Evaluation of two cooling devices for construction workers by a thermal manikin

Abstract

Two kinds of wearable cooling devices were evaluated for their cooling effect by a thermal manikin. All measurements were conducted in a climatic chamber. The cooling fans worked almost 3 h. Their cooling effect was large at the head and had little effects on other parts of the manikin. They decreased the insulation of a typical clothing ensemble of outdoor workers in construction industries from 0.75 clo to 0.48 clo. The cooling vest for heat protective clothing mainly worked on the trunk. It did not have enough effect nor had steady cooling effect. But the vest worked as direct cooling device for the trunk. The effect of the fans to Standard Effective Temperature (SET) is evaluated by simulation. The difference of SETs between the case of the typical ensemble and the case with the cooling fans at 35 °C of the surrounding environment is 2.6 °C. The lower the surrounding temperature is, the larger the difference between SETs of different clothing insulation value is.