Cooling vests with phase change materials: the effects of melting temperature on heat strain alleviation in an extremely hot environment

Gao, Chuansi; Kuklane, Kalev; Holmér, Ingvar

doi:10.1007/s00421-010-1748-4

Cited by 126 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…PCMs are latent heat storage materials and absorb or release heat when they change phases, such as from solid to liquid (heat of fusion), and back to solid (heat of crystallization). Therefore, a PCM has two types of thermal effects: a cooling effect when it melts and a heating effect when it solidifies 81,82) . Wearable personal cooling integrated with…”

Section: Engineering Control Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Heat Stress on Working Populations when Facing Climate Change

et al. 2013

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It is accepted that the earth's climate is changing in an accelerating pace, with already documented implications for human health and the environment. This literature review provides an overview of existing research findings about the effects of heat stress on the working population in relation to climate change. In the light of climate change adaptation, the purpose of the literature review was to explore recent and previous research into the impacts of heat stress on humans in an occupational setting. Heat stress in the workplace has been researched extensively in the past however, in the contemporary context of climate change, information is lacking on its extent and implications. The main factors found to exacerbate heat stress in the current and future workplace are the urban 'heat island effect', physical work, individual differences, and the developing country context where technological fixes are often not applicable. There is also a lack of information on the effects on vulnerable groups such as elderly people and pregnant women. As increasing temperatures reduce work productivity, world economic productivity could be condensed, affecting developing countries in the tropical climate zone disproportionately. Future research is needed taking an interdisciplinary approach, including social, economic, environmental and technical aspects.

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Section: Engineering Control Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Heat Stress on Working Populations when Facing Climate Change

et al. 2013

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“…Different types of cooling garments have been developed for specialized applications in various hot environmental occupations, e.g., a cooling garment using phase-change materials (PCMs) such as ice-packs, polymer gels, paraffin waxes or chemically frozen gels, [6][7][8][9] a liquid cooling garment using coolant [10] or an air cooling vest garment. [11] All of these cooling garments have demonstrated considerable heat reduction capabilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of a cooling jacket with reference to physiological responses in iron foundry workers

Shirish

Kapadia

Kumar

et al. 2016

International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics

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Personal cooling garments (PCGs) have gained increased attention in recent years due to heat stress and strain in the working environment. The present study was conducted in hot environments of an iron foundry to evaluate the efficacy of a battery-operated PCG. Twenty-four workers were exposed to climatic conditions of 35.89 ± 1.25 °C, 35% relative humidity during 90-min work with PCG and habitual clothing (HC). Mean weighted skin temperature was significantly lower by 4.84 ± 1.05 °C compared with HC 0.38 ± 1.02 °C (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was also observed for 0.492 ± 0.26 g mean sweat loss in the PCG group compared with 0.775 ± 0.42 g in the HC group (p < 0.05). Heart rate, and back and chest skin temperatures were comparatively more reduced in the PCG group compared with the HC group. PCG provides a practical and economical way of alleviating the physiological effects of heat stress when environmental control is not feasible.

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“…Comprehensive manikin tests along with necessary human studies are an effective approach for R&D of personal cooling system. One recent study used this approach for research of phase change material cooling vests (Gao et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of the cooling capacity for body ventilation system

González

2011

Eur J Appl Physiol

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Body ventilation systems (BVS) are effective in reducing heat strain, but the amount of heat that a BVS removes from a human body is unclear. The purpose of this study was to propose a method for quantifying BVS cooling capacity using manikin evaluation and modeling. Cooling capacity was calculated as the product of maximum cooling potential and cooling efficiency. The maximum cooling potential is calculated as the difference in enthalpy between the air entering and exiting the BVS where the outlet air temperature is equal to skin temperature with a relative humidity of 100%. The cooling efficiency, defined as a ratio of the cooling capacity to the maximum cooling potential, can be determined through measurements on sweating thermal manikins. A BVS system was evaluated on a manikin with the ventilation fan ON (flow rate 4.7 L/s) or OFF under eleven ambient conditions. The measured cooling efficiencies were 0.31 ± 0.02 and almost constant. Using this cooling efficiency, the BVS cooling capacities at various skin temperature and ambient conditions were estimated. This two-step approach can be used to quantify BVS cooling effectiveness during physiology studies. First, the cooling efficiency is determined on sweating thermal manikins. Second, the cooling capacity is calculated from the skin temperature, ambient temperature and relative humidity. However, various factors may reduce the actual cooling provided by the BVS, and the calculated cooling capacity should be considered the upper limit for cooling.

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Cooling vests with phase change materials: the effects of melting temperature on heat strain alleviation in an extremely hot environment

Cited by 126 publications

References 19 publications

Effects of Heat Stress on Working Populations when Facing Climate Change

Effects of Heat Stress on Working Populations when Facing Climate Change

Effectiveness of a cooling jacket with reference to physiological responses in iron foundry workers

Determination of the cooling capacity for body ventilation system

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