Experimental evaluation of the performance characteristics of a heat pump clothing care system under various operating conditions

A heat pump clothing care system has been introduced to remove harmful substances and to perform sterilization, deodorization, and wrinkle release with minimal damage to the fabric of clothes. However, comprehensive studies on the performance characteristics of a heat pump clothing care system through experiments have not been conducted. In this study, the performance characteristics of a heat pump clothing care system were experimentally investigated by analyzing the drying performance and the effects of steam injection and stay times under various operating conditions. Accordingly, the optimum combination of steam injection and stay times was determined to be 5 min each, considering the optimized drying time and wrinkle release performance. The wrinkle release performance and energy consumption increased by approximately 225% and 125%, respectively, compared to the case at a steam injection time of 1 min. Additionally, the drying performance of the heat pump clothing care system was analyzed by varying the steam injection time, compressor speed, and fan speed. Based on the optimized energy consumption and drying time, the optimum compressor frequency was determined as 65 Hz, showing a 26.6% energy saving compared to the case at a compressor frequency of 75 Hz. The results of this study can provide design guidelines of heat pump clothing care systems to reduce energy consumption while performing basic functions properly based on the optimized operation strategy.