An experiment to assess the heat transfer performance of thermoelectric-driven conditioned mattress

Abstract

This study sets out to describe the design, construction and testing of thermoelectric-driven conditioned mattress intended to reduce the human-mattress interface temperature, in order to satisfy the personal sleep thermal comfort requirements in hot conditions. A prototype of thermoelectric-driven conditioned mattress is constructed and tested. A series of experimental studies related to the temperature of different cushion layers and time from start-up to stable state have been carried out, specifically to analyze the difference in heat transfer performance of two types of temperature control layers (i.e., integral water cushion and circulating water pipes) in cooling operations. The steady-state results showed that, the type of temperature control layer and pre-set temperature exhibited a remarkable influence on the cooling performance of mattress. The mattress with integral water cushion had a superior cooling performance as compared to mattress with circulating water pipes under similar conditions. Specifically, the upper surface temperature of mattress with integral water cushion at the pre-set temperature of 20?C, 18?C, and 16?C were 1.97?C, 2.46?C, and 3.08?C lower than indoor air temperature, respectively. Besides, the temperature contour maps of temperature control layer and upper cushion layer for two types of mattresses were constructed using the bilinear interpolation, respectively, thus expected to provide reference for the untested temperatures in this study. This study aims to effectively evaluate the heat transfer performance of the thermoelectric-driven conditioned mattress, and shows highly practical value in further applications of this system in improving human thermal comfort during sleep.