Hood Dishwasher Drying Circuit With Top Suction Recirculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hood-type industrial dishwashers face inefficiencies in drying due to air discharge systems, which lead to environmental vapor issues, rapid cooling of dishes, and poor drying effectiveness, especially in short wash cycles, as well as limitations in air recirculation circuits that fail to effectively manage hot and humid air.
Innovation Solution
An air recirculation drying circuit is implemented with a suction duct at the top of the hood, connected to a condensation duct with a fan and condenser, ensuring efficient air recirculation and uniform airflow across the wash chamber, preventing sudden temperature drops and exploiting the drying phase for sanitization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If air discharge drying system is used in hood-type dishwasher, then drying process is simplified, but rapid cooling of dishes occurs and environmental vapor emission increases
Solution Approach 1:
A recirculation duct acts as an intermediary channel, capturing hot humid air at the top of the hood and redirecting it through a condenser unit before reintroducing it at the bottom. This intermediary mechanism prevents direct discharge to environment while avoiding sudden cooling of dishes, maintaining temperature through controlled thermal management.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding hot humid air directly to environment, the system recovers this thermal energy by routing it through a condenser that extracts moisture while preserving heat. The recovered warm air is then reintroduced at the bottom, maintaining dish temperature and reducing environmental vapor emission.
2Device complexity
If air recirculation circuit is applied to stationary lower half only, then circuit structure is simplified, but drying effectiveness decreases due to hot humid air rising
Solution Approach 1:
The recirculation circuit is segmented into distinct functional zones: a suction duct positioned at the top of the mobile hood to capture hot humid air, a condenser unit for moisture removal, and a reintroduction duct at the bottom of the stationary lower half. This segmentation allows each component to perform its function optimally while managing the natural convection of hot air.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of introducing air at the top and extracting at the bottom (conventional approach), the system inverts the flow pattern by suctioning at the top where hot humid air naturally accumulates and reintroducing at the bottom. This inversion aligns with natural convection currents, improving drying effectiveness without increasing complexity.
3Device complexity
If suction duct is positioned at bottom and reintroduction at top, then airflow path is simplified, but preferential paths occur and uniform drying is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system inverts the conventional airflow arrangement by positioning the suction duct at the top of the hood and the reintroduction duct at the bottom. This inversion creates a vertical circulation pattern that prevents preferential horizontal paths, ensuring uniform airflow distribution across all dishes in the wash chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The airflow path transitions from potential horizontal preferential paths to a vertical circulation pattern by suctioning at the top and reintroducing at the bottom. This dimensional change in airflow direction ensures more uniform distribution of air across the wash chamber, improving drying uniformity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enables effective and rapid dish drying without environmental vapor emission, maintaining dish temperature, and ensuring optimal drying of all dishes by efficiently removing hot and humid air, thus overcoming the limitations of air discharge systems and short wash cycles.
Implementation Method 1
a drying circuit (5) arranged at the back of the machine, said drying circuit comprising a suction duct (4) arranged at the top of the hood (1), a condensation duct (5) arranged at the back of the machine, a fan (6) and a condenser (7)
Implementation Method 2
achieve through condensation a decrease in the humidity of the treated air so as to dry the dishes
Implementation Method 3
a heating element arranged at the back of the machine, underneath the suction duct
Implementation Method 4
the hottest and most humid portion of the air present within the wash chamber is efficiently sucked away
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
In a hood-type industrial dishwasher with a wash chamber defined by a hood (1), a bottom tank (2) and a rear vertical wall (3) that makes part of the stationary lower part of the dishwasher, as well as with a drying circuit comprising a condensation duct (5) containing a fan (6) and a condenser (7), the drying circuit includes a suction duct (4) located at the top of said hood (1) and suitable to connect (B, C) with the condensation duct (5) when the hood (1) is closed. In this way, it is possible to perform an effective drying of the dishes even in a short time thanks to the fact that the hottest and most humid portion of the air present within the wash chamber is efficiently sucked away at the top of the hood (1) and there is achieved an almost uniform airflow across the whole wash chamber. Furthermore, since there is achieved an air recirculation drying without a sudden decrease in the temperature of the dishes due to the inflow of external air, it is possible to exploit also the drying phase for the sanification of the dishes.