■ HUMAN COMFORT AND AIR-CONDITIONING
Human beings have an inherent weakness—they want to feel comfortable. They want to live in an environment that is neither hot nor cold, neither humid nor dry. However, comfort does not come easily since the desires of the human body and the weather usually are not quite compatible. Achieving comfort requires a constant struggle against the factors that cause discomfort, such as high or low temperatures and high or low humidity. As engineers, it is our duty to help people feel comfortable. (Besides, it keeps us employed.)
It did not take long for people to realize that they could not change the weather in an area. All they can do is change it in a confined space such as a house or a workplace (Fig. 9–28). In the past, this was partially accomplished by fire and simple indoor heating systems. Today, modern air- conditioning systems can heat, cool, humidify, dehumidify, clean, and even deodorize the air—in other words, condition the air to peoples’ desires. Air- conditioning systems are designed to satisfy the needs of the human body; therefore, it is essential that we understand the thermodynamic aspects of the body.
We cannot change the weather, but we can change the climate in a confined space by air-conditioning.
The human body can be viewed as a heat engine whose energy input is food. As with any other heat engine, the human body generates waste heat that must be rejected to the environment if the body is to continue operating. The rate of heat generation depends on the level of the activity. For an average adult male, it is about 87 W when sleeping, 115 W when resting or doing office work, 230 W when bowling, and 440 W when doing heavy physical work. The corresponding numbers for an adult female are about 15 percent less. (This difference is due to the body size, not the body temperature. The deep-body temperature of a healthy person is maintained constant at 37°C.) A body will feel comfortable in environments in which it can dissipate this waste heat comfortably (Fig. 9–29).
Heat transfer is proportional to the temperature difference. Therefore in cold environments, a body will lose more heat than it normally generates, which results in a feeling of discomfort. The body tries to minimize the energy deficit by cutting down the blood circulation near the skin (causing a pale look). This lowers the skin temperature, which is about 34°C for an average person, and thus the heat transfer rate. A low skin temperature causes discomfort. The hands, for example, feel painfully cold when the skin temperature reaches 10°C (50°F). We can also reduce the heat loss from the body either by putting barriers (additional clothes, blankets, etc.) in the path of heat or by in- creasing the rate of heat generation within the body by exercising. For exam- ple, the comfort level of a resting person dressed in warm winter clothing in a room at 10°C (50°F) is roughly equal to the comfort level of an identical per- son doing moderate work in a room at about -23°C (–10°F). Or we can just cuddle up and put our hands between our legs to reduce the surface area
In hot environments, we have the opposite problem—we do not seem to be dissipating enough heat from our bodies, and we feel as if we are going to burst. We dress lightly to make it easier for heat to get away from our bodies, and we reduce the level of activity to minimize the rate of waste heat generation in the body. We also turn on the fan to continuously replace the warmer air layer that forms around our bodies as a result of body heat by the cooler air in other parts of the room. When doing light work or walking slowly, about half of the rejected body heat is dissipated through perspiration as latent heat while the other half is dissipated through convection and radiation as sensible heat. When resting or doing office work, most of the heat (about 70 percent) is dissipated in the form of sensible heat whereas when doing heavy physical work, most of the heat (about 60 percent) is dissipated in the form of latent heat. The body helps out by perspiring or sweating more. As this sweat evap- orates, it absorbs latent heat from the body and cools it. Perspiration is not much help, however, if the relative humidity of the environment is close to 100 percent. Prolonged sweating without any fluid intake will cause dehydration and reduced sweating, which may lead to a rise in body temperature and a heat stroke.
Another important factor that affects human comfort is heat transfer by radiation between the body and the surrounding surfaces such as walls and windows. The sun’s rays travel through space by radiation. You warm up in front of a fire even if the air between you and the fire is quite cold. Likewise, in a warm room you will feel chilly if the ceiling or the wall surfaces are at a considerably lower temperature. This is due to direct heat transfer between your body and the surrounding surfaces by radiation. Radiant heaters are commonly used for heating hard-to-heat places such as car repair shops.
The comfort of the human body depends primarily on three factors: the (dry-bulb) temperature, relative humidity, and air motion (Fig. 9–30). The temperature of the environment is the single most important index of comfort.
Most people feel comfortable when the environment temperature is between 22 and 27°C (72 and 80°F). The relative humidity also has a considerable effect on comfort since it affects the amount of heat a body can dissipate through evaporation. Relative humidity is a measure of air’s ability to absorb more moisture. High relative humidity slows down heat rejection by evaporation, and low relative humidity speeds it up. Most people prefer a relative humidity of 40 to 60 percent.
Air motion also plays an important role in human comfort. It removes the warm, moist air that builds up around the body and replaces it with fresh air. Therefore, air motion improves heat rejection by both convection and evaporation. Air motion should be strong enough to remove heat and moisture from the vicinity of the body, but gentle enough to be unnoticed. Most people feel comfortable at an airspeed of about 15 m/min. Very-high-speed air motion causes discomfort instead of comfort. For example, an environment at 10°C (50°F) with 48 km/h winds feels as cold as an environment at -7°C (20°F) with 3 km/h winds as a result of the body-chilling effect of the air motion (the windchill factor). Other factors that affect comfort are air cleanliness, odor, noise, and radiation effect.