Experimental study of convective heat transfer coefficient for the human body in water

Abstract

The steady-state convective heat transfer coefficient in water has been determined by partitional calorimetry for 17 nude subjects. Four water velocities were investigated: 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.25 m-s-1; and the water temperature ranged from 33.7 to 18 degrees C. In still water, hc varied from 43 W-m-2-degrees C-1 in thermoneutral conditions and a shivering rate less than 90 W-m-2 to 54 W-m-2-degrees C-1 in cold water with a shiver rate greater than 110 W-m-2. The equation, hc=0.09 (Gr-Pr)0.275, give a good approximation of this coefficient. In stirred water and for the same limits of shivering, hc can be expressed as a power function of the velocity: hc = 272.9 v0.5 and hc = 497.1 v0.65, respectively. These equations show that the flow is laminar in thermoneutral conditions and intermediate between laminar and turbulent in cold water. A study of the influence of skinfold on the magnitude of hc shows that higher values of this coefficient were obtained for thin subjects than for fat ones, concomitant with more intense shivering. The utilization of a theoretical physical model for computations of hc gave excessively high values because such methods do not embody the body shape factor and reduction of water flow adjacent to the skin.