{"title":"Development and experimental validation of a 3D numerical model to investigate performance of phase change based cooling vest in hot environments","authors":"Kedumese u Mekrisuh , Dushyant Singh , Udayraj","doi":"10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2024.109487","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To ensure health and safety of outdoor workers exposed to harsh environment, particularly during summer, they must be protected against heat-related injuries. Personal cooling device like cooling vest are viable solution in such situations considering their cooling capabilities and ergonomic aspects. In the present study, a 3D numerical model is developed for analyzing performance of PCM vest and it is validated with experimental results obtained from a torso thermal manikin facility fabricated in-house. Thermal performance of the PCM vest is analyzed in terms of temperature, liquid fraction and energy storage of PCM and skin temperature for different thermophysical properties of PCM, ambient conditions and mode of operations. Based on the study, PCM with higher latent heat and melting temperature is recommended for the longer working duration of the vest. Increasing ambient temperature from 40 °C to 45 °C reduces the effectiveness time by 20 % while decreasing ambient temperature from 40 °C to 35 °C increases effectiveness time of the PCM vest by 32 %. Fraction of energy stored by the PCM from the body and environment remains unaffected by the change in the latent heat of PCM. Further, it is noticed that increasing the air flow rate or using the PCM vest in hybrid mode of operation is not recommended from the point of view of its effective useable duration. Overall, the study presents a comprehensive approach to estimate performance of the PCM vest realistically and provides guidelines for the design of effective cooling vest for various practical applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":341,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Thermal Sciences","volume":"208 ","pages":"Article 109487"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Thermal Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1290072924006094","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
To ensure health and safety of outdoor workers exposed to harsh environment, particularly during summer, they must be protected against heat-related injuries. Personal cooling device like cooling vest are viable solution in such situations considering their cooling capabilities and ergonomic aspects. In the present study, a 3D numerical model is developed for analyzing performance of PCM vest and it is validated with experimental results obtained from a torso thermal manikin facility fabricated in-house. Thermal performance of the PCM vest is analyzed in terms of temperature, liquid fraction and energy storage of PCM and skin temperature for different thermophysical properties of PCM, ambient conditions and mode of operations. Based on the study, PCM with higher latent heat and melting temperature is recommended for the longer working duration of the vest. Increasing ambient temperature from 40 °C to 45 °C reduces the effectiveness time by 20 % while decreasing ambient temperature from 40 °C to 35 °C increases effectiveness time of the PCM vest by 32 %. Fraction of energy stored by the PCM from the body and environment remains unaffected by the change in the latent heat of PCM. Further, it is noticed that increasing the air flow rate or using the PCM vest in hybrid mode of operation is not recommended from the point of view of its effective useable duration. Overall, the study presents a comprehensive approach to estimate performance of the PCM vest realistically and provides guidelines for the design of effective cooling vest for various practical applications.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Thermal Sciences is a journal devoted to the publication of fundamental studies on the physics of transfer processes in general, with an emphasis on thermal aspects and also applied research on various processes, energy systems and the environment. Articles are published in English and French, and are subject to peer review.
The fundamental subjects considered within the scope of the journal are:
* Heat and relevant mass transfer at all scales (nano, micro and macro) and in all types of material (heterogeneous, composites, biological,...) and fluid flow
* Forced, natural or mixed convection in reactive or non-reactive media
* Single or multi–phase fluid flow with or without phase change
* Near–and far–field radiative heat transfer
* Combined modes of heat transfer in complex systems (for example, plasmas, biological, geological,...)
* Multiscale modelling
The applied research topics include:
* Heat exchangers, heat pipes, cooling processes
* Transport phenomena taking place in industrial processes (chemical, food and agricultural, metallurgical, space and aeronautical, automobile industries)
* Nano–and micro–technology for energy, space, biosystems and devices
* Heat transport analysis in advanced systems
* Impact of energy–related processes on environment, and emerging energy systems
The study of thermophysical properties of materials and fluids, thermal measurement techniques, inverse methods, and the developments of experimental methods are within the scope of the International Journal of Thermal Sciences which also covers the modelling, and numerical methods applied to thermal transfer.