Cooling garments against environmental heat conditions in occupational fields: measurements of the effect of a ventilation jacket on the total thermal insulation

• Published in: International journal of industrial ergonomics Vol. 86; p. 103230
• Main Authors: Del Ferraro, Simona, Falcone, Tiziana, Morabito, Marco, Messeri, Alessandro, Bonafede, Michela, Marinaccio, Alessandro, Gao, Chuansi, Molinaro, Vincenzo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-11-2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Air temperature; Air ventilation; Construction industry; Convection; Cooling; Cooling effects; Cooling garments; Cooling performance; Dry heat; Engineering and Technology; Garments; Heat; Hot environment; Maskinteknik; Mechanical Engineering; Occupational health; Occupational heat stress; Personal cooling; Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics; Productivity; Produktionsteknik, arbetsvetenskap och ergonomi; Teknik; Test chambers; Thermal insulation; Thermal manikin; Ventilation; Air ventilation; Thermal manikin; Hot environment; Cooling performance; Cooling garments; Occupational heat stress
• ISSN: 0169-8141; 1872-8219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ergon.2021.103230

Personal cooling garments (PCGs) can represent an adaptation solution to counteract heat strain and to improve worker's health and productivity (especially for some outdoor work activities as in agriculture and in the construction industry). The cooling effect of a ventilation jacket was preliminarily investigated carrying out “dry” tests in a climatic chamber on a thermal manikin. A standardized condition with air temperature, ta = 22.4 °C, three different adjustments of the fan velocity (vf= 0, vf = 2 and vf = 4), and three different ensembles (the single jacket, a work ensemble and a combination of both) were considered. Results showed significant increases in dry heat losses (through convection) for the trunk thermal zones, higher when the fans were on, for all the ensembles considered. Percent changes greatly exceeded 100 % for the thermal zones close to the fans. The air ventilation determined significant decreases of the total thermal insulation (IT) values (up to 35 %) compared to the fans-off condition, confirming and quantifying the cooling effect of the ventilation jacket.
•The increasing concern about occupational injury due to heat stress developed new solutions, among them, cooling garments.•Cooling effect of a ventilation jacket was investigated performing dry tests in a climatic chamber on a thermal manikin.•Tests were performed in standardized conditions considering three different fan velocities and three different ensembles.•Significant increases in heat losses were found for the thermal zones of the trunk for all the considered ensembles.•Significant decreases of the total thermal insulation values (up to 35%) compared to the fans-off condition were observed.