Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms
Environmental conditions, job tasks, and clothing choices influence the thermal comfort of workers. While it is impossible to control outdoor environmental conditions, selecting appropriate clothing for workers is feasible. Personal protective equipment often does not completely protect outdoor work...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/3296 |
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| author | Miriam Martinez-Albert Pablo Díaz-García Ignacio Montava-Seguí Eva Bou-Belda |
| author_facet | Miriam Martinez-Albert Pablo Díaz-García Ignacio Montava-Seguí Eva Bou-Belda |
| author_sort | Miriam Martinez-Albert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental conditions, job tasks, and clothing choices influence the thermal comfort of workers. While it is impossible to control outdoor environmental conditions, selecting appropriate clothing for workers is feasible. Personal protective equipment often does not completely protect outdoor workers at high air temperatures. In such cases, cooling garments can help dissipate body heat and be worn with standard work clothes or uniforms. Currently, there is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the characterisation of this type of garment. This study employed an innovative laboratory testing method that integrates a thermal manikin with a computer simulation program to assess the thermal sensation and comfort of various garment types in different activities and environmental conditions. This advanced approach enables a thorough evaluation of cooling garments that considers their physical properties and interactions with the human body. The findings confirm the efficacy of the tested cooling mechanisms, highlighting that the air circulation mechanism was the only one that consistently maintained user comfort across low, medium, and high metabolic activity levels. This study aims to assist users in selecting the most suitable cooling mechanism for the market based on the type of work or activity being performed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e4f12d8e959e4e429cc0a66b9fdd4e1e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-e4f12d8e959e4e429cc0a66b9fdd4e1e2025-08-20T02:42:41ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-03-01156329610.3390/app15063296Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling MechanismsMiriam Martinez-Albert0Pablo Díaz-García1Ignacio Montava-Seguí2Eva Bou-Belda3Textile Industry Research Association-AITEX, Comfort Department, Carretera de Bañeres, No 10, 03802 Alcoy, SpainDepartamento de Ingeniería Textil y Papelera, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Alcoy, Universitat Politècnica de València, PI. Ferrándiz Carbonell, s/n, 03801 Alcoy, SpainDepartamento de Ingeniería Textil y Papelera, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Alcoy, Universitat Politècnica de València, PI. Ferrándiz Carbonell, s/n, 03801 Alcoy, SpainDepartamento de Ingeniería Textil y Papelera, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Alcoy, Universitat Politècnica de València, PI. Ferrándiz Carbonell, s/n, 03801 Alcoy, SpainEnvironmental conditions, job tasks, and clothing choices influence the thermal comfort of workers. While it is impossible to control outdoor environmental conditions, selecting appropriate clothing for workers is feasible. Personal protective equipment often does not completely protect outdoor workers at high air temperatures. In such cases, cooling garments can help dissipate body heat and be worn with standard work clothes or uniforms. Currently, there is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the characterisation of this type of garment. This study employed an innovative laboratory testing method that integrates a thermal manikin with a computer simulation program to assess the thermal sensation and comfort of various garment types in different activities and environmental conditions. This advanced approach enables a thorough evaluation of cooling garments that considers their physical properties and interactions with the human body. The findings confirm the efficacy of the tested cooling mechanisms, highlighting that the air circulation mechanism was the only one that consistently maintained user comfort across low, medium, and high metabolic activity levels. This study aims to assist users in selecting the most suitable cooling mechanism for the market based on the type of work or activity being performed.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/3296personal cooling systemsthermal manikinthermal comfortheat stresscooling vestscooling garments |
| spellingShingle | Miriam Martinez-Albert Pablo Díaz-García Ignacio Montava-Seguí Eva Bou-Belda Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms Applied Sciences personal cooling systems thermal manikin thermal comfort heat stress cooling vests cooling garments |
| title | Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms |
| title_full | Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms |
| title_fullStr | Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms |
| title_short | Experimental Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Personal Cooling Mechanisms |
| title_sort | experimental investigation into the thermal performance of personal cooling mechanisms |
| topic | personal cooling systems thermal manikin thermal comfort heat stress cooling vests cooling garments |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/3296 |
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