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Human Physiology
Bodys Heat Balance
Arsen K. Melikov
October 21 2010, CTU in Prague
International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy
Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
www.ie.dtu.dk
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Human Physiology: Body Temperature
Core (internal) temperature
average core temperature: 37C
individual differences: 36 to 38C
daily variations: 1C
(minimum in the morning; maximum in the afternoon)
kept approx. constant
(in the limits of bodys capacity to keep heat balance)
maximum core temperature: 42 to 43C
fatal core temperature: > 43C
shivering starts with the decrease of the core temperature
shivering stops at core temperature < 33C; follows
unconsciousness
core temperature < 25C is fatal
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Measures of the Core temperature
oral temperature
(most common and least accurate)
rectal temperature
(most consistent but least responsive to sudden changes)
esophageal temperature
(temperature of blood flowing through the heart)
ears tympanic membrane temperature
(under warm conditions indicates the temperature of the
hypothalamus and brain stem, which are sensed by the
primary neurophysiological mechanism regulating body
temperature)
Human Physiology: Body Temperature
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Human Physiology: Body Temperature
Skin temperature
average skin temperature (AST): 33.2 C 1 C
local skin temperature: 25 - 34 C (17 - 40 C)
uniform at warm environment
non-uniform at cold environment
(hands, feet, legs & arms colder than head & torso)
pain limit: AST 45 C
AST 31 C uncomfortably cold
AST 30 C shivering cold
AST 29 C extremely cold
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Human Physiology: Body Temperature
Skin temperature
temperature of extremities is critical factor for
comfort in the cold
hand-skin temperature:
20 C uncomfortably cold
15 C extremely cold
5 C painful
t
air
- 35 C lower limit for useful outdoor activity
30 min exposure at t
air
= -75 C reported
skin surface temperature measured by:
- radiometer
- thermocouples
- etc.
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Human Physiology: Body Temperature
Local skin temperature Skin temperaturte measurement
with a thermistor harness
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Thermal Comfort: Bodys Heat Balance
Heat production: continuous, in rest 1 W/kg (body weight)
Transport of heat:
Conduction through tissues
Blood flow to the skin
Temperature control:
hypothalamus (human thermostat)
thermal receptors (human temperature sensors)
cold & warm receptors
static & dynamic discharge of thermal receptors
response to mean temperature and rate of temperature change
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Thermal Comfort: Heat Balance Regulation
Cold environment
temperature centre starts tensions in the muscles
start of metabolic process
heat production
(up to 3 times basal metabolism)
muscle work
heat production
(up to 10 times basal metabolism)
cold receptors
impulses to the brain
vaso-constriction
decreased blood flow
decreased heat flow
heat loss by conduction through the skin remains
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Warm environment
high skin temperature
small temperature gradient between
body core and skin surface
small heat exchange by conduction
vasodilation
increased blood flow to skin surface
(10 times increase; hands & feet 30 times)
evaporation of sweat
controlled (by hypothalamus) evaporation
secretion of water from sweat glands
uncontrolled continuous evaporation
water diffusion through the skin
(persipation insensibili)
water in exhalation ( 40 g/h)
Thermal Comfort: Heat Balance Regulation
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Heat Balance Equation:
S = M W R C K E RES [W/m
2
]
S rate of heat storage
M rate of metabolic heat production
W rate of mechanical work accomplished
R rate of heat exchange by radiation
C rate of heat exchange by convection
K rate of heat exchange by conduction
E rate of heat exchange by evaporation
RES rate of heat exchange by respiration
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Metabolism, M
Metabolic rate increases in proportion to exercise intensity
Unit used is met: 1 met = 58.1 W/m
2
= 50 kcal/(hm
2
)
Varies over wide range: 0.7 met - sleeping, ~8 met - wrestling
Maximum capacity: 20 met - healthy man at age 20, 7 met - at age 70
Maximum rate for women is 30% lower than for man
Body surface area

D
= 0.202 m
0.425
l
0.725
A
D
DuBois surface area [m
2
]; M mass [kg]; L height [m]
A
D
= 1.8 m
2
for a 1.73 m tall, 70 kg man
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Metabolism
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Metabolism
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Mechanical work
- expressed in bodys mechanical efficiency: =W/M
- > 0.05 0.1 is unusual, typically is close to 0
-
max
= 0.20 0.24 under optimal
conditions (e.g. bicycle ergometer)
- for office work W<<M
- estimates for M are often inaccurate
- W = 0 used for design of HVAC give more conservative estimate
Example of estimation of mechanical work: 90 kg person walking up a
5% grade at 1.0 m/s would be lifting an 882 N (90 kg 9.8 N/kg) weight
over a height of 0.05 m every second, for a work rate of 44 (Nm)/s = 44 W.
