Analysis of Heating by Friction in Plastic Clothes Dryer Components

Many household appliances utilize plastic materials in their construction. For example, many clothes dryers include plastics in the air blower and venting systems. The air blower in a dryer is used to move air past the burner or heating element, through the dryer drum and out through the exhaust duct. It has been alleged that friction between moving and stationary components in a clothes dryer, where one or both components are plastic, could generate sufficient heat to ignite the plastic component(s). The purpose of this study is to critically examine this allegation and determine whether frictional heating could ignite a plastic component in a clothes dryer.