present disclosure provides system and method for drying various materials using an air-to-air heat exchanger in sequence with a liquid-to-air heat exchanger to provide heat to a chamber to remove moisture from materials contained within the chamber in an energy efficient manner.

A method is provided for controlling a laundry dryer including a fan motor (26) for driving a drying air stream fan (18) with a variable speed (vf) and a drum motor (28) for driving a laundry drum (12). The method comprises the steps of setting a predetermined course for the speed (vd) of the drum motor (28), maintaining the speed (vd) of the drum motor (28) according to the predetermined course for the speed (vd) of said drum motor (28), detecting a power (Pd) or a current absorbed by the drum motor (28), and controlling the speed (vf) of the fan motor (26) on the basis of the absorbed power (Pd) or current of the drum motor (28). The speed (vf) of the fan motor (26) increases with a decreasing absorbed power (Pd) or current of the drum motor (28) and/or the speed (vf) of the fan motor (26) decreases with an increasing absorbed power (Pd) or current of the drum motor (28).

A laundry appliance includes a camera for determining the air flow through an appliance during operation. A controller is operably coupled to the camera. The controller is configured for obtaining one or more images of an air flow indicator positioned in the path of the air flow. An artificial intelligence image recognition process is used to perform image classification and determine whether air flow through the appliance is fully or partially obstructed based on the amount of deflection of the air flow indicator. In the event of an air flow obstruction, operation of the laundry appliance is adjusted.

A method of operating a laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to a treating cycle of operation. The laundry treating appliance comprises a treating chamber for receiving the laundry that is selectively accessible through a door movable between opened and closed positions. The method comprises determining at the end of a laundry treating cycle whether the door has been opened and subsequently reclosed and reducing humidity in the treating chamber after the determination that the door has been reclosed.

A dryer appliance or ventilation assembly, as provided herein, may include an impeller, a housing, a front duct, and a sealing gasket. The impeller may be rotatable about an axial direction to urge a flow of air. The housing may enclose the impeller within a cabinet. The housing may define an entrance upstream of the impeller to permit air into the housing. The front duct may include an attachment collar defining a duct outlet. The attachment collar may be received within the entrance. The sealing gasket may be radially positioned between the attachment collar and the entrance.

A laundry appliance uses a determination of volumetric airflow rate after a steady state condition is reached to determine the accumulation of lint in filter. Based on the determination, various actions can be taken including notifying the user, shutting off the appliance, initiating an automatic cleaning sequence for one or more lint filters, and combinations thereof. One or more temperature sensors, relative humidity sensors, and weight sensors are used to provide measurements for determining the volumetric airflow rate.

A method for operating a dryer appliance includes obtaining an initial operating temperature, obtaining a first temperature set point and a second temperature set point lower than the first temperature set point, wherein the first temperature set point and the second temperature set point are based at least in part on the initial operating temperature, operating the dryer appliance at the initial operating temperature, determining that a restriction level within the dryer appliance exceeds a restriction threshold, and operating the dryer appliance at the first temperature set point, lower than the initial operating temperature, upon determining that the restriction level exceeds the restriction threshold.

An energy efficient autonomous laundry system includes a plurality of combination washing and drying machines each one of which includes heated and cold side heat exchangers disposed in series within a dedicated closed air loop at each machine, a heat pump providing separate streams of heated and cooled fluid to the heat exchangers, one or more sensors disposed in the closed air loop, and a controller in operative communication with all of these system components. The controller is configured to receive an output signal of one or more air sensors in the closed air loop, analyze the output signal, determine, based on the analysis, whether the at least one air characteristic is within a range of values for at least one of air temperature, air flow, and air humidity, and adjust one or more controls, including controls for adjusting at least one of air temperature, air flow, and air humidity.

Disclosed herein is a method of controlling a laundry treating apparatus, if a user selects a uniform course, including performing a preheating operation of a heater to generate steam, performing a first cooling operation to operate a blower unit and a moving hanger after the preheating operation has been terminated, performing a steam operation to operate the blower unit and a steam unit and to circulate steam to a treating chamber after the first cooling operation has been terminated, performing a standby operation to operate the blower unit after the steam operation has been terminated, performing a second cooling operation to operate the blower unit after the standby operation has been terminated, and performing a drying operation to operate the blower unit and a heat pump unit and to provide heat to the treating chamber to dry the treating chamber after the second cooling operation has been terminated.

A dryer appliance includes a microphone for monitoring sound generated during operation of the dryer appliance and a controller is operably coupled to the microphone. The controller is configured for obtaining a sound signal generated during operation of the dryer appliance and converting the sound signal into a spectrogram that represents a sound frequency and a sound amplitude over time. An artificial intelligence image recognition process is used to analyze the spectrogram to identify one or more sound signatures that are associated with particular operating conditions, and operation of the dryer appliance is adjusted based at least in part on the identification of the sound signature.