Session: Research Posters

Paper Number: 173979

Laser Technology for Sustainable Industrial Drying in Energy Intensive Industry Sectors 

The growing demand for sustainable, high-quality production calls for innovative technologies that reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in industrial processes. Drying is one of the most energy-intensive operations across key sectors such as food, pulp and paper, and chemical industries. Current drying technologies account for approximately 15% of total industrial energy consumption, with significant energy losses due to inherent inefficiencies in conventional drying systems.To address this challenge, the present work explores the use of laser technology as a novel, electrified drying method that offers high precision, speed, and energy efficiency. This research presents both the fundamentals of laser drying and experimental results of drying various moist porous materials with the laser technology retrofitted in the pilot-scale Smart Dryer located in the Center for Advanced Research in Drying (CARD) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).  CARD is an NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center located at WPI and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (co-site).  Initial experiments focused on evaluating laser energy distribution in the range of 0.7–5 W/cm² to ensure uniformity, followed by an analysis of maximum laser energy depth of penetration in moist, porous materials such as breadcrumbs, potato slices, cranberries, and sugar cookie dough. Results showed a clear correlation between increased power density and greater penetration depth, which exceeded 1 cm at the highest tested levels. The laser system provided uniform and targeted energy delivery. Product quality metrics were also evaluated after each experiment, such as color, browning index, tensile strength, microstructure, shrinkage, and water activity. Further batch-mode experiments using varying power densities and an on-off heating profile were conducted to assess drying kinetics, including moisture content (dry and wet basis), drying rate, energy ratio, and specific energy consumption in different moist porous samples such as potato slices, cranberries, sugar cookie dough, and breadcrumbs. Results demonstrated high drying rates (2–12 g/m²·s), high energy ratios, and low specific energy consumption (below 3 kWh/kg of water removed), particularly in products with high initial moisture content. These findings suggest that laser technology could significantly reduce energy waste by minimizing heating time and targeting energy delivery. Building on these promising results, additional experiments with other moist porous samples are needed to demonstrate the potential of advanced laser-based drying technology for commercial ovens and dryers across diverse sectors, including the food, pulp, and paper industries. Furthermore, exploring the integration of lasers with other novel technologies, such as slot jet reattachment (SJR) nozzles, dielectrophoresis (DEP), airborne ultrasound (US), and infrared (IR) heating, in continuous operation will be essential to identify optimal configurations for retrofitting laser technology into industrial-scale drying systems.

Presenting Author: Itamar Harris Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Presenting Author Biography: Electromechanical Engineer with an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate and Research Assistant at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), conducting research at the Center for Advanced Research in Drying (CARD). Her research interests include renewable energy, thermal management, thermal energy storage, advanced drying technologies, air quality, artificial intelligence, and electromechanical design.

Authors:

Itamar Harris Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Jamal Yagoobi Worcester Polytechnic Institute