Indoor Thermal Environment Evaluation for Emergency Medical Tents in Heating Season: Onsite Testing and Case Study in China

Abstract

In this study, the standard tent used by the China International Medical Team (Sichuan) was used as the research object to study the internal temperature change in medical tents in a low-temperature environment relying on heating equipment. Method: Four temperature sensors were arranged along the horizontal direction at a 1.2 m height in the medical tent, and more sensors were installed at heights of 0.1, 0.2, 0.6, 1.2, 1.8, 2.4, and 2.5 m. A total of 11 temperature sensors were set. Temperature tests were conducted in January and February 2021 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. During the test, the running time of the heating equipment was controlled in real time according to the temperature change trend. A Kolmogorov–Smirnov(K-S) test was used to verify the reliability of the experimental data. The temperature change trend was used to characterize the influence of the heating and cooling equipment on the temperature change inside the tent. Results: Due to the position angle of the heating equipment and the influence of the external environment, the spatial distribution of the ambient temperature inside the medical tent was obviously uneven. In winter, an electric heater with a heating power of about 2500 W can increase the internal temperature of the tent to 16.7 °C, significantly improving the internal thermal environment of the medical tent. The ambient temperature in the medical tent is positively correlated with the height and the installation position of the heating equipment. Conclusion: Medical tents can maintain the ambient temperature well to meet medical needs with the support of heating equipment with sufficient power. The temperature distribution law of medical tents in this experiment has good guiding significance for the placement angle of heating equipment and the configuration position of medical equipment and provides a reference for the development of thermal insulation materials for medical tents.