This rate substracted from M gives the net heat generated.
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Respiration, RES: small, 2 5 W/m
2
RES = C
res
+ E
res
C
res
= 0.0014 M (34 t
a
)
E
res
= 0.0173 M (5.87 p
a
)
C
res
- is sensible heat loss by convection
E
res
- is latent heat loss by evaporation of heat and water vapour
from the respiratory tract
p
a
- is ambient water vapour pressure (in kPa)
t
a
- is ambient air temperature
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Evaporation, E:
E = E
rsw
+ E
dif
E
dif
diffusion of water through the skin (approx. 10 W/m
2
)
E
rsw
evaporation of sweat from the skin surface by regulatory
sweating: 0 400 W/m
2
, sweating limitations, large individual
differences, acclimatisation occurs
- skin wettedness, w, is the fraction of the skin covered with water
to account for the total evaporation rate
- E
max
occurs when the skin is completely wet (w=1)
- skin wettedness caused by diffusion is 0.06
- skin wettedness caused by regulatory sweating is w
rsw
w
rsw
= E
rsw
/E
max
E
dif
= (1-w
rsw
)0.06E
max
w = 0.06 + 0.94 E
rsw
/E
max
E = w E
max
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Convection, C:
C = h
c
(t
sk
t
a
) [W/m
2
]
h
c
= f (v, Tu, geometry, t, etc.)
C increases with the increase of v and decrease of t
a
free convection: Gr>Re
2
(v < 0.1 m/s)
forced convection: Re
2
>Gr (v > 0.2 m/s)
mixed convection: GrRe
2
(0.1 m/s < v < 0.2 m/s)
h
c
convection heat transfer coefficient [W/m
2
C], t
a
air
temperature [C], t
sk
average skin surface temperature [C],
v air velocity [m/s], Tu Turbulence intensity [%],
t=(t
sk
t
a
) [C], Re Reynolds number, Gr Grashof number
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Table of convection coefficients
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Radiation, R:
R = h
r
(t
sk
t
r
) [W/m
2
]
h
r
= 4 (A
r
/A
D
)[273.2 + (t
cl
+t
r
)/2]
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h
r
radiativ heat transfer coefficient [W/(m
2
K)]
t
r
mean radiant temperature [C]
t
cl
average temperature of clothing surface [C],
average emissivity of clothing or body suface [-]
Stefan-Boltzmann constant, 5.67x10
-8
[W/(m
2
K
4
)]
A
r
effctive radiation area of body, [m
2
]
A
r
/A
D
is 0.70 for a sitting person and 0.73 for a standing person. is close to unity
(typcally 0.95). For typical indoor temperature h
r
is nearly constant, 4.7 [W/(m
2
K)]
and if emissivity is significantly less than unity adjust h
r
by h
r
=4.7 , where is the
area weighted average emissivity for the clothing/body surface.
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Clothing thermal insulation
F
cl
= (t
cl
t
o
)/ (t
sk
t
o
)
F
cle
thermal efficiency of clothing [-]
Clothing thermal insulation I
cl
in clo units:
1 clo = 0.155 [m
2
K/ W]
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Thermal Exchange with the Environment
Clothing insulation