Numerical analysis of heat transfer under a radiant warmer

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to present numerical modeling and assessment of heat transfer in neonatology. In the present study, numerical simulation is performed over a simplified infant model with specific boundary conditions in a closed chamber. The proposed approach is based on threedimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to capture the combined effect of air flow and heat transfer phenomena: natural convection and radiation heat transfer taking place around an infant and radiant lamp. A 3D model is numerically investigated using the commercial CFD package StarCCM+. The results presented are compared and found to be in qualitative agreement with the results available in the literature and published measurement data. K E Y W O R D S computational fluid dynamics, infant, natural convection, numerical simulation, radiant warmer, turbulence modeling 1 | INTRODUCTIONThere are varieties of healthcare devices, which provide heat and maintain a warm environment for newborn babies. These devices facilitate infants to maintain body temperature, evaporative water loss, and the desired metabolism under specific monitoring conditions. Heat losses in infants are vital parameters, which always need to be recovered. Incubators and radiant warmers are electromechanical devices that keep the infant warm and maintain thermal requirements.

Numerical assessment of heat transfer coefficient for preterm infant nursed under a radiant warmer

“…Emissivity of human skin falls in the range of 0.95–0.98. A preterm baby's skin is always in a growing phase; thus, emissivity of skin surface is assumed to be 0.95 4 . Numerical simulation is carried out for various cases of infant body temperature shown in Table 3.…”

“…Preterm infants are unable to maintain their body temperature due to heat imbalance between heat produced by metabolism and heat loss due to convection, radiation, and evaporation\respiration. Thermoneutral temperature for newborns exists in the range between 36.5°C and 37.5°C 4 ; beyond this temperature limit, thermal stresses develop in infants, which leads to hypo‐ or hyperthermia 5…”