Assessment of Thermal Environment in a Kitchen with a New Ventilation System

Sumei Liu,Jiankai Dong,Jian Li,Ke Qing,Xiaojie Zhou,Weizhen Zhang,Xiaorui Lin,Dayi Lai,Qingyan Chen,Xuan Liu,S.I Tanabe,M.C Gameiro Da Silva,J Kurnitski,L Mazzarela,G Cao,C Inard,P Wargocki,H Zhang,I Nastase

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/201911102034

Abstract

Chinese kitchen environment is usually hot and humid in summer and cold in winter, while housewife spends considerable time there. This investigation developed a new ventilation system for Chinese kitchens to improve thermal comfort level. To assess the thermal performance of the ventilation system, 32 cooks were asked to prepare the same dishes in the kitchen with or without the system in summer in Changsha, China. The assessment was carried out by subjective questionnaire survey on thermal sensation vote (TSV) and objective on-site measurements of the indoor air temperature and cook’s skin temperature. The indoor air temperature was measured at different locations in the kitchen. The skin temperature was measured at 18 body parts of the cooks. The results show that the thermal environment in the kitchen was non-uniform and local thermal sensation had a great influence on the whole body sensation. Without the new ventilation system, the cooks complained that the hottest parts were thorax, head and face areas. Reasonably good correlation existed between the cooks’ skin temperatures and their thermal sensation votes. The increase of cooks’ skin temperature with the ventilation system was lower than that without the ventilation system. TSV was improved with the new ventilation system.

Highlights

As an important daily activity, housewife spends considerable time in the domestic kitchen [1,2]
Due to high activity levels and dynamic thermal environment in Chinese kitchens, these comfort standards may not be applicable to the kitchens
Typical Chinese cooking includes frying, stir-frying, stew, steaming, etc., and the use of high power gas stove will generate a lot of heat, which will deteriorate the thermal environment in the kitchen [5]

Summary

Introduction

As an important daily activity, housewife spends considerable time in the domestic kitchen [1,2]. Simone et al investigated the thermal environment in more than 100 commercial kitchens in the United States in both summer and winter Cao et al investigated the effectiveness of local make-up air for reducing individual exposure level They found that well-organized local make-up airflow could reduce one’s exposure to the cooking-generated particles in Chinese residential kitchens [13]. Previous studies have not determined how the thermal environment in the residential kitchen affects human thermal comfort and how to improve its thermal environment This investigation developed a new ventilation system for Chinese kitchens to improve its thermal comfort level. Human subject tests were conducted to assess its thermal performance

Methods

Results

Conclusion