A heat stress control method for miners based on internal heat storage

Abstract

In high-temperature mines, miners are exposed to high temperatures for long, increasing body temperature and causing diseases such as heatstroke. Therefore, adjusting the environmental parameters of the working face has become the key to managing thermal stress. Based on the binary method, the predicted thermal strain model (PHS) was transformed into a computer program to determine the zero inflection point of human body heat storage. When workers’ body heat storage reached the zero inflection point, changes in working face temperature, wind speed, and physiological parameters were analyzed under different labor intensities. The results indicate that the higher the labor intensity, the higher the air humidity, and the lower the working face environment temperature that maintains zero heat storage for the human body. A wind speed of 2.5 m/s is optimal for maintaining zero heat storage for the human body. When the wind speed is too high or too low, the working surface environment temperature required to maintain zero heat storage for the human body is relatively low. A thermal stress control method was proposed based on research, providing a reference for adjusting wind speed and refrigeration equipment in high-temperature mining working faces.