Melting n-eicosane in scaled-up model of capsule for use in hot climate thermal-comfort garments

Abstract

Recent ideas in development of garments for thermal comfort in desert climates concentrate on textile containing small capsules filled with material melting to store latent heat at roughly human body temperature. This cools the garment wearer during the hot day and later keeps him warm in the cold desert night. This article investigates the melting process in a single scaled up model of spherical capsule filled with n-eicosane – a material melting at Tm = 35.7 ˚C. In the experiment, the capsule model was heated starting from the initial temperature 30˚C by warm water at 50.4 ˚C. The large scale of the model made possible study of details of the melting process.