@Article{hmt.18.4,
AUTHOR = {Albio D. Gutierrez, Hayri Sezer, Jose L. Ramirez},
TITLE = {REQUIRED THERMAL COMFORT CONDITIONS INSIDE HOSPITAL  OPERATING ROOMS (ORS): A NUMERICAL ASSESSMENT},
JOURNAL = {Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer},
VOLUME = {18},
YEAR = {2022},
NUMBER = {1},
PAGES = {1--12},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/fhmt/v18n1/52435},
ISSN = {2151-8629},
ABSTRACT = {This paper presents a computational model along with a thermal comfort criterion aimed at assisting the design of operating rooms (ORs) from the 
perspective of meeting suitable flow patterns and thermal comfort conditions for the occupants. The computational model is based on the finite 
volume method (FVM) to describe the air inside ORs along with the human thermoregulation model implemented in virtual mannequins for thermal 
comfort. The air model considers turbulent fluid motion, species transport and the conservation of energy, including thermal radiation. The human 
thermoregulation model incorporates two interacting systems of thermoregulation. Namely, the passive system and the active system. The comfort 
criterion is based on the effective temperature of body parts which is a more suitable indicator than the commonly utilized predicted mean vote 
(PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) for body segments. The focus of the study is placed on the influence that the inlet thermal 
conditions provided by the air conditioning (AC) system have on the flow pattern and thermal comfort of the occupants. The results show that, for the 
selected conditions, lower air inlet temperatures than previously reported are required to operate at satisfactory comfort standards. It was also 
observed that smaller inlet temperatures bring about several improvements in the flow pattern inside the OR such as the size reduction of several 
recirculation zones (RZs). Nonetheless, smaller inlet temperatures bring about some drawbacks such as the size reduction of the ultra-clean 
ventilation (UCV) zone and the need of extra air-cooling power.},
DOI = {10.5098/hmt.18.4}
}