Reduced Water Emissions in Fabric Care Applications

Abstract

In an effort to develop and design innovative solutions to improve he eco-efficiency of its fabric care appliances, Whirlpool Corporation has asked several student teams in different universities including our team to explore solutions to reduce the water usage of the Whirlpool Duet front-loading washing machine by 75% without significantly increasing the usage of energy and with a cost under $170. Our team is collaborating with Team 30, another ME 450 team, to continue the design process started by two Fall 2007 ME 450 teams by conceiving and building a prototype of a filtration system that recycles rinse water for re-use rather than disposing it after each rinse cycle. Our team is mainly responsible for the design of the system components while Team 30 is responsible for the design of the filter. If our project turns out to be successful, Whirlpool may select our design from those of different teams and apply it to Whirlpools Duel front-loading washing machine.