PCM cooling vest for improving thermal comfort in hot environment

A cooling vest containing phase change materials (PCM) can help in maintaining the skin temperature of the covered parts at a comfortable level. A transient mathematical model of heat and mass transfer through clothing layers containing PCM packets was developed. Two experiments were performed on a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of thermal sciences 2016-04, Vol.102, p.154-167
Main Authors: Hamdan, Haneen, Ghaddar, Nesreen, Ouahrani, Djamel, Ghali, Kamel, Itani, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bio-heat modeling
Cooling
Cooling effects
Cylinders
Heat transport in clothing
Human body passive cooling
Mathematical models
Melting
Microclimates
Phase change material
Skin temperature
Vests
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Summary:A cooling vest containing phase change materials (PCM) can help in maintaining the skin temperature of the covered parts at a comfortable level. A transient mathematical model of heat and mass transfer through clothing layers containing PCM packets was developed. Two experiments were performed on a clothed heated cylinder in controlled environment to validate the model using two PCMs at different melting temperatures. Good agreement was found between model-predicted and measured temperatures of the microclimate air between the cylinder and the PCM. The validated fabric-PCM model was then integrated with a segmental bio-heat model to provide realistic skin boundary conditions. The predicted core and mean skin temperatures agreed well with published experimental data of a human wearing a PCM-vest in hot environment. The validated integrated bio-heat and fabric-PCM models were used to study the effect of the melting temperature of the PCM and its mass on the vest performance. It was found that a lower melting temperature must be used when a fast cooling effect is desirable. Moreover, it was found that at fixed melting temperature increasing the PCM mass increased the cooling duration. •A fabric-PCM model for heat transfer in clothing containing PCM packets is developed.•The model was validated experimentally with PCM packets of different melting points.•The fabric-PCM vest model was integrated with a segmental bio-heat model.•A lower PCM melting temperature results in faster cooling effect of the human.•Increasing the PCM mass in the vest increases the cooling duration effect.
ISSN:1290-0729
1778-4166
DOI:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2015.12.001