Experimental determination of the worker’s clothing surface temperature during the ceramic gas heater operation

• Published in: Thermal science and engineering progress 2021-05, Vol.22, p.100851, Article 100851
• Main Authors: Kuznetsov, G.V., Maksimov, V.I., Nagornova, T.A., Voloshko, I.V., Gutareva, N.Yu, Kurilenko, N.I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ceramic gas heater; Energy saving; Experimental measurements of thermocouples; Heat supply object; Heat transfer; Temperature distribution; Worker’s clothes
• ISSN: 2451-9049; 2451-9049
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsep.2021.100851

•It is necessary to consider all the heat exchange mechanisms when infrared heater operating.•With infrared heating, the worker’s clothing heats up unevenly in height.•The location of the fabric in relation to the heater affects its surface temperature.•The properties of the fabric affect its temperature when using the infrared heater. Providing regulated comfortable thermal conditions for workers and engineers working in large-sized industrial premises is a rather energy-consuming process in many cases. It is necessary to heat not only large volumes of air very often, but also the enclosing structures. One of the most promising options for reducing energy costs is the use of gas infrared heaters as heat sources. However, such radiant heaters are still little used, because no relationship has been established between the characteristics of the heat supply object – the operating one and the parameters of the radiator. The purpose of the study is to establish, based on the results of the experimental studies, the functional relationships of the surface temperature of the worker’s clothing and the parameters of a typical gas infrared heater. The experiments have been carried out to register the temperature fields of the material surface of the working model, as well as in the immediate vicinity of the model. A substantially inhomogeneous distribution of the temperatures of the surface of the fabric of the model’s clothing has been established depending on the orientation of this surface relative to the direction of the radiation flux. Based on the results of the experiments, the conclusions have been drawn about the regularities of heat transfer of a heat supply object – working with the external environment under the operating conditions of gas infrared heater (GIH). Recommendations for the formation of thermal conditions for those working with radiant heating were formulated.