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- Title
Sheetal Kavach: Hybrid Cooling Jacket for Healthcare Workers in India.
- Authors
Singh, Vedant
- Abstract
A novel Hybrid Cooling Jacket (HCJ) using dry ice (solid CO2) and ventilation fans has been developed for health care workers in India, required to work in hot and humid weather conditions. The goal of this HCJ was to decrease the related heat stress and heat shock associated with working in these conditions. The effectiveness of HCJ has been validated by trials with people in actual working conditions observed during the summertime. Earlier developed personal cooling systems, used phase change materials (PCM) to absorb the body heat, however these had limitations like high weight, low thermal comfort, shorter duration of cooling (less than one hour), etc. The reason for low duration of cooling of the PCM based suits was the low latent heat of vaporization and hindrance of sweat evaporation. The physical properties of a number of PCMs were studied and it was found that dry ice with its very high heat of sublimation can offer cooling which lasts 3-4 times longer and sweat produced by the body can be used to cool itself by evaporation. Through this jacket the cooling duration increased up to 4 hours with very little weight addition. Trials performed on real people simulating similar ambient conditions with moderate activity, showed that skin temperature was maintained below 35.1°C. Total sweat production was reduced by 21% and heart rate was reduced by an average 14 beats/min. The perceived thermal comfort parameters like thermal comfort votes, wetness sensation, and perceived exertion improved significantly.
- Subjects
MEDICAL personnel; PROTECTIVE clothing; COOLING; VENTILATION equipment; THERMAL comfort
- Publication
International Journal of High School Research, 2022, Vol 4, Issue 4, p97
- ISSN
2642-1046
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.36838/v4i4.18