An efficient control for a domestic tumble dryer

In this paper we present a control technique for a domestic tumble dryer. The control algorithm, that aims at decreasing the energy consumption by satisfying at the same time the required constraints, basically consists in a selective control between a PI controller (which controls the clothes temperature) and a three-state controller (which controls the heater temperature). Experimental results show that the overall control algorithm is effective and provide a better performance with respect to the standard PI controller